DaleWisely wrote:More science:
Why did dinosaurs become extinct? Easy: Arms too short to play the whistle.
Dale Wisely, B.A, M.S., M.T.S., Ph.D.
When I was a kid, maybe 8, my colleagues and I
used to philosophize about such things. We figured
that saber toothed tigers became extinct because
their teeth got too long, so they couldn't close
their mouths. We figured for awhile that nothing
that got dirty would ever get completely clean,
because some of the dirty stuff would always
remain. Later we retracted: there's only so much of
the dirty stuff, so why shouldn't all of it be
washed away? There was also the theory
that if you swallow three pieces of gum, no
matter how distant in time the three swallowings
are from one another,
your stomach will stick together. I was sufficiently
persuaded to swear off gum, having swallowed
two pieces already, as did the others, so
the crucial experiment never happened.
I've notice that children often grapple seriously
with philosophical questions, where did everything
come from, and so on. Are things made
of parts forever, or are there simples?
Also epistemological
questions. I once asked a child how he knew he
wasn't dreaming. He thought it over and replied:
'You just know!' The right answer, I decided,
the work being in explaining why it's right and
why it's sufficient.
Aristotle said: 'Philosophy begins in wonder.'
It's interesting how occasionally the theories
scientists generate (like this one
about the cosmic symphony) might satisfy a child.
