i took some time to get out of the house earlier for some "me" time.
i went to a restaurant and had some boneless buffalo chicken and a draft beer.
i caught up on some reading while waiting on my order. i picked up where i left off in reading neil postman's the end of education.
i'm really starting to dig that book. i've finally made it to part two.
yes, i finally made it past chapter two. :-D
i came home and asked my daughter-- if a (friendly, of course) space alien landed in our back yard, how do you think you would communicate with him or her?
she said she would start speaking "alien language".
"but, how does that go?", I asked. if you don't know the "alien language", then how will you speak it?
she was quiet for a moment. then she asked me how would i do it. i told her that i would discuss my ideas with her later. i encouraged her to think in the meanwhile what she might do in that hypothetical situation.
then, i asked her a second question-- what if you had a new classmate from another country that didn't speak english very well. how would you communicate?
she said that she'd share her things and be really nice to the new classmate.
i thought that was an interesting answer.
i want to get her thinking about how this world is bigger than our house, her school, her neighborhood, and her state and nation. and our planet is like one big spaceship flying through space. and we're not likely to jump ship any time soon. so, we had better be careful what we do while we're on board.
i'm thinking of some other (hopefully) thought provoking questions for both my son and daughter. i hope i can teach them how to learn and how to gain their own education for the purpose of being good citizens of this planet and of this nation. to accomplish this, one must be willing to peruse practical knowledge via the road of trial by error and critical thinking.
i spent time talking with my nephew about money. i told him some of the budgeting and investing ideas i've learned about. i also told him about my mistakes and pitfalls.
he seemed to listen and was very appreciative. he also contributed to the conversation quite a bit.
he seems to really be passionate about being a barber. this isn't just a job for him, i see. he takes this very seriously. he's providing a service that effects the self esteem of many people. grooming in many other apes signifies acceptance, because apes tend to groom their friends for long periods of the day. an ape that isn't well groomed is probably being shunned from the troop.
the naked ape seems to have held on to much of that evolutionary pattern, despite having very little visible hair on the body (when compared to other apes).
well, i should be asleep. and now i shall do just that. i probably have a busy day tomorrow.
let hope it's fruitful.
2 comments:
I am really in awe that you ask such thought provoking questions to such young children. It is so important and yet so often overlooked.
And it is fascinating how we keep so many traits from our ape brethren. Grooming, eating, relationships. Everything we do is mirrored in their societies. I find it amazing that some still deny we are related in some ways.
I guess I poke at my children with ideas like that because I look back at my own childhood. People always told me I was smart, but I've come to realize that I was really only just good at school work. I also found out that there are a lot of things I could have learned, but didn't. And I believe there are a lot of things basically anyone could learn, but don't.
And since I've become more of a critical thinker than I once was, I realized it was a skill everyone needs. A skill that I didn't take seriously until about five years ago.
I want my kids to have that skill and I'm constantly looking for ways to teach it to them. I don't get the ideas on my own. I search for them. Reading that book gave me the idea-- as well as reading others.
And, it's fun to see their gears turn. Children can understand much more than we give them credit when it comes to thinking. Not so much in adult matters-- things of maturity. A child's mind does need to develop to a certain point to properly handle things like the "birds and the bees". But, ideas about where we are in this universe, where they fit in, what it takes to solve problems-- we highly underestimate what children can do!
I rejected these things that I've said about apes for a long time. But, recently, I see it very clearly. A good book to consider is, "The Ape in the Corner Office". Man, office politics makes so much sense now, even though it's all illogical at first glance. And the understanding largely comes from studying the social order of apes. And you know why, I'm sure-- because we truly are kin to them.
I admire that you admit that while maintaining your religious faith. I like that about you. You have a lot to do with why I still have respect for religion in this world.
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