Tungkol sa anim na taon na ang nakalipas, ang aking apat na taon gulang na anak na lalaki at ako ay sa itaas ng hagdan nanonood ng Discovery channel "shark attacks" espesyal (marahil ang isang ito). He was very young at the point and I was always worried what he might see on a show like this and how he might take it. I didn’t want him to develop, halimbawa, anumang espesyal na mga takot ng tubig o magsitsit ng isang bagay na hindi naaangkop sa kanyang mga kaibigan at posibleng maging sanhi ng kanyang sanggol kaibigan network na dumating pag-crash down na.

Discovery handles these kinds of subjects very well. It’s not about creating a takot sa isang bagay, but rather to show how unusual it is for sharks to attack humans.

Kaya, we’re watching it and there is this one particularly scary attack involving a small girl. As Discovery is building the drama of the attack, aking anak na lalaki (sino ay palagi nang naging lubhang matatakutin pa rin), is getting very excited. I make some noises about how unusual it is for sharks to attack people, and how bad the poor girl must feel. I’m trying to explain that people recover from these events and become stronger for it. Gayunman, I had misinterpreted his excitement. He was not worried about the girl at all. Sa halip, habang pumapalakpak ang kanyang mga kamay, siya ay nagsasabi sa akin, "The sharks love it! It’s terrific. It’s wonderful. Its a DREAM COME TRUE!"

Akala ko ito ay masayang-maingay, but also very disturbing. Sa isang banda, Ako ay natutuwa — kahit na isang maliit na maipagmamalaki — na maaaring siya ay may malakas na damdamin empathic, cross-species though they may be. As humans, we need to develop our "empathic muscles" kaya makipag-usap o makakapunta ka tulad ng ito tao 🙂 Sa kabilang dako, he was feeling cross-species empathy toward a species who was exhibiting behavior inimical to his own. I was really struggling with this when the narrator used the word "paradigm". My son picked up on that and asked me what that meant.

Iyan ay hindi tulad ng isang madaling salita upang ilarawan sa isang apat na taong gulang na, but I gave it a try. When I think of the word "paradigm", Thomas Kuhn is never far from my thoughts. Nabasa ko Ang Istruktura ng Scientific Revolutions bumalik sa Lafayette at para sa mas mahusay o mas masahol pa para sa, the word "paradigm" is pregnant with extra meaning for me. (Sort of like the word "contact" pagkatapos ng hearing ng Movie boses Telepono sabihin sa akin kung saan maaari kong makita na pelikula [Naisip ko na ang libro ay mas mahusay]; Ako palaging sabihin sa aking sarili, "CONTACT!" whenever I see or hear someone say "contact").

Gayon pa man, Sinusubukan ko upang ipaliwanag sa kanya ang isang Kuhnian kahulugan, that it’s "a historical movement of thought" and that it’s a "way of thinking with a number of built-in assumptions that are hard to escape for people living at that time." Talaga, hindi ka maaaring makipag-usap tulad ng sa isang apat na taong gulang na, so I’m trying to successively define it to smaller pieces and feeling rather proud of myself as I do so. (Ko lang Alam na isang tao sa labas ng kolehiyo gusto pakialam na ako ay basahin Kuhn!).

I’m just warming to the task when he interrupts me. Waving his hand sa aking pangkalahatang direksyon at hindi kailanman pagkuha ng kanyang mga mata off ang isa pang mabangis na atake pating, siya lamang sabi, "Yeah, oo, oo. Kalokohan, kalokohan, blah.".

So magkano ang para sa 🙂

Sa puntong iyon, Ko nagpasya upang patakbuhin ang layo, rhetorically pagsasalita, magpahinga, at tangkilikin ang panonood ng mga kawani na tao pating atake sa aking anak na lalaki.

</dulo>