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I think of it in terms of the brain's pattern-recognition capacity: As we experience more of the world over time, the model of the world we build internally ge

I think of it in terms of the brain's pattern-recognition capacity: As we experience more of the world over time, the model of the world we build internally gets more and more elaborate. Eventually, we experience enough we can start noticing metapatterns. Something like, "if something is bad, it usually doesn't get better" is an example of a metapattern which seems like it could be in play in this study. Of course, we lose out on some experiences, because that heuristic is quite prone to false negatives. I think that's basically what the experiment in the article illustrates, this "lossy filter" in our brain's future-planner. (I am making no claims about the physical structure of the brain.)

ilaksh 5y ago
Makes sense but I suspect (not an expert) that there are sort of fundamental/physical ways that children's brains differ. Somehow different chemistry or structures involved.
- playpause 5y ago
  These ideas aren’t exclusive, in fact they may require each other to be true.
- mattdeboard 5y ago
  Yes, in fact this is true.[1] “Indeed, [due to an immature prefrontal cortex] adolescents are risk-taking and novelty-seeking individuals and they are more likely to weigh positive experiences more heavily and negative experiences less so than adults. This behavioral bias can lead to engagement in risky activities like reckless driving, unprotected sex, and drug abuse.” There is a great deal of research on this. Its implications for society are profound. Robert Sapolsky is a prominent public face of the latest science on the development of the human brain and the implications for society. He can be found all over YouTube, and I can personally attest his latest book, “Behave,” is illuminating. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621648/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621648/
hyperpallium2 5y ago
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few." - Shunryu Suzuki https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin

ilaksh 5y ago

Makes sense but I suspect (not an expert) that there are sort of fundamental/physical ways that children's brains differ. Somehow different chemistry or structures involved.

playpause 5y ago
These ideas aren’t exclusive, in fact they may require each other to be true.
mattdeboard 5y ago
Yes, in fact this is true.[1] “Indeed, [due to an immature prefrontal cortex] adolescents are risk-taking and novelty-seeking individuals and they are more likely to weigh positive experiences more heavily and negative experiences less so than adults. This behavioral bias can lead to engagement in risky activities like reckless driving, unprotected sex, and drug abuse.” There is a great deal of research on this. Its implications for society are profound. Robert Sapolsky is a prominent public face of the latest science on the development of the human brain and the implications for society. He can be found all over YouTube, and I can personally attest his latest book, “Behave,” is illuminating. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621648/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621648/

hyperpallium2 5y ago

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few." - Shunryu Suzuki https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin