Childhood Is Not the Past — Can We Still Rewrite Our Own Story?

Early scripts run deep, but are not absolute

Oliver James, a British child psychologist, tells TMTPost’s Edu Guide (Edu指南) that the earliest months and years of life leave powerful, often lifelong imprints on self‑identity and attachment patterns — yet they do not write our fate in stone. It has been reported that James cited a longitudinal U.S. study finding as many as 90% of severely abused children develop serious mental‑health problems in adulthood, and he used the famous “still‑face” experiment and the 1990s Romanian orphan studies to illustrate how sensitive caregiving — or its absence — shapes a child’s expectations of relationships. These are blunt conclusions: early neural growth and repeated interpersonal responses help form the “electrochemical thermostat” of personality and the attachment styles that determine how we expect others to treat us.

How patterns get passed on — and what really transmits trauma

James argues the primary vehicle for intergenerational transmission is behavioral patterning, not simple DNA. He reportedly pointed to classic cross‑fostering experiments in rodents to show that caregiving styles — licking and grooming in the lab example — can propagate across generations via learned interaction patterns rather than heredity alone. He also drew on his own family story, noting how different parental responses can send siblings down very different life paths. For Western readers unfamiliar with Chinese outlets, the piece appears in TMTPost, a mainland media platform that often reprints longform interviews on culture and education; the interview frames these psychological findings for a general Chinese audience.

Hope and hard work: can the script be rewritten?

If early life lays a foundation, can we change the house built on it? James offers a cautious yes: humans have consciousness, choice and the capacity for corrective relationships — in therapy, in committed partnerships, and through deliberate parenting — that can alter maladaptive scripts. It has been reported that even children rescued from extreme neglect often improve intellectually and socially when given sustained, responsive care, though some attachment scars persist. So the question remains: do we accept the childhood script, or do we actively redraft it? As James and others quoted in the interview imply, rewriting takes time and attention — but it is possible, and perhaps morally urgent: don’t pass on the pain.