One of the most distinctive evolutionary features of human beings is our unusually long, protected childhood.

There is a tension between our desire to get our kids to turn out a particular way versus letting them develop to be their own person. If there were a pill that would make my child turn out the way I wanted, I'm not sure I'd take it.

What teenagers want most of all are social rewards, especially the respect of their peers.

I'm culturally Jewish but, like most scientists, an atheist: I don't believe there's a God or supernatural world. Buddhism offers guidance on what to do in a world without God: It opines that truly being present in the world‚ experiencing and hanging out with your loved ones, provides all the significance you could want.

What's it like to be a baby? It's like being in love in Paris for the first time after you've had three double espressos.

From an evolutionary perspective children are, literally, designed to learn. Childhood is a special period of protected immaturity. It gives the young breathing time to master the things they will need to know in order to survive as adults.

Caring, whether for children or the dying, shouldn't be instrumental. It should be an intrinsic, moral good.