New Guinea, who “consider young children to be autonomous individuals whose desires should not be thwarted, and who are allowed to play with dangerous objects such as sharp knives, hot pots, and fires.” Though plenty of these kids grow up with physical scars, argues Diamond, they are the opposite of being emotionally scarred. Their “emotional security, self-confidence, curiosity, and autonomy” set them apart from children brought up by cautious Westerners.45
