Many of the ideas I am presenting are based on academic research but they have been road-tested in many public lectures and informal gatherings up and down the UK. When you need to talk in a way that most people can understand, it forces you to cut to the chase; to stop waffling and get to the heart of the matter. Academics are trained to recognize weaknesses, but in doing so we can become so preoccupied in hedging our bets, being qualified in our assertions and cautious in our interpretations, that we often are seen to be sitting on a fence of indecision. That’s why writing a book such as this one might make an academic nervous.
Thankfully, I have been helped along the way. I am indebted to colleagues, students, friends, and family who have read different versions, made suggestions and generally encouraged me to be less nervous about the book. In alphabetical order I would like to thank Sara Baker, Paul Bloom, Peter Brugger, Zoltan Dienes, Katy Donnelly, Alison Dunlop, Shiri Einav, Margaret Evans, Norman Freeman, Susan Gelman, Iain Gilchrist, Thalia Gjersoe, Richard Gregory, Charlotte Hardie, Hilary and Peter Hodgson, Loyale Hood, Ross Hood, Marjaana Lindeman, Neil Macrae, Peter Millican, Steven Pinker, Paul Rozin, Reba Rosenberg, Ali Smith, Elaine Snell, Arno van Voorst and Alice Wilson. I thank my agent Andrew Stuart, all those at HarperOne, especially Eric Brandt and Laura Lee Mattingly. I also want to thank all those working in the Bristol Cognitive Development Centre who have supported me in this project.
The thesis I present in this book is one that I have been developing over the course of my professional academic life. However, it really came to life after arriving at the University of Bristol, which has been a supportive and nurturing environment to work in. I could not have maintained my research program without the support of the UK agencies that fund my work. I would like to thank the Economic and Social Research Council, the Medical Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
I dedicate this book to my girls.