3 ms·

Kids don't builder a coarser model of the evironment, adults do. Once again pg doesn't do his resaarch before espousing his amateur psychology.

gwern 17y ago
I came here to say just this. He's right for all the wrong reasons. In most mental areas, kids trounce adults; relevantly, their senses are much sharper. (Just the other day I saw an astronomer's anecdote: he was showing adults and kids some phenomena through his observatory's telescope, and the kids politely told him that it was obviously broken since the object was upside-down - the adults never noticed.) It's not a matter of them having a smaller coaser model, as one can see by comparing how kids & adults do with the 'pile of stuff' organizational model. They just have more energy to apply to it. As one ages, one has less energy to apply to stuff, and less energy period; and one begins to appreciate minimalism.
- Raphael 17y ago
  How can something be upside down in space?
  - tb 17y ago
    If it's close to the horizon then there's a definite "up" - towards the zenith. Many telescopes invert the incoming image, hence why the kids would've thought it was upside-down. (I am assuming the object in question was visible with the naked eye, probably the moon, although it's also possible that the children noticed that when the telescope moved, the image appeared to move in the "wrong" direction relative to their expectations.)
  - rubinelli 17y ago
    I think it's about how telescopes show images upside down, except for those that flip them back with mirrors.
gcb 17y ago
amateur psychologist to amateur psycologist, kids do not attach so much meaning to stuff as adults. Kid sees a red car. It's a red car. And has two dices hanging on the mirror. Adult sees a red car. It's a red car that cost X, was probably financed. Or does he had the money? Is that some custom paint job? When did he bought it? Is he still working at the same place? You see, the adult didn't even noticed the dices.

gwern 17y ago

I came here to say just this. He's right for all the wrong reasons. In most mental areas, kids trounce adults; relevantly, their senses are much sharper. (Just the other day I saw an astronomer's anecdote: he was showing adults and kids some phenomena through his observatory's telescope, and the kids politely told him that it was obviously broken since the object was upside-down - the adults never noticed.) It's not a matter of them having a smaller coaser model, as one can see by comparing how kids & adults do with the 'pile of stuff' organizational model. They just have more energy to apply to it. As one ages, one has less energy to apply to stuff, and less energy period; and one begins to appreciate minimalism.

Raphael 17y ago
How can something be upside down in space?
- tb 17y ago
  If it's close to the horizon then there's a definite "up" - towards the zenith. Many telescopes invert the incoming image, hence why the kids would've thought it was upside-down. (I am assuming the object in question was visible with the naked eye, probably the moon, although it's also possible that the children noticed that when the telescope moved, the image appeared to move in the "wrong" direction relative to their expectations.)
- rubinelli 17y ago
  I think it's about how telescopes show images upside down, except for those that flip them back with mirrors.

gcb 17y ago

amateur psychologist to amateur psycologist, kids do not attach so much meaning to stuff as adults. Kid sees a red car. It's a red car. And has two dices hanging on the mirror. Adult sees a red car. It's a red car that cost X, was probably financed. Or does he had the money? Is that some custom paint job? When did he bought it? Is he still working at the same place? You see, the adult didn't even noticed the dices.