Sublime

Our earliest ability to think about the possible is in place well before we have a concept of who we are, what we value, and what talents, abilities, or potential we bring to bear in the service of our bigger plans and goals. From the start of life, assessments of what is possible are instrumental in guiding actions and decisions; they tell us

Such cultural norms are incorporated into our models in childhood, a period in which the brain is rapidly working out who it needs to be in order to best control its particular environment.

As the neuroscientist Gary Marcus explains, “Nature bestows upon the newborn a considerably complex brain, but one that is best seen as prewired—flexible and subject to change—rather than hardwired, fixed, and immutable.”

The loop of putting out actions and evaluating the feedback is the key to understanding not just motor babbling but also social babbling. Consider how you learned (and continue to learn) communication with other people. You constantly put social actions into the world, assess the feedback, and adjust. We rove the space of possibilities, trying out

Let’s start with your own assumptions. You

three different, yet overlapping, frames for redesigning it. They are homo sapiens, homo faber, and homo ludens—or humans who know, humans who make (things), and humans who play.

Scientists and children belong together in another way. The new research shows that babies and young children know and learn more about the world than we could ever have imagined. They think, draw conclusions, make predictions, look for explanations, and even do experiments. Scientists and children belong together because they are the best learners