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Would a five year old please explain this?

Nostromo

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Don't bring me in on this.

There's a huge difference in saying:

  • A 5-year-old should be able to look a scientist right in the eyes and say evolution is wrong.
... and saying:

  • A 5-year-old should be able to look a scientist right in the eyes and explain evolution is wrong.
Changing "say" to "explain", then dragging me into this is a cheap shot.
What exactly do your preferences regarding the development of language in children have to do with this forum?
 
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AV1611VET

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What exactly do your preferences regarding the development of language in children have to do with this forum?
A 5-year-old child should be able to look a scientist right in the eyes and tell him evolution is wrong.

If that's too hard to understand, I can't help you.
 
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Mling

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A 5-year-old child should be able to look a scientist right in the eyes and tell him evolution is wrong.

If that's too hard to understand, I can't help you.

What is this statement regarding?

I mean, I agree with it on many levels. A 5 year old of average developmental and social skills should have this ability. Also, I think our culture should encourage children to speak openly with adults, and that adults should be accepting of children's mistakes and able to engage with them in age-appropriate ways. Certainly the child shouldn't be punished or mocked or anything.

If you truly mean "able" and "say," then I'm not sure what the point could possibly be. The overwhelming majority of 5 year olds are able to do just that, along with many other things, so why argue it?

Did you mean "allowed," instead of able? I'd agree with that, also.

Did you mean, "they should be allowed, and they shouldn't be told otherwise?" Well, that's where people are going to start disagreeing.

As it is, you keep insisting that what you said is exactly what you meant, but what you said is so self-evidently true, and it is the current state of affairs in most cases, so what we're having trouble understanding is why you'd bother to say it.



(For the record, I firmly believe that rain should be able to fall from the sky.)
 
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Nathan Poe

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A 5-year-old child should be able to look a scientist right in the eyes and tell him evolution is wrong.

That same 5-year-old will look a scientist right in the eyes and tell him the Easter Bunny is real. Take it with a grain of salt.
 
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Freodin

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As scientists usually tend to be adults, and adults tend to be a bit taller that 5-year-olds, it might be difficult to establish the child's right to look the scientist in the eye, provided you don't want to infringe on the scientist's right not to lower his view.

Perhaps we can agree that a five year old should be able to look at a scientist (or not, perhaps if the scientist in question is not pleasing to the eye, or the five year old has an impaired vision) and tell him evolution is wrong?

And can we then also agree that a five year old should be able to call an independent fundamental baptist on the phone and tell him that his basic theology is false?
 
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FrenchyBearpaw

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You're the one on the Arab phone.
Pick up the phone, it's for you.

Arab+On+Phone.jpg
 
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Tiberius

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Don't bring me in on this.

There's a huge difference in saying:

  • A 5-year-old should be able to look a scientist right in the eyes and say evolution is wrong.
... and saying:

  • A 5-year-old should be able to look a scientist right in the eyes and explain evolution is wrong.
Changing "say" to "explain", then dragging me into this is a cheap shot.

Yeah, but the difference that you don't need to be right about something in order to say it. I can say that elephants have wings all I want. I can look a zoologist in the eye and say that elephants have wings. But I'd still be wrong.

So you can have your five year old look any scientist in the eye and say that evolution is wrong. The kid would still be mistaken.

But if the kid can make an explanation as to why evolution is wrong, well, he'd still be mistaken, but he's demonstrated the ability to think critically if he can make a logical, well formed argument.

Something that seems to be lacking around here, it seems.

Which means what to my point?

it means that a five year old can say something and be wrong about it. The fact that a five year old says a thing does not have any bearing on the accuracy of that thing.
 
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