NeverLandImagine the world, as you know it, identical to the small island of Neverland from Peter Pan. In Neverland, Peter Pan spends his "infinite childhood" interacting with mermaids, Indians, fairies, pirates, and even children from the world outside Neverland. Imagine our world, just a little less magical, but still with people spending their “infinite childhood”. As our economy transforms from an “agricultural and manufacturing economy” to an “information economy,” Alice Gopnik, a psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, believes this will ultimately lead to our society remaining “children forever". – or at least for much longer” (“Childhood Without End”). In his response to Edge.org's 2009 question of the year: "What's going to change everything?" Gopnik suggests that as the economy changes, people will have to learn a lot more information, and they will learn it during the early childhood years, because that's when we learn the most. She also indicates that prolonged learning during childhood is possible thanks to the understanding of “neural plasticity,” which basically “refers to the strengthening or weakening of nerve connections” and is primarily responsible for learning, among other things (“What is neural plasticity?” ?”). Along with neural plasticity, he believes that “the global spread of education” will also make increased learning during childhood more likely (Gopnik). Although less education puts us at a competitive disadvantage, with countries like Japan, South Korea, England, France, etc., I agree with Gopnik because if society has to endure a longer education, with additional information, in this ever-changing economy......middle of paper......y” is the most beneficial, ignoring all the new evidence of neural plasticity in adults, they force us to learn tons of information, leaving out the things we we need more that are REAL WORLD EXPERIENCES. The right balance between learning processes, independence, differentiated learning and allowing children to maintain their native brilliance as they grow is what can reverse this change. Just think of these two questions posed by Alice Gopnik, in her response on Edge.org: “When we are all children forever, who will be the parents? When we are all children, who will grow up?” (Gopnik) I believe that if we don't incorporate more opportunities for independence and continually support neural plasticity studies to show that we can continuously learn without having to force information into our heads, we will all be children and other countries will be the parents.