The case for thinking like a child
4/27/202645 min
Sean talks with psychologist Alison Gopnik about how children think, learn, experience the world, and why their minds may be more powerful than ours in some crucial ways. They explore the idea that kids are the “research and development” wing of the human species, built for exploration, curiosity, and discovery, while adults are optimized for focus, efficiency, and getting things done. Along the way, they discuss why children notice things we’ve stopped seeing, what we lose when we grow up, and what parenting reveals about love, care, and the nature of intelligence itself. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Alison Gopnik (@AlisonGopnik) We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
[gentle music] What to Make of a Life is the new book from Jim Collins, bestselling author of Good to Great. Based on ten years of research, What to Make of a Life offers transformative teachings on what it takes to navigate your way through periods of fog, make it past life's inevitable cliffs, and keep the inner fire burning bright, long, and late. Step into frame with What to Make of a Life, the instant New York Times bestseller by Jim Collins. Available from HarperEdge wherever books are sold.
Speaker 10:29
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Sean Illing· Host1:02
[gentle music] Imagine you're walking down the street with your three-year-old daughter. You're trying to get somewhere, maybe work, maybe the gym, wherever. But she's not. She stops for a crack in the sidewalk or some random stick on the ground or maybe an airplane zooming by. Of course, you're getting annoyed because she's distracted, and it's holding you up. But the truth