FUNNY CONVERSATION
Mali: Mama, can we go to the zoo tomorrow?
Me: Sure, let's do it.
Greta: Will there be Dinosaurs at the zoo?
Me: No, the dinosaurs are all dead now
Mali: Yes, they lived a long, long, long time ago before there were any people and they ALL died.
Greta: Did you know that Betty and Freddy (her toy dinosaurs) died after lunch yesterday?
Me: No, that's too bad.
Greta: They went in the woods to look for the scary dinosaur and they died. And they are STILL died.
Mali: You mean still dead.
Greta: Yes, they are still died.
Mali: Mama, when all the people in the world die, will the dinosaurs come back?
Me: I don't think they will ever come back. What do you think?
Mali: I think they will. Mama, who was the very first person alive after the last dinosaur died?
Me: (sigh). I don't know. Should we try to find out?
So, if anyone knows the answer to that last question, please let me know so that I can ease the mind of my curious little 5 year old!
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12 comments:
I heard an interesting interview on NPR with Wendell Jamieson, author of "Father Knows Less or: Can I Cook My Sister?" He challenged himself to find the answers to his children's questions. Kind of funny. Here's an excerpt: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14140586
Roy is incredibly excited for Sophie to start asking these kinds of questions, so I'm going to pose it to him. I'm sure you will get SOME kind of answer!
Oh man... this put Marc and I in tears we were laughing so hard! I love these kind of conversations. I can't wait to have some of my own soon!
Claire, I just remembered reading something Grossmama had written, which was simply a record of the conversation she heard between all of your family while she sat in the back seat of the van. It was hilarious!
As usual, it takes a child to cut to the very heart of inquiry in my two favorite fields of study, philosophy and anthropology, with one simple question. Countless doctoral theses (Anna looked up the plural spelling for me) have been written trying to chip away at the question Mali has posed but I will try to answer it anyway.
I am a person and you are a person, but are we people because of these bodies we have or is it because of how we think? If we decide that we are people just because of our bodies, then the first person was a woman that lived in Africa about 140,000 years ago. In fact scientists have proved that every single man, woman and child alive today is descended from one single woman that lived in Ethiopia, Kenya or Tanzania. She is called Mitochondria Eve.
But if we decide that we are people because of how we think, then the first person alive after the dinosaurs died is much much older. Personally, I think we are people because of how we think and not just because of our bodies and here is why. I have a little daughter named Sophie and I love her very much. I love her so much that I try my best to help prepare her for the world by teaching he all of things that I have learned about the world. I am teaching her how to talk and how pet the dog gently and that she should not touch light-bulbs because they are hot and all kinds of things. You see, I realize that I live in this world and that Sophie is going to live in this world, so I think of myself, Sophie and the world as these ideas that are all interrelated. That love for Sophie and my ability to teach Sophie about the world, I think makes people people. Love and language.
So, if we are people because of love and language then the first person alive after the dinosaurs is much older than Mitochondria Eve. There was a woman named Lucy that lived in Africa 3.2 million years ago. She wasn't human (her body is called Australopithecus) but I think she was a person. She had children that she loved. She taught them things just like your mom teaches you. In my mind she was a person even though she had a very different kind of body than we have.
But even Lucy who lived a long long time ago was born long after the dinosaurs died. The last dinosaurs died about 65 million years but what does that mean? 65 million years ago is a long time ago, but how do we understand how long ago? If we imagine that one inch equals one year then imagine that this point is right now (I am pointing to a point on the floor). This point right here is when Greta was born (I am pointing to a point on the floor about 2 inches away. You were born this long ago (I point to a point on the floor four inches away). I was born this long ago (30 inches away). Jesus was born about 166 feet away. Mitochondria Eve was born over at _______ (a place about 2.2 miles away). Lucy was born at _______ (a place about 50 miles away) and the dinosaurs died where Gwama cabin is in Hessel, Michigan (1025 miles away).
And by the way, I think you are right and that the dinosaurs are going to come back. Right now scientists are working very hard to figure out a way to bring them back to life and just last month they figured out the biggest problem in bringing them back to life. It probably isn't going to happen tomorrow but I would be willing to wager that you, Greta and Sophie are going to be able to take your children to a zoo that has a few dinosaurs.
Thanks for all the careful thought you put into that, Roy! I will go over it with Mali. She will be especially excited about Lucy, because all of her imaginery friends these days are named Lucy.
i say ask her in the morning and she will ahve an answer....
i have come quite fond of mali's notions of how life works.
Katie, I have no answer for you, but it sure sounds like a more interesting conversation than the ones I'm having these days, like when Daniel wants to discuss over and over how we make cocoa ("scoop! stir! cocoa!") and how water goes down the drain ("buh-byeeee!")
:)
No problem. If I could ever figure out how to make money by opening an Anthropology Shop, I would give up the law and become an anthropologist.
If Mali is interested, here is a link to a picture of a reconstruction of Lucy's skelton.
Picture of Lucy
Roy, I talked Mali through your explanation and she was very interested. When I pulled up the picture of Lucy, she said, "you're right, she doesn't look like us" and Greta said, "look! she's dressed up as a gorilla!"
Hi there friend,
I'm enjoying getting these glimpses of your life. When will I see you again? Missing you, let's talk soon, also, my new email is elishamtalley@gmail.com. PS. I just may start blogging again. Wish me luck.
Peace, Elisha
Anna sent me a link to this blog post because of the mitochondrial eve discussion (because of an unrelated Battlestar Galactica topic) and it is funny because I just read about a scientist that is bringing dinosaurs back to life.
Here is a link to one of the articles.
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