The Blank Slate MYTH
A few weeks ago I observed Jacob, my now 2 year old, pulling on a rope, that was attached to a tree. He would run with it until it ran out of slack and would yank him to the ground. (watch video) He didn't like getting pulled back or falling; but he continued to pull the rope and run. Repeatedly.
I wondered WHY he kept doing this. Wasn't he learning?
But then I observed him in the backyard... with his play horse.
He had observed his dad take the dog for a walk ON A LEASH and now he was walking his toy horse ON A LEASH.
If I pull on the rope, MY LEASH, then... what's attached will follow.
He had LEARNED this from observation and was just applying it to the tree. But the tree didn't behave like his WORKING THEORY.
For years it was thought that a student's mind was a blank slate. MYTH!! From the moment a person enters this world as an infant they are learning. They don't know they...