Empirical Tests

Coincidentally both Dd and I have undergone experiences in the last 24 hours which have had the effect of making us strongly question our grip on reality.

As a rule I have often contended, since it is usually demonstrably the case, that children, even from a very young age, can tell the difference between constructs on the screen and the reality outside of this. OK, there may be a few temporary glitches along the way which often take the form of empirical tests, - in themselves implying an often well-founded doubt as to the reality of a screen representation. So it is indeed the case that many families will have to undergo some kind of equivalent of "Trial by Buzz Lightyear" when a Woolworth-uniformed child with meticulously constructed Buzz Lightyear wings will launch themselves hopefully off some bank.

Understandably this phase passes fairly quickly. Perhaps it passed too quickly for Dd, in effect allowing her to forget it, for yesterday evening, admittedly when we were all rather tired, Dd experienced a complete reversal of her assumptions as to the removed nature of TV representions. It so happened that kids were milling around in front of the TV when an HE dad of our acquaintance popped up on the screen right in front of Dd's eyeline and apparently, as far as she was concerned, started talking to her. She was actually good enough to answer him politely to the effect that she didn't understand what on earth he was talking about. Hmmm.

So anyway, with my assumptions already shaken as to children's assumptions, this morning I received in the post the most apposite present I could possibly imagine. It comes from someone, admittedly very dearly-beloved, but well you know how it is with families these days, someone who effectively lives on the other side of the continent, and to whom I haven't spoken for more than a few seconds in the past year. It is a book, more of which later, but the peculiar thing is, as I have said, this book really couldn't have been more appropriate.

You may be thinking, "oh come on, easy explanation....they read your blog, they know your obsessions", but I honestly don't think that is the case, for I know them, I know they would have revealed themselves before now! So for the moment I am working on the assumption, until otherwise disproved, that telepathy exists and that it is indeed the case that people can communicate interactively via the ether and therefore quite possibly through TV programmes.

Should I be homeschooling?