We pass our values, ideas and moral character on to our children, but we do that knowing that our children are going to revise our knowledge and reshape their values. There's something very paradoxical and profound about being a parent as opposed to parenting. We put in all this effort and energy not so that we can shape a child of a particular sort, but so that all sorts of possibilities can happen in the future.
Alison GopnikBabies and young children are like the research and development division of the human species, and we grown-ups are production and marketing.
Alison GopnikTo support the people we care about is intrinsic, it is not instrumental. It's not something we do because we're hoping to get some other outcome.
Alison GopnikBecause we imagine, we can have invention and technology. It's actually play, not necessity, that is the mother of invention.
Alison Gopnik