My husband’s sister, who is 6 years older than him, begged for voice lessons for years before their parents acquiesced when she was 13. She went on to become a semi-professional vocalist. At 7 years old, my husband noticed the lessons and concluded that if you could sing, someone carted you off to voice lessons as a teenager. When this failed to happen, he further concluded (wrongly but extremely firmly) that he must not be able to sing.
Weird little side story of a person’s creative development, but it matters that he interpreted the situation as a 7 year old, and through the rather self-absorbed lens that can be common in youngest children (especially as children).
I don’t know where I’m going with this exactly, except to say that these mistaken histories can shape all kinds of aspects of life. It wasn’t just the 7 year old version of him that was affected by this incorrect interpretation of what was happening around him... it lived on with him for literally decades and shaped numerous, if inconsequential, decisions.
My husband’s sister, who is 6 years older than him, begged for voice lessons for years before their parents acquiesced when she was 13. She went on to become a semi-professional vocalist. At 7 years old, my husband noticed the lessons and concluded that if you could sing, someone carted you off to voice lessons as a teenager. When this failed to happen, he further concluded (wrongly but extremely firmly) that he must not be able to sing.
Weird little side story of a person’s creative development, but it matters that he interpreted the situation as a 7 year old, and through the rather self-absorbed lens that can be common in youngest children (especially as children).
I don’t know where I’m going with this exactly, except to say that these mistaken histories can shape all kinds of aspects of life. It wasn’t just the 7 year old version of him that was affected by this incorrect interpretation of what was happening around him... it lived on with him for literally decades and shaped numerous, if inconsequential, decisions.
And a parental influence - the strongest of them all.
Apropos:
https://mattpmn.substack.com/p/meaningless-computer-worlds-cognitive-science