Alison Gopnik delivers a lecture for the Natural Philosophy Forum, addressing the philosophical problem of knowledge and how humans develop accurate worldviews from sensory data. She critiques traditional rationalist and empiricist solutions, advocating for a life-history approach that considers the extended period of childhood and the role of elders in human development. Gopnik proposes that human intelligence is not general but consists of multiple intelligences that trade off against each other: exploitation (adult intelligence), exploration (childhood), and care (elderhood). She connects childhood exploration to causal learning and empowerment, and she discusses caregiving as a unique form of altruism that enables cultural transmission. The lecture concludes with a Q&A session, where Gopnik addresses questions about funding for exploratory research, the impact of trauma on development, and the potential for AI systems to benefit from incorporating principles of care and developmental diversity.
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