From a very early age, everyboby wants to contribute. Everybody.

For reassurance, I looked at Jean Piaget’s “The Origins of Intelligence in Children.” (i.e., 1956). Piaget lays out the book in Stages. At its Sixth Stage, “The Invention of New Means Through Mental Combinations,” what we call intelligence appears.

It is at this stage that the child needs to also start to learn how to communicate with their coomunity. Some parents do this brilliantly for te child to ex;ress himself. Most do not do it at all^∇ and simply go by the Fiat playbook, “be quiet.”

I spite of it all, some people learn communicate via stories. They are at the root of our humanity.

All Good

From a very early age everyboby wants to contribute. This means that, among other things, we need to learn to communicate intelligibly from a very early age. When things come out in childish way, it is up to adults around the child to teach them how to say it in a more comprehensible ways, preferably without being confrontatonal.

What we do mostly is to tell the child to shut up. Don’t. Keep the children talking and teach them to speak in a way that make sense to the community, in a way that engages their humanity. The child will grow up happy and will jelp others live a happier live.

Bad People, Good People

The difference with bad people is that they almost always opt for violence. They impose their version of their reality on you. Feedback is at best ignored and at worst it become a capital offense. Everything they say is law.

The thing is that when it goes the route of violence, it becomes power over everything, including people. Violence begets more violence and it goes downhill from there. Hitler, in Geermany, and Putin, in Russia, are good examples of that: “I want them to fear me and celebrate my contribution. Resistance is futile”.

They started with good intentions, but then they noticed that the threat of violence was enough to control people. That is addictive.

All of Us

We start with intentions that benefit our communities, but the Fiat system eventually warp our intentions which is to contribute to those around us. Oftentimes is just a childish intent, “That tastes so good, we should eat it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are good, the childish intentions are good, but like many good things that have come out of the Fiat system, but not of benefit to the community.

“Sugar is so good that we should have it all the time” is childish because it comes from the limited context of the child. This is a chance for the child expand to her horizons. “You like sugar? I like sugary things too! But, y’know, eating sugary things all the time will make your teeth rot and your stomach hurt.“

Childish as it may be, it is a contribution.

ENDNOTES

• Linda DiProperzio. All About Child Speech and Language Milestones. August 16, 2023. <https://radicals.world/icon-the-origins-of-integlligence-in-children>