The Gray Area with Sean Illing

chevron_right

This changed how I think about love (with Alison Gopnik)

Jun 13, 2019

Guest

Alison Gopnik

Alison Gopnik, a renowned professor of psychology and philosophy at UC Berkeley, sheds light on the intricacies of love, creativity, and human relationships. She discusses the importance of nurturing parenting styles that prioritize emotional development over rigid structure. Gopnik dives into how children’s minds are more flexible, fostering creativity and challenging societal norms. She also emphasizes the value of community support in parenting and explores the balance between safety and the freedom to explore, all while reflecting on the evolution of storytelling and its impact on relationships.

01:34:57

forum

Ask episode

web_stories

AI Snips

view_agenda

Chapters

menu_book

Books

auto_awesome

Transcript

info_circle

Episode notes

question_answer

ANECDOTE

Gopnik's Early Interest in Children

Alison Gopnik, oldest of six, was fascinated by younger children's minds early on.
Reading Socrates at 10, she questioned his lack of focus on children and the continuity they represent.

insights

INSIGHT

Studying Children's Minds

Studying children's minds was difficult before new techniques like videotape emerged.
Gopnik's research uses these tools to explore how children understand abstract concepts like others' minds.

insights

INSIGHT

Children's Psychedelic-Like Experience

Children's experience, like those on psychedelics, is characterized by exploration and possibility.
Their brains, less controlled by the prefrontal cortex, resemble brains on psychedelics, prioritizing information over goals.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

The Wisdom of Childhood: Explorations in Learning and Belief

03:23 • 24min

chevron_right

Gardening vs. Carpentry in Parenting

27:01 • 31min

chevron_right

The Paradox of Parenting in a Competitive Economy

57:35 • 4min

chevron_right

Nurturing Exploration in Child Development

01:01:27 • 21min

chevron_right

The Evolution of Storytelling: From Fireside to Screen

01:22:34 • 2min

chevron_right

Cultivating Relationships as Gardens

01:24:12 • 7min

chevron_right

Influential Reads on Philosophy, Childhood, and Psychology

01:30:49 • 3min

chevron_right

A treatise of human nature

David Hume

In this influential work, Hume seeks to establish a 'science of man' by applying the experimental method of reasoning, inspired by Isaac Newton's achievements in the physical sciences. The treatise is divided into three books: 'Of the Understanding', 'Of the Passions', and 'Of Morals'. Hume argues that human behavior is driven by passions rather than reason, introduces the problem of induction, and defends a sentimentalist account of morality. He also discusses personal identity and free will from a sceptical and compatibilist perspective.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll

Ghost Reak Publications

How to Change Your Mind

What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

Michael Pollan

In this book, Michael Pollan delves into the history of psychedelic drugs, from their rise in the 1960s to their current resurgence in medical research. He combines historical and scientific analysis with personal narratives of his own experiences with psychedelics, such as LSD and psilocybin. The book explores how these substances are being used to treat conditions like depression, addiction, and anxiety, and discusses their potential to revolutionize our understanding of the human mind and consciousness. Pollan's work is a blend of science, memoir, and travel writing, offering a nuanced and engaging look at the therapeutic and spiritual benefits of psychedelics.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

A Natural History of Four Meals

Michael Pollan

In 'The Omnivore's Dilemma', Michael Pollan investigates the American food system by tracing the origins of four meals: one from McDonald's (representing industrial food), one from Whole Foods (representing industrial organic food), one from Polyface Farm (a sustainable farm), and one that he hunts, gathers, and grows himself. The book delves into the politics, perils, and pleasures of eating, highlighting the profound consequences of everyday food choices on health, the environment, and society. Pollan's narrative takes readers from Iowa cornfields to food-science laboratories, from feedlots to organic farms and hunting grounds, emphasizing the dynamic relationship between humans and the food they consume.

Exhalation

Stories

Ted Chiang

Exhalation is a collection of nine stories by Ted Chiang, each tackling different aspects of human existence, science, and philosophy. The stories range from 'The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,' which involves time travel and regret in ancient Baghdad, to 'Exhalation,' where an alien scientist discovers the universal implications of his people’s mechanical existence. Other notable stories include 'The Lifecycle of Software Objects,' which explores the ethics of artificial intelligence, and 'Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom,' which examines choice and free will through alternate universes. Chiang’s writing is characterized by its elegance, precision, and deep sympathy for his characters, making this collection a must-read for fans of science fiction that challenges the mind and evokes a sense of wonder.

The philosophical baby

Alison Gopnik

In 'The Philosophical Baby', Alison Gopnik challenges traditional views of infants and young children, revealing their remarkable abilities to learn, imagine, and experience the world. The book discusses how children's unique consciousness and learning strategies contribute to human creativity and morality. Gopnik also explores how understanding children's minds can shed light on deep philosophical questions about human existence.

Enlightenment Now

Steven Pinker

In 'Enlightenment Now', Steven Pinker presents a comprehensive argument that the values of the Enlightenment—reason, science, and humanism—have been instrumental in the progress of human society. He challenges the prevailing pessimism in modern discourse by presenting empirical evidence that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise globally. Pinker uses data and graphs to illustrate improvements in various aspects of human life, such as increased life expectancy, reduced child and maternal mortality, and advancements in medicine and technology. He also addresses the psychological biases that lead people to underestimate these improvements and emphasizes the importance of continuing to uphold Enlightenment ideals to ensure further progress.

The gardener and the carpenter

Alison Gopnik

In this book, Alison Gopnik illuminates the paradoxes of parenthood from a scientific perspective and challenges the myth of 'good parenting'. She argues that the contemporary approach to parenting, which has become obsessive, controlling, and goal-oriented, is not only based on bad science but also detrimental to both children and parents. Gopnik draws on human evolution and her own research to show that children are designed to be messy, unpredictable, playful, and imaginative, and that caring for them should not involve shaping them into a particular type of adult.

Alison Gopnik is a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of California Berkeley. She’s published more than 100 journal articles and half a dozen books. She runs a cognitive development and learning lab where she studies how young children come to understand the world around them, and she’s built on that research to do work in AI, to understand how adults form bonds with both children and each other, and to examine what creativity is and how we can nurture it in ourselves and — more importantly — each other.

I worry when I post these podcasts with experts in child development that people without children will pass them by. So let me be direct: Listen to this one. I didn’t have Gopnik on the show to talk about children; I had her on the show to talk about human beings. What makes us feel love for each other. How we can best care for each other. How our minds really work in the formative, earliest days, and what we lose as we get older. The role community is meant to play in our lives.

There is more great stuff in this conversation than I can write in an intro. She’s changed my thinking on not just parenting but friendships, marriage, and schooling. Some of these are ideas you could build a life around. This is worth your time.

Book recommendations:

A Treatise of Human Natureby David Hume

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The works of Jean Piaget

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Home Top podcasts Popular guests