The Big Answer

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This 1977 book underlines a basic premise underlying everything you’ve read about the result of raising kids in MCs. And that principle is, in Pearce’s words, that: “An astonishing capacity for creative power is built into our genes, ready to unfold. Our innate capacities of mind are nothing less than miraculous, and we are born with a driving intent to express this capacity.” To see this in action, consult The Forest Through The Trees.

An astonishing capacity for creative power is built into our genes, ready to unfold. Our innate capacities of mind are nothing less than miraculous

Others (there are thousands) who’ve emphasized to mankind the incredible potentials of humans: John Holt, Buckminster Fuller, Erich Fromm, Abraham Maslow, Ronald Rohner, Thomas Gordon, Louise Hart, Joan Beck, Gail and Snell Putney, Wayne Dyer, Philip Slater, Riane Eisler, Penelope Leach, and John Pollard. Bucky Fuller and Pearce both feel that kids are “de-geniused” very early on, but people like Pearce, Erich Fromm, Abe Maslow and John Holt go on to describe just how this is done, what’s wrong with it, and how we can avoid doing it. You may find others in the Acceptable Parenting Methods section of our Books and Articles page, such as Aletha J. Solter (Helping Young Children Flourish) and Alfie Kohn (Unconditional Parenting).

Drawing on the wisdom of developmentalist Jean Piaget, Bruno Bettleheim, and the attachment school of child development, he emphasizes bonding, attachment, and the need to allow the child to explore, make choices, adventure, and learn naturally in a safe, secure environment—as explained in Maslow’s Toward a Psychology of Being.

One could say he goes too far when he jumps into Uri Geller-type spoon-bending as a potential of a child whose brain doesn’t get wrecked by the training it receives, but, since no one is really being raised as well and naturally as described in Pearce’s ideal upbringing, who’s to say?

The work has lots of references in the back, including Gordon’s P.E.T. book, but it suffers from the absence of dozens of other references which Pearce should have added to support his conclusions even more solidly. We feel our MC-centered website makes up for this lack.