How aware are we?

The psychologist Alison Gopnik believes “young children are actually more conscious, more vividly aware … than adults are.” What does your experience with children (or your own childhood) say about this? Does the ego play a role here?

Discussion

Michael April 30, 2010

Having been around children a good bit, my own & others: Kids don’t have as much knowledge of life that they can use to interpret things. Like, they’ll see something going on and not know what it “means.” But awareness, yes, they’re always noticing things that I did not & are sensitive to nonverbal cues etc. And yes I think the ego plays a role since theirs is less developed, but not sure how, have to think about it. Thanks for raising the subject.

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Kanth Miriyala May 5, 2010

First of all, Krishna, I am glad that you have started this blog. I am hoping that you will be able to – over time – take all of us readers through your personal journey from the ego to the spirit.

I guess, all of us as children were so absorbed in the moment, in the present. In whatever activity we were doing that we enjoyed every bit of it. Mind was not traveling. Somehow, we seem to “learn” over time, by mental conditioning, to let the mental horses run and take us away with them. The way to hold them and bring them back seems to be “aware”…watch ourselves…and the mere fact of watching ourselves brings us into our “real me”

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