[Dean's World] Dean: The Wonderful Conversations I have With My 8 Year Old

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Posted by Dean:
The Wonderful Conversations I have With My 8 Year Old
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1155010394.shtml


   I had a wonderful conversation with my son this evening. We sat there
   in the late evening looking at the moon and the stars, and discussing
   the idea of the speed of light, and the stars, and the planets, and
   much else. Then a great conversation began:

   "Do you know the difference between a fact and a theory?"

   He surprised me. He said, "Well, a fact is something we know for sure,
   but a theory is something we think is true."

   Right there he surprised me. I guess the schools sometimes do a better
   job than I thought. I said, "That's right! But it's a little more
   sophisticated than that." (Yes, my 8 year old knows what
   "sophisticated" means.)

   So he asked me, "what do you mean?"

   "Well, in science there's something you call a guess, and there's
   something you call a theory. Do you know what the difference is?"
   (Please don't anyone get on my case about "hypotheses" just yet, he's
   only 8.)

   "I'm not sure."

   "Okay, you're guessing about something. But you aren't sure. So how
   can you be sure?"

   "I'm not sure."

   "Well, let's say your mom and I can't find the remote control for the
   TV. None of us can find it. Why can't we find it?"

   "I don't know."

   "Well, let's guess. Maybe your little brother (aged 18 months) was
   playing and did something with it. Or maybe you or your mom or I was
   sitting on the couch and it slipped between the cushions, or between
   the seats. How could we tell the difference?"

   "Well, if we found it between the cushions, I guess it one of us."

   "Probably. Okay. So if we found it in Draco's toybox, or under the
   refrigerator, what do you think it would mean?"

   "Drake was playing with it."

   "Okay, so a guess would be that one of us dropped it between the
   cushions. Another guess is that Draco was playing with it, in which
   case it might be anywhere in the house. Maybe even somewhere strange."

   "Sure."

   "Okay, so here's the difference between a theory and a guess: you can
   test for a theory. With a theory, you make a prediction that might be
   false, or might be true. You make a prediction, and either it's true
   or false. That's what makes a theory."

   "Okay."

   "So a good theory is that you make a prediction, and you test your
   theory, and it's either true or false."

   "Okay."

   "So if I say that I thought mom or I might have dropped the remote,
   and we find it between the sofa and the easy chair, what's that
   probably mean?"

   "One of us dropped it."

   "If we find it in the cat's food bowl, or under your bed, what's that
   probably mean?"

   "Drake was playing with it."

   "Are we sure of that?"

   "No, but pretty sure."

   "Did you ever watch House on TV?" (I knew the answer, he loves
   [1]House MD, as do the rest of the Esmays.)"

   "Yeah!"

   "Okay, so House guesses a lot, right?"

   "Yeah."

   "Is he always right?"

   "Well, mostly."

   "But he's always right?"

   "No."

   "But when House makes a guess, he always predicts that something will
   happen. And if he's right, then he wins. If he guesses wrong, he
   loses, right?"

   "Yeah."

   "But House is always really smart even when he's wrong, right?"

   "Yeah."

   "Okay, so what makes a theory different from a guess?"

   He thought for a couple of seconds and said--with certainty, not just
   guessing--"You can test for it."

   That's my son right there, people! Envy me, mere mortals!

References

   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_md