fabio guillermo rojas wrote:
>
> I'm sure that all of what you says applies to some degree (lower
> IQ, less punishment, etc), but it really comes down to
> biological development. Child brains simply aren't developed
> enough to (a) remember past behavior correctly, (b) connect behavior
> to punishment, (c) calculate risks.
But children in fact do all of the above. They do them to a lesser and
worse extent, but that is a different matter.
In any case, all of the deficiencies in children's brains you point out
more or less sound like extensions of their low absolute IQ.
> So when a child has a desire,
> they simply don't have the biological capacity to think about consequences
> very well.
Biological capacity? Or biological inclination?
> I'd also add that maybe children become socialized well by misbehaving.
> It's a weird idea, but it's a common observation that children are always
> "pushing the boundary." For example, children will test the "keep
> your hands to yourself" rule by moving their finger very close to your
> face and say "I'm not touching you!" Although it's annoying, this
> behavior will teach kids (via punishment) that people don't
> want to be touched and they need some personal space as well. Without
> the misbehavior, they never really learn the improtance of personal
> space. I'm sure that much of the unspoken rules of personal interaction
> are learned in this fashion (misbehavior-punishment cycles).
So this is basically my "time to learn" story, I guess?
> Fabio
--
Prof. Bryan Caplan
Department of Economics George Mason University
http://www.bcaplan.com [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"He wrote a letter, but did not post it because he felt that no one
would have understood what he wanted to say, and besides it was not
necessary that anyone but himself should understand it."
Leo Tolstoy, *The Cossacks*
