I think we need to strongly consider the class implications of political belief (like socialism), and the psychology/emotional needs those beliefs meet. Rob, you’ve already done this with your “luxury beliefs” framing. Political ideologies (especially among the upper class) rarely seem like sincere expressions of policy desires these days.
When I read the interesting fact about respiratory disease transmission to younger children I immediately thought about FREDO in The Godfather 2. Remember that scene when he is an ill child and they try to heal him with a butterfly 🦋.
Regarding babies and babbling: I remember noticing that when my third daughter was that age, she would babble whenever her older sisters were talking. What made it hilarious was that she would perfectly mimic their gestures and intonation in her baby babble; when they paused, she would also pause.
I wonder if it is less of an attempt by the baby to re-focus her mother's attention on her, or more that she views her mother as the best role model in learning how to communicate? Clearly, my youngest viewed her older siblings as the ones she should emulate, because I don't think I recall her doing the same thing when I was talking.
I don't remember if my eldest babbled specifically when I was talking - I mostly remember her just babbling to herself constantly while she was playing. And my second-born was a weird baby who never cooed, never babbled, never did the toddler jibber-jabber - she was pretty much just silent until she was about two, at which point she started speaking very clearly in complete sentences. However, I should probably note that my two older children are not neurotypical - the eldest is on the autism spectrum and the second one has severe ADHD and possible a touch of the 'tism as well. The youngest daughter is the lone "normal" person in our family.
I think we need to strongly consider the class implications of political belief (like socialism), and the psychology/emotional needs those beliefs meet. Rob, you’ve already done this with your “luxury beliefs” framing. Political ideologies (especially among the upper class) rarely seem like sincere expressions of policy desires these days.
https://jmpolemic.substack.com/p/our-ruling-class
When I read the interesting fact about respiratory disease transmission to younger children I immediately thought about FREDO in The Godfather 2. Remember that scene when he is an ill child and they try to heal him with a butterfly 🦋.
Did Mario Puzzo somehow intuit this?!
Regarding babies and babbling: I remember noticing that when my third daughter was that age, she would babble whenever her older sisters were talking. What made it hilarious was that she would perfectly mimic their gestures and intonation in her baby babble; when they paused, she would also pause.
I wonder if it is less of an attempt by the baby to re-focus her mother's attention on her, or more that she views her mother as the best role model in learning how to communicate? Clearly, my youngest viewed her older siblings as the ones she should emulate, because I don't think I recall her doing the same thing when I was talking.
I don't remember if my eldest babbled specifically when I was talking - I mostly remember her just babbling to herself constantly while she was playing. And my second-born was a weird baby who never cooed, never babbled, never did the toddler jibber-jabber - she was pretty much just silent until she was about two, at which point she started speaking very clearly in complete sentences. However, I should probably note that my two older children are not neurotypical - the eldest is on the autism spectrum and the second one has severe ADHD and possible a touch of the 'tism as well. The youngest daughter is the lone "normal" person in our family.