Cal’s a big fan of the question “why?” “Why?” after any statement of fact, “why?” after any request and “why?” after any suggestion. “Why, Mommy?” “Why is it?” “Why?” A decent question in some cases, it’s generally annoying. For one, there isn’t always an answer to “why?” – the brick is lying there, well, because it is. Second, I don’t always know the answer to “why?” – the sky is blue for some reason that has to do with light. And third, he knows “why” and need not ask it – just don’t push your sister.
So I encourage him to ask “better” questions, a challenge which he sometimes obliges. Driving home from our brief stint of bowling the other day, he met that challenge (unknowingly, for sure):
Cal <from the back seat>: “What does ‘C’ mean, Daddy?”
Dan <driving>: “C is a letter. ‘Cal’ starts with ‘C’… ‘Car’ starts with ‘C’… ‘California’ starts with ‘C’.”
Cal: “No, what does ‘see’ mean, like ‘we’ll see if we can watch a Mickey’?”
Dan <smiling proudly>: “Well, in that context, it’s more conditional, typically based on your behavior, Buddy. Maybe.”
Dan <quietly>: Cal, you’re going to kill Mommy and Daddy if we have to keep coming up with answers to these types of questions.”
Rayleigh particles. They are like tiny prisms scattered throughout the sky which filter light. Blue light doesn't go through these particles but gets reflected which is why you see blue.
ReplyDeleteThe ultimate answer to all 'Why' questions is The Big Bang & the laws of physics. Everything that has happened and will happen is a result of the initial conditions set up during the creation of the universe some 13.7 billion years ago.