How are children different from adults?
- From 4.5 to 5, they begin to think about other people’s thoughts. They begin to think that somebody can think something different from what they know, that people’s thoughts are private and maybe incorrect. People can have false thoughts about something that they know to be true. Once you understand that, then you can explain all sorts of things about why people do things which seem strange to you. They’re looking for things and you know that’s not where they are. It also means that you can understand how to surprise people, how to trick people because once you’ve met the split between the mind and the world, then you can think about people’s minds and manipulate the way the world is, so that they come to believe certain things about it.
- Sally & Anne