Are newborn babies conscious participants in the world from the very start?
In short: Philosopher and psychologist Claudia Passos Ferreira presents new neuroscience suggesting that newborns and potentially late-term fetuses possess conscious awareness. This perspective challenges long-held assumptions about early human development and offers a transformative view of the beginning of life.
Recent neurological research indicates that the capacity for conscious experience may emerge much earlier than previously assumed. By examining the cognitive potential of infants, this work shifts the focus from viewing newborns as passive beings to recognizing them as active participants in their environment.
This shift in understanding has profound implications for developmental psychology and philosophy, suggesting that the foundations of consciousness are established well before birth. These findings, shared at TED2025 on April 10, 2025, invite a re-evaluation of how we perceive the earliest stages of human existence.
Opens the Intellect+ feed with this card first. Swipe up for the next one.
Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Inside the Mind of a Newborn Baby | Claudia Passos Ferreira | TED
To cite this card, link to https://intellectplus.co.uk/app/ideas-inside-the-mind-of-a-newborn-baby-claudia-passos-ferreira.
How we source, check and correct cards: Editorial standards.
General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.
Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?
Related
More in Consciousness · More in Ideas & Philosophy · Latest · A–Z · All topics
