I could not resist responding to a post with such a subject!
I have an almost three year old son, Ramsey, who rules my home. I have
come to learn the joy and the pain of "Why?" from him. One of our
conversations might go like this:
R: Why did Mr. Norman take back the trash?
E: Because he is a nice neighbor.
R: Why is he a nice neighbor?
E: Because he is a nice person?
This will go on for several (a dozen or more) rounds, until we get to a
question for which there is no answer to the question: "Why?" I first took
the following response:
E: Because God made little fish. (An adult response that the answer is as
absurd as the question)
R: Why did God make little fish?
E: I don't know, you ask him.
This approach worked for about two weeks. Then the conversation went to
E: Because God made little fish.
R: No, God didn't make little fish. (OK, I got that one, give me a better
answer)
My next tact was to end the rounds with "Because I said so." It did not
take my son but a day or two to figure that one out and tell me "No, you
didn't say so." My current response is little more creative: "X 'Why' Z"
Unfortunately, Ramsey doesn't buy that one either.
Why? There is nothing like an untouched, enthusiastic mind to keep
probing long enough to get to the real heart of the matter. Amen for three
year olds! Why? Because God made little boys and girls! ;-)
Eric N. Opp
eopp@mrj.com
--Eric Opp <eopp@mrj.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>