In the essay “Possible Worlds: Why do Children Pretend?” by Alison Gopnik she explains her theory of counterfactual thinking and the result of that being possible worlds. Gopnik suggests that counterfactuals are the possibilities of what could have occurred in life. These counterfactuals are the cause, and the effect is the creation of possible worlds. Gopnik defines possible worlds as “the productions of hope and imagination” (163). Possible worlds are seen as the result of a counterfactual; they are the possibilities of what could have happened. Alison Gopnik also speaks on how knowledge and imagination coincide to form these possible worlds. According to Gopnik causal knowledge is knowing that because two things are connected you can figure
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One of her first claims is after she conducts an experiment between a fifteen-month-old to an eighteen-month-old baby. Her trial was to see if the younger baby can think counterfactually. The way she did this was by taping the whole of a ring piece and leaving the other rings empty, to see if the baby would place that tricked ring on the pole. Evidently, the fifteen-month-old placed the trick ring on and realized it didn’t work and tried the other pieces. This method is known as trial and error. On the other hand, the eighteen-month-old baby was aware of the trick piece and avoided that piece altogether. Gopnik claims “as they got older and learned more about how the world worked, babies would behave entirely differently” (166). This quote comes after she notices that the older babies weren’t fooled by the ring. It relates to how growing older and learning more about the world gives humans the ability to think counterfactually. In turn, this experiment relates to how the young chimpanzees use the trial and error method like the fifteen-month-old babies. With this understanding, it can be implied that animals are similar to babies, both need growth to learn. With growth it is clear that familiarity occurs. As seen in the span of three months, the trial and error method was not used by the baby likewise, if the chimpanzee matures, he as well will not be fooled with the tricked ring piece. It is …show more content…
This quote is what she describes as causal knowledge. This means that one must grow and be familiar with things around them in order to think this way. Not only does causal knowledge come with time to create counterfactual thoughts, as seen in the experiment, but so does imagination. One must learn things about the world in order to form imaginations and visions. Gopnik suggests that “learning language gives children a whole powerful new way to imagine. Being able to talk gives you a particularly powerful way to put old ideas together in new ways, and to talk about things that aren’t there” (169). This statement relates to how young babies are able to say “no” and the power of that word. Learning language by hearing other people use it around them, is what gives them the ability to speak. The use of the word is for the child to say it when they know something isn’t true, therefore having an imagination of what the truth really is. On the other hand, animals lack the ability to speak, but that doesn’t mean they can’t imagine. According to Gopnik imagination and causal thinking coincide, therefore if an animal becomes familiar with how things react and what occur, they too have the ability to imagine. Gopnik states “animals, may act on the world effectively without necessarily understanding the world in a causal way.
One of her first claims is after she conducts an experiment between a fifteen-month-old to an eighteen-month-old baby. Her trial was to see if the younger baby can think counterfactually. The way she did this was by taping the whole of a ring piece and leaving the other rings empty, to see if the baby would place that tricked ring on the pole. Evidently, the fifteen-month-old placed the trick ring on and realized it didn’t work and tried the other pieces. This method is known as trial and error. On the other hand, the eighteen-month-old baby was aware of the trick piece and avoided that piece altogether. Gopnik claims “as they got older and learned more about how the world worked, babies would behave entirely differently” (166). This quote comes after she notices that the older babies weren’t fooled by the ring. It relates to how growing older and learning more about the world gives humans the ability to think counterfactually. In turn, this experiment relates to how the young chimpanzees use the trial and error method like the fifteen-month-old babies. With this understanding, it can be implied that animals are similar to babies, both need growth to learn. With growth it is clear that familiarity occurs. As seen in the span of three months, the trial and error method was not used by the baby likewise, if the chimpanzee matures, he as well will not be fooled with the tricked ring piece. It is …show more content…
This quote is what she describes as causal knowledge. This means that one must grow and be familiar with things around them in order to think this way. Not only does causal knowledge come with time to create counterfactual thoughts, as seen in the experiment, but so does imagination. One must learn things about the world in order to form imaginations and visions. Gopnik suggests that “learning language gives children a whole powerful new way to imagine. Being able to talk gives you a particularly powerful way to put old ideas together in new ways, and to talk about things that aren’t there” (169). This statement relates to how young babies are able to say “no” and the power of that word. Learning language by hearing other people use it around them, is what gives them the ability to speak. The use of the word is for the child to say it when they know something isn’t true, therefore having an imagination of what the truth really is. On the other hand, animals lack the ability to speak, but that doesn’t mean they can’t imagine. According to Gopnik imagination and causal thinking coincide, therefore if an animal becomes familiar with how things react and what occur, they too have the ability to imagine. Gopnik states “animals, may act on the world effectively without necessarily understanding the world in a causal way.