Baby Scientists with Faulty Data

I listened to some of this while driving this morning. Too bad I had an appointment and had to get out of the car.

Some of it was funny/charming, other parts poignant, making me ashamed to be an adult.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/188/kid-logic?act=1#play

In the beginning, they were saying that before the age of 6, children don't have a clear understanding of real, and imaginary. Someone would sit in the room with a kid, showing them an empty box, and closing it in front of them. To some of the kids they would say "Let's imagine there's a puppy in the box." to others "Let's imagine there's a monster in the box" They would then ask the kids if there was Really a puppy or monster in there, and the kids would reply that no, they knew they were just pretending.

However, when the adult would leave the room, every kid that imagined a puppy, would peek in, just to make sure. Every kid that imagined a monster would scoot away from the box a little, just in case.

Then there's the Tooth Fairy. Everybody knows there's a Tooth Fairy. An adult would ask a kid what the TF did with all the teeth, and every one of them had a story, even if it was "She likes to collect them" One little girl said "She takes them to a land far far away, and builds castles with them." The adult asked, "Why doesn't she use bricks like we do to make houses?"

Without missing a beat she replied "Because teeth aren't made of bricks"

SNAP!

A woman remember that she was related to everyone on her street. Aunts, uncles, cousins etc. For her the world was a friendly place where everyone said Hello and gave her hugs. When she got her tricylce, her universe expanded a bit. She pedaled down the street and was amazed to see 2 people sitting on a bench, that she didn't know. Not only didn't she know them, but she knew they must have been ghosts, because they were both white. She stopped and waved at them, wondering if they were really there. One of the ghosts started making a strange noise "Ugckaff, kaff, kaff kaff snort" She immediately figured out the ghosts were talking to her, that's just the language they used.
Of course...duh.

Another man recalled how his father would teach him about the history of the land, and how the white man came and ran off all the natives who were living there, killing them, making them slaves, etc.
As a boy, he heard it as his father talking about "The White Man", and he pictured a tall man, wearing all white, with bleached out skin and hair, that went around doing all these bad things himself. The adult recalls himself thinking as a child that "The White Man" must be one miserable S.O.B.

Then, there was a 4 year old girl who finally thought to ask her father was Christmas was. He explained to her that people were celebrating the birthday of Jesus. Who's Jesus? He bought his girl a childrens bible, and she was fascinated by the pictures, and the especially the stories about Jesus as a baby. He explained to her that Jesus said to treat overs the way you would want to be treated.
Soon after, while driving down the street, they passed a church with a huge cruxifix in front. "Who's THAT?" asked the little girl.
Soooo.....he had to explain that "Some people didn't agree with the things that Jesus said, so.....they killed him." (that must have been a tough talk)

Soon after, the girl was off from school for MLK Day, and dad, also home, took her out to eat. She wanted to know why no school or work, so he explained about Dr. King, and that he was a preacher. That he told people that we should treat everyone the same, no matter what they looked like.

"Just like Jesus said?"

"Yes"

"Did they kill him too?"



ooof, that was a punch in the gut.