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Why kids make the best philosophers

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https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...ns/629650/

EXCERPTS: . . . Matthews decided to study kids and their capacity for philosophical thought [...] he was struck by the subtle ways in which kids reasoned, as well as the frequency with which they surfaced philosophical questions.

I’ve been struck by that too. I’m a philosopher and a father of two boys, Rex and Hank. From the time they could talk, they have asked philosophical questions and tried to answer them.

“I wonder if I’m dreaming my entire life,” Rex said one night at dinner. He was 4 and already a fine philosopher, so the question didn’t shock me.

“What a cool idea, Rex! A guy named Descartes wondered the same thing. Do you think you are dreaming?” I asked.

“Maybe!” he said, happy at the thought that he might be hallucinating. And then we went to work trying to prove he wasn’t. (Give it a try. It’s harder than you think.)

My younger son, Hank, got in on the game too. When he was 7, I asked him whether God was real. We talked about it for a few minutes, then he begged off.

“I don’t like to talk about this,” he said.

“Why?”

“Because God would find it insulting—if he’s real.”

I told him he was making Pascal’s Wager. The bet is named after Blaise Pascal, the 17th-century French mathematician who also dabbled in philosophy. “You’re thinking the same thing he was,” I explained to Hank: “that you should believe in God, so that you don’t upset him—if he’s real.”

“I’ve always thought that,” Hank said. “That’s why I never want to talk about it.”

I’m not sharing these stories to brag about my kids. In this respect, they are absolutely ordinary. Every kid—every single one—is a philosopher. In fact, they’re some of the best around.

Why? For one thing, kids are constantly puzzled by the world. [...] Kids also don’t worry that they’ll make mistakes or seem silly as they puzzle things out. They haven’t yet learned that serious people don’t spend time on some questions like “Am I dreaming my entire life?” Once they figure that out—at about 8 or 9—their spontaneous forays into philosophy stall out. Before then, they’re fearless thinkers, unconstrained by grown-ups’ ingrained habits of thought.

[...] Kids can help adults recapture our own courage as thinkers, too. All we have to do is talk to them and take them seriously. Chances are the cleverest person you know can’t tie her shoes. But with a well-placed why, she can push you past your ability to explain everyday things, or call into question truths you hold dear. She can even help you see the world in a new way... (MORE - missing details)
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