Alison Gopnik's Counterfactual Worlds: Why Do Children Pretend

1944 Words8 Pages
Using the concepts of counterfactual worlds and thoughts as a lens to further deepen our understanding of concepts of strong-tie and weak-tie relationships, and one’s journey, we can the get a better understanding of how the world works in each other’s perspective. Alison Gopnik, the author of Possible Worlds: Why Do Children Pretend, describes how the usage of counterfactual worlds, thinking and conceptual mapping is useful for people when a certain situation confronts them. Her reading makes her readers more curious on how it can help with finding any deeper meanings between other author’s readings such as Malcolm Gladwell’s reading, Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted, and Gregory Orr’s reading, Return to Hayneville in such…show more content…
This statement inspires the reader to look more into the Civils Rights Movement, the topic which Malcolm Gladwell was using in his reading to talk about strong-tie and weak-tie relationships. What Alison says is “Once you know how one thing is casually connected to another you can predict what will happen to one thing if you act to change another - you can see what a difference making things different will make” (Gopnik 172). In this quote, Gopnik uses the word “casually” this refers to the connection between the reality world and the imaginary/counterfactual world doesn’t have to be a strong and detailed one but it has to have some sort of similarity. The phrase “you can see what a difference making things different will make” indicates that with thoughts running through the imaginary world comes great ideas but with action in the real world comes reality with which tests whether the “great ideas” made will really be great and beneficial to the world. The way she showcases the word act ties in with the Civil Rights Movement because the people who thought having equal rights needed to act upon every day for a long time in order to bring about the social change that we have today in our every-day lives. Malcolm quotes an entire…show more content…
Gopnik describes this as an efficient way for humans to progress further in their lives by saying “But having a casual theory of the world makes it possible to consider alternative solutions to a problem, and their consequences, before you actually implement them, and it lets you make a much wider and more effective range of interventions” (Gopnik 173). The key phrase “casual theory of the world makes it possible to consider alternative solutions to a problem, and their consequences” implements that the normal decision-making process we go by is another way for all humans around all ages to connect to these possible counterfactual worlds that help us zone in on a more “effective range of interventions”. This is not only related to those who go this process now, but also to those who used it in the past such as the time during Gregory’s memoir of his past. Orr’s reading was about how he was telling his story to his student and his student’s student. Orr started telling us that “the governor of Mississippi had called a secret mission of the legislature, and the movement was organizing a mass demonstration to draw national attention to what it suspected was serious political skullduggery. At ten in the morning on June 14, about five hundred of us - men, women, teenagers, old
Show More
Related

  • Alison Gopnik's Possible Worlds: Why Do Children Pretend?

    1541 Words  | 7 Pages

    The perception of reality varies for each individual throughout space and time. In Alison Gopnik’s essay, “Possible Worlds: Why Do Children Pretend?” she explains how the ability to pretend influences decision making and the development of modern technology. Sherry Turkle’s essay, “Alone Together,” is an in depth example of how advances in technology are shaping society. The exposure to new knowledge and modern technology creates a barrier between individuals. This barrier is not only between generations

    Read More

More about Alison Gopnik's Counterfactual Worlds: Why Do Children Pretend

Open Document