She Blinded Me With Science

The Child has a test coming up in science class so at dinner she's been quizzing us about simple machines. It doesn't feel like studying if you have a chance to make mom and dad look stupid. Check that, rewind. The only person who she makes look stupid is mom.

The Spouse, he's all about the science stuff and what's worse, he totally understands what he's saying. Me? I fall back on the time-honored line, "I was an English major".

The cool thing is that The Child seems to get this stuff, too. For example, back in the dark ages, when The Spouse was her age, there were 3 kinds of simple machines: inclined plane, lever and pulley. Nowadays, they speak of 6 simple machines adding screw, wedge and wheel & axle to the mix. So the other night they had a spirited debate over The Spouse's contention that the 3 others were really just variations of the original 3 and The Child arguing for the integrity of the unique purpose of all 6. Yeah, I got lost, too. But it was awesome that she didn't just parrot the list of 6 but actually understood enough about what they do to make a cogent argument. Because that's the point, isn't it?

For me, when I was learning that sort of stuff, I'd memorize whatever I needed in order to make a stab at passing the test. Then the information would immediately fall out the back of my head. Plus, I didn't care. I never had a burning curiosity about why things worked. It was, and is, enough for me to take it on faith. The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round and then you get to the mall. Works for me.

I can't prove this scientifically, for obvious reasons, but I believe that there must be genes for this sort of thing. The Spouse's parents were both engineers. His brother is an engineer. He has an aunt who is a biologist by training. He's a computer geek. My side of the family is made up of musicians and writers. I do not believe that there is a single person in my family, for at least 3 generations, who is or was any good at math and if they are, they married in. I'm talking about blood relatives. Balancing a checkbook is about all any of us has ever mastered. That, and I can calculate a 20% tip in my head. But that's pretty much the extent of it.

So it just fascinates me to see my child possessed of abilities on both sides of the brain. She is very creative. She loves to sing and dance and write stories. She loves to act. But she also has an aptitude for the sciences. I wouldn't say that she loves those studies as much as the others but when she decides to pay attention, she gets it.

I think that's cool.

"She Blinded Me With Science" Thomas Dolby