Week 3: Thought, Language and Entering the Social World

These last couple of chapters The Emergence of Thought and Language and Entering the Social World Socioemotional Development in Infancy and Early Childhood were very interesting in my opinion.  All of what I read seemed perfectly logical and rational.  Both Piaget and Erickson are well regarded and their theories are backed by research and studies that can give us a good foundation to learn about human behavior and development.

I got a little caught up in the link from PBS on The History of the Brain.  I think it's fascinating that we have increased our understanding of the human brain by leaps and bounds just within the last one or two hundred years.  Prior to that, like over two thousand years prior that, we based a large part of our knowledge on what so-called educators and physicians presumed, not what they knew to be fact.

The ancient Egyptians regarded the essence of life coming from the heart and believed it to be the most important organ in the human body.  The heart is crucial to survival, that part was correct, yet the blatant disregard for the human brain despite it's obvious importance as we know now was evident in their embalming process as they prepared bodies for mummification.  I also was surprised to learn that in 450 BC the Greek physician, Alcmaeon concluded that the brain is an organ of sensation and reasoning, not the heart.  Alcmaeon's idea was not accepted at that time and almost a hundred years later Aristotle was still thinking in terms of the ancient Egyptians, claiming the heart is and organ of thought and sensation and the human brain just acts as a mere radiator within the body.

Without all of the people and events that have happened throughout history we would not be where we are today.  I am thankful I was born in this day and age, although I suppose they didn't know any different at the time either.  I guess my point is that I really appreciate the knowledge we have today about human development and  how the brain functions.  Hopefully we will continue to grow and learn in leaps and bounds.


Marci