Babies and children are conscious of far more than we once realized. \u00a0Their every sense is engaged as they discover, file away, analyze, and act upon information about their world. \u00a0Some\u00a0people believe that babies are smarter, more thoughtful, \u00a0more imaginative, more caring,\u00a0and more conscious than adults.\u00a0\u00a0There’s been a revolution in our scientific understanding of this stage of life.<\/p>\n
Alison\u00a0Gopnik, a child development psychologist and\u00a0professor of psychology at the University of California, has written a number of books\u00a0on cognitive development. \u00a0Among them is the influential book,\u00a0The Philosophical Baby, The Scientist in the Crib.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em>Her\u00a0work draws on psychological, neuroscientific, and philosophical developments in child development research to understand how the human mind learns, how and why we love, our ability to innovate, as well as giving us a deeper appreciation for the role of parenthood.<\/p>\n In\u00a0this 2011 TED Talk, <\/span>What do babies think?<\/em>, \u00a0Alison suggests that we should think about babies being a different developmental stage of the same species, like caterpillars and butterflies, except that babies are the brilliant butterflies flitting around the garden and exploring,\u00a0and we’re the caterpillars\u00a0who are inching along our narrow, grownup, adult path.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n