Development of Ego and Internal World in Children

Children start developing a rudimentary sense of self between one to two years of age, as demonstrated in the mirror test. The complexity of the ego grows rapidly in the first three to four years, leading to the development of a theory of mind. The internal world of a child develops early with no guidance on how to navigate it without getting completely identified with it. Emotions are learned from parents, leading to repression and a quote by Brian Aldiss highlights how adults are essentially the remnants of the death of childhood.