it's mine

[infinitemind]

I wonder if the real movers of this world played well with others when they were young. Did they share, or did they stake a claim to what was theirs and defend that claim?

Would definitely be a fun child psychology project. Hmm, i wonder if there's any data on this now. Time to research.

Comments

[slappytanker]

It depends on what the potentially shared object was.

For instance, I share my chocolate with others. But come dinner-time, I'm reluctant to share my Pad Thai. It's not necessarily a matter of germs, just a matter of MY FOOD. :-D

Bear in mind that analyzing children probably wouldn't be a good test, since they are evil little pissants who can't even talk right.

[laura_abroad]

Not about childhood, exactly, but...
I'm pretty sure that as people in general, the movers and shakers have been, during their lifetimes, considered totally insane, unpleasant, unsociable, etc. Even when we examine their lives today, we tend to forgive the bad things they did -- take Dickens, for example. It's just the way they're remembered that makes them "great people".

Specifically about childhood, I'd think that some behaviors probably did begin to manifest themselves at that point, just because of normal psychological development. You'd have to study the influence of their parents and environment, which probably also had bearing on their later vocation, &c, &c. Did a future scientist behave the same way as did a future novelist? What were the circumstances that led them to those professions?

What specific people did you have in mind?

[infinitemind]

No one specific, actually. But if i had to think of people that i might have thought of upon writing, i'd look towards such entrepreneurs as John D Rockefeller, Bill Gates, Mark Cuban, Jeff Bezos, etc. The thought actually came as karen was mentioning that her cousin, who had just entered kindergarten (i think), was having a little problem with sharing.

But you extended the initial reach of my post quite well. What would be the difference in behavior between a physicist , an innovative businessman, and a novelist? And how does this fall back in line with my initial question? Which might generally possess a more selfish attitude?

And to take that a bit deeper, i wonder to what extent these children tend to be punished for their selfishness, if indeed they do have a stronger sense of self interest than the average whiny brat.

My general hypothesis is that some children, for whatever reason, are generally more selfish than others, and if left alone enough for that selfishness to develop (and checked enough so that they don't become

[speedoflug]

Hey remember my friend Nick that I dragged to your apartment like four years ago? Tall blonde dude? He's moving to Dallas. you guys should be friends. Maybe you will play well together :)

[anise]

dude, when you're in these kinds of funky daniel moods, why not give me a buzz and if you're available, we could meet up and have a chat... i could use a good friend every now and then... and HEY! What do you know. You're a good friend ;)

~s