As a species, humans have an extra-long childhood. And as any parent or caregiver knows, kids are expensive—they take an extraordinary amount of time, energy and resources to raise. So why do we have such a long childhood? What’s in it for us as a species? According to Alison Gopnik, PhD, of the University of California, Berkeley, the answer is that kids are the "R&D division of humanity," with brains optimized to explore the world and seek out new knowledge and experiences. Gopnik discusses her research and its implications for how we think about the purpose of childhood, how we raise and educate our children, the role of grandparents in teaching the next generation, and even how we might develop artificial intelligence systems inspired by children’s remarkable learning abilities.
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Alison Gopnik, PhD
Music
Inspiring Dramatic Beat #07 by tyops via Freesound.org
How to cope with news overload, with Markus Brauer, PhD, and Don Grant, PhD
Living a happy single life, with Geoff MacDonald, PhD
Why humans and other primates care so much about fairness, with Sarah Brosnan, PhD
Why you should apologize even when it’s hard to, with Karina Schumann, PhD
Understanding medical marijuana, CBD and more, with Ziva Cooper, PhD
Relationship advice from a couple psychologist, with Anthony Chambers, PhD
Why we procrastinate and what to do about it, with Fuschia Sirois, PhD
How to stop mass shootings, with Jillian Peterson, PhD
The psychology of political messaging, with Drew Westen, PhD
Reading minds using brain scans, with Kenneth Norman, PhD
How the need to belong drives human behavior, with Geoffrey L. Cohen, PhD
How to spend your time more wisely, with Cassie Holmes, PhD
How job loss and economic stress affect workers and their families, with Anna Gassman-Pines, PhD
Understanding the teenage brain, with Eva Telzer, PhD
Can you be addicted to food? With Ashley Gearhardt, PhD
Encore - How to overcome feeling like an imposter, with Lisa Orbé-Austin, PhD, and Kevin Cokley, PhD
Encore - Tasty words, colorful sounds - How people with synesthesia experience the world, with Julia Simner, PhD
What is borderline personality disorder? With Carla Sharp, PhD
The truth about why kids lie, with Victoria Talwar, PhD
Can we unlearn implicit biases? With Mahzarin Banaji, PhD
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