The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children

by Alison Gopnik

Evolution may have given us the instinct to value children and the goal of helping them thrive. But it’s important to remember that we also have the distinctively human ability to reinvent our social arrangements to help achieve that goal. The initial motivation to care for children may come from evolution, but we can implement it in all sorts of brand-new ways.