The things I didn't know I knew

Hello Everyone,

When she got to Oxford to complete her degree in philosophy, Alison Gopnik describes her choice of lodgings, either in the area for spouses and children of faculty or on the campus with the philosophy faculty itself, thusly: "I could spend the rest of my life with this community of completely disinterested seekers after truth who just wanted to find out the deepest answers to the deepest questions about the world or I could spend the rest of my life with these egocentric solipsistic somewhat whiny creatures who needed to be taken care of by women all the time. And since the first group was the babies and the second group was the faculty, I figured it would probably be better with the babies."

Her book, The Baby Scientist, lays out a theory about children being little explorers, figuring out how the world works. I always knew that made sense, but watching my daughter try to stuff a rubber giraffe in her mouth made that instantly true for me.

But it's not just that babies are little scientists, it's that they are exceptionally good scientists. As much as possible, a good scientist tries to avoid having their biases and preconceptions influence their work. That's a lot harder if you aren't even aware of all the things you know or believe you know.

The munchkin was trying to get the ring part of her toy in her mouth, because that's what her hands were grasping. But the head part kept poking her in the eye because of how she was holding it. She didn't yet understand how the shape of things influences how it behaves. It was fascinating to watch her try to work it out.

But it was also worrying. As much as possible, I want to help her develop her own personality and views of the world. And that means being aware of what I'm imparting to her. But watching her frantically stuff her Sophie toy in her mouth and poke herself in eye, what was clear is that there is a huge amount that I didn't know that I knew.

Wes

P.S. Update on the animals in my backyard: chipmunks have been demoted from cute and harmless to ravenous pests. They're bolder than the squirrels. One didn't even run away when I shook the bird feeder, where he was gorging himself, he just ran inside the thing to hide among the birdseed.

Photos

I've been trying to expand my photography skills beyond the flowers in my yard to the insects who visit them. Results below.