from Hacker News

The Toddler Mindset: Decision-Making Without Constraints

by vinaygaba on 2/18/25, 4:40 PM with 3 comments

• by elmerfud on 2/18/25, 4:58 PM

  It's an interesting concept but toddlers also have no ideas about consequences as well. One of the most powerful things that humans can do is understand consequences and predict those consequences prior to taking an action or when considering a solution.

  So while it's great to unburden yourself from conventional ways of thinking about solutions taking the toddler mindset means you remain ignorant of the consequences as well. This often leads toddlers into some very bad paths because curiosity says fire is pretty. Wanting the shiny object at the top shelf can lead to the shelf toppling over and self-injury or death.

• by vinaygaba on 2/18/25, 4:40 PM

  I recently wrote about something I call "Toddler Mindset"—a way of approaching decisions by asking what’s possible instead of what’s allowed.

  It’s a mental shift I'm forcing myself to learn after watching my daughter have zero regard for rules that we as adults invent for ourselves.

  It's utility extends beyond just engineering systems and is even more applicable in how I'm trying to think about life in general.

  I'm new to expressing my non-programming related thoughts on the internet so....be kind