Part 2 Brain Games: A child is born Day 1 but what next

A child is born

But are all babies born equally equipped. Basically apart from medical issues all are equipped with everything ready to start a journey through life. There is much competition though. The UNICEF estimates that an average of 353,000 babies are born each day around the world. The crude birth rate is 18.9 births per 1,000 population or 255 births globally per minute or 4.3 births every second (as of 2014)

Our body consists of different systems of controls

1. In operation pre-natal
   1. Autonomous (operates independently of us being conscious or unconscious)
   2. Five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch and smell) obtaining data
   3. A sophisticated nervous system that links everything together.
   4. Conscience that is a base line for decision making on matters of choice
   5. Six sense or Instinctive protection.
2. Commencing from birth
   1. Consciousness
   2. Awareness
   3. Using oxygen from the atmosphere instead of embryonic fluid
   4. Developing conscience
   5. Building memories
   6. Information storage (like a data-base)

We know from Charles Darwin's research that over time isolated finches developed different shaped beaks etc., to meet local conditions showing how important it is to allow for this when studying human development. A child born to wealthy parents in a safe environment will present a different outcome to one born in a city that has been destroyed by armed conflict in an economically unstable area.

The tools are that same but the physical and cultural environment varies greatly.

The baby, unable to manage with its mother or skilled carer, has just arrived and seeks food, sleeps a lot despite the new sounds and breathing oxygen from air instead of embryonic fluid and feels cold. Bit by bit, taking time, starts to look at the source of the food and the smell of her mother. All senses are alert.

Unlike most animals that can stand up within minutes of being born and able to walk, feed etc., humans need a lot of assistance and progress is slow in comparison. A child already vocal but unable to talk are fed, carried about and as time goes by they learn to crawl, walk, climb. During this time they are educated and trained by older people. One of key words in a carers vocabulary is NO as it is important to establish limits or boundaries for safety and later for behaviour. Picture dictionaries assist allow images to be linked to actual and the vocabulary for language absorbed by these young minds. Youngsters in some parts of the world easily learn to speak the different languages used. So much is happening like tastes and smells are linked to like and dislike and day by day the brain is building information to be used in the future if and when required. Comparisons are made as well to determine the values of like and dislike.

Our Mind is not named yet, but what is our mind?

The brain is physically visible and its method of operation are understood but you may be surprised to find that there is no single, agreed upon definition of the mind. We are not going to try because it is important to understand how we use it. Perhaps it is easy to use the mind as the ability of the brain to communicate because it  is the element, part, or process in a human or other conscious being that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, judges, etc. We "make up out mind" and in recognition of other minds that might influence us we clarify this to "I will make up my own mind"

Once able to walk easily and confident the next stage of education and training is to meet some people outside of their comfort zone where everyone is 100% friendly. They are suddenly find themselves with lots of other youngsters about the same age and some big people in a child-minding centre. Here is where they need to establish the difference between ownership and possession. At home everything they possess they own. Now someone else owns everything they play with and they can play with a toy for a while. Some interesting interactions are observable however over time all manage to work together, establish friendship and learned more.  One important piece of knowledge quickly gained is the relevance of time and to link time with a programmable event. Time for lunch or to stop lunch, when to arrive and when to leave

Thus by the time they are ready for kindergarten we have a literate, well-mannered child that fits in with everyone. Well that's the theory anyway. Kindergarten or sometimes named pre-school specialised teachers become involved and their aim is to make sure no one is left behind in the education process.

There is also another set of people trying to educate these young people. Manufacturers anxious to sell their product target young people.  This billion dollar marketing campaign is everywhere; on televisions, film, radio,  and supermarkets. Special colours and graphic art on packaging and then  positioned on  low level shelving at a young person's eye level is linked to complimentary marketing to a mother who is informed of the benefits of their produced to the brain power of their children. These products are made very sweet and designed to appeal so once tried become 'essential'

This has introduced to young people the belief that they have rights , and very soon cite as reasons for possession or ownership their version of the conditions of free will,  freedom of choice, decision making, or alternatively use tantrums or behavioural patterns designed to dictate. This testing of willpower will work unless parents reminds them that rights need to be earned in the acceptance of responsibility.

What about Safety of the child.

Parents of children in this groups are with a few exceptions relatively safe. (See other posts for safety issues)

SUMMARY: This is not an academic paper but a sketch that is showing how the human brain is being used by our conscious mind. To do this it is important to see that learning starts Prenatal, continues postnatal, then into early childhood to kindergarten. The child's senses are absorbing and sorting so much under the positive influence of parents and friends and on the other side the interface problems with teachers, carers, non-relative children and the clever advertising by manufacturers. We see the introduction of new thought processes of the mind developing.

References

“Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind.” - Jeffrey Eugenides

World Count Source