The Dichotomy of Predictability and Creativity

From June 19

Setting: Watching a squirrel climb up a fire hydrant on campus.

Maia: "When I'm a squirrel, I'm going to climb up fire hydrants, too!"

I explained that Maia's most likely not going to be a squirrel, even when she gets older, and she started down a verbal path that lasted 15-20 minutes . . .

Maia: "When I get older, I am going to be a biiiig squirrel. No. When I get older, I'm going to be a biiiiig bird. There will be another Maia walking, watching me fly up high. Dada, you will be an airplane. You will fly up high next to me. There will be another matching Dada named Steve." (It went on like this for several minutes.)

Later on, she explained that Cara was going to be a bird, too, but a small one. Maia was going to be a big one like Vlad Vladikoff.

Of course, I am fascinated by this imaginative leap she has taken within the past few days. What fascinates me most, is related to a blog post from the mother of Maia's best friend who moved out West. If you read further down, you will see that Harper is going through some VERY similar cognitive developments -- for her, she will be a frog who will "jump out of windows REALLY quick".

This has been something that I have been extremely interested in since Maia was born. Babies, toddlers and small children seem to go down two parallel tracks of development--those things that make them unique individuals, and those things that are genetically programmed into their makeup. In some ways, they are unpredictable, amusing creatures in the natural world. In other ways, they are perfectly predictable robots who are determined to fulfill their destiny.

This type of imaginative talk is a case of both developmental paths. On one hand, her imagination is perfectly unique. No other kid has come up with the same story she has. On the other hand, her imagination is perfectly predictable. She HAS to go through this mental exercise of wondering what she will be like when she is older. Will she be a bigger version of herself? Or will she be something completely different, like a bird or a squirrel. If she is something different, how fun would it be to do the things that those creatures can do? Harper's similar conversation is no coincidence. They are about 3 months apart. They are PROGRAMMED to think that way at this age.

As a software developer who deals with both absolutes and creativity simultaneously, this dichotomy fascinates me. How can we all be so predictable and unpredictable at the exact same time? I love it.