Behavioralism

Last week I put little Elliot on his back.  He squirmed, twisted, pulled his hands up behind his head.  He kicked one chubby leg forward and tucked the other in.  And Lo did he roll to one side, as had been prophesied.

Then I cheated.  I wanted to give him some tummy time, you see, and he was so close to being on his tummy....

As I was shoving him onto his belly, a thought struck me.  How will he react to this?  The physical sensation of flopping from your side to your face...would it be exciting? Scary? Disorienting?

It turned out to be none of the above.

His reaction was one I hadnt even considered: Pride. He thought he'd done it himself, and he was proud of this!  It was fascinating.  Not happiness, not pleasure, not love.  The pride of accomplishment, that's what flooded across his face.

No adult taught him to have this feeling.  He couldn't possibly have mimicked someone, aped the behavior of his mom or dad.  He's far too young for any kind of cultural apparatus to have taken hold.

I had a moment then, one that I would guess everyone reading this has had.  A simple thought suddenly seems profound.  A common truth feels like wisdom.  For a moment your mind's eye pulls back to take in all things, and you glimpse the larger meaning, you see how it all fits together, you touch the divine.

There's an impulse to share this great insight, so you open your mouth --- and a cliche pops out.  In my case it was, "Wow, it's like, we are born, like, totally complete human beings."

But during that nanosecond before the shutter snaps closed, and you realize that your profound insight was just common sense, it actually feels like you're the first person in history to have this thought.