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Artwork for Philosophy for Kids / Philosophy's Not Boring: The Kids Philosophy Podcast
Philosophy for Kids / Philosophy's Not Boring: The Kids Philosophy Podcast · October 3 · 12 min

What is object permanence?

Have you ever played peekaboo with a tiny baby and wondered why they laugh so incredibly hard? To you, it's just a simple game of hiding your face. But to a baby, you are performing the greatest magic trick in the universe! Join Mira and Finn as they uncover the wild world of baby brains and a famous Swiss thinker named Jean Piaget. In the 1920s, Piaget watched kids play and realized something amazing: babies don't just know less than adults; they actually think completely differently! Before they learn a big concept called "object permanence," babies literally believe that when a toy—or your face—is covered by a blanket, it vanishes into thin air! Imagine if your bedroom disappeared entirely every time you closed your eyes! Discover how kids slowly build their reality step-by-step, why a clever crow wouldn't find your peekaboo game funny at all, and how modern scientists use cool eye-tracking tech to test what babies really know. Get ready to discover exactly how your mind grew up!

0:00-12:01

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Have you ever played peekaboo with a tiny baby and wondered why they laugh so incredibly hard? To you, it's just a simple game of hiding your face. But to a baby, you are performing the greatest magic trick in the universe! Join Mira and Finn as they uncover the wild world of baby brains and a famous Swiss thinker named Jean Piaget. In the 1920s, Piaget watched kids play and realized something amazing: babies don't just know less than adults; they actually think completely differently! Before they learn a big concept called "object permanence," babies literally believe that when a toy—or your face—is covered by a blanket, it vanishes into thin air! Imagine if your bedroom disappeared entirely every time you closed your eyes! Discover how kids slowly build their reality step-by-step, why a clever crow wouldn't find your peekaboo game funny at all, and how modern scientists use cool eye-tracking tech to test what babies really know. Get ready to discover exactly how your mind grew up!

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