Anyone that has or regularly interacts with children knows that as much as their ingenuity leads them to surprisingly accurate insights into the world around them, their novel way of thinking also results in conclusions which are…incorrect.
The kind of logic humanity has been practicing since the days of the old philosophers was designed around adults, so when children use it, it can lead to comical results. This episode of This American Life talks about the unique logic children operate by, and the humorous conclusions it leads them to.
Now more than ever, our words shape our reality. While most of us are isolated in our homes, we are forced to tether our job, our relationships, and our futures with only what we can express through our voices and keyboards.
The idea that words shape our reality is not one new to the post COVID-19 world; it’s actually one of the tenements of structuralism, a literary movement that believes our language shapes our reality. You may recall a post a few weeks ago which discussed the hypothesis that renaming what was originally the “Negro Renaissance” into the “Harlem Renaissance” actually changed the trajectory of the movement. If you agree this theory is true, then you are expressing structuralist thinking. A non-structuralist, meanwhile, would say that the movement changed the name, rather than the name changing the movement.
The podcast “This American Life” discusses a wide range of current events and issues affecting American people. This episode struck me as particularly relevant, given our exaggerated reliance on typed and spoken word in these trying times. How much, I wonder, are words currently shaping the reality of COVID-19?
The podcast covers three acts. The Prologue asks why God needs us to praise Him (Her? It? Them?) verbally. In Act I, a woman recalls the day the way she read changed forever. In Act II, a man discusses trying to make his daughter fall in love with hip-hop. And, finally, in Act III, one of the show’s producers discusses the words from an encounter that keep coming back to him.
You can listen to the podcast here. It is a little under an hour long, the perfect length to listen to while you knead some bread or do some laundry.
For those of you that enjoy history, “In Our Time” is a podcast that shouldn’t be missed. It’s very fact-focused, and centers on Melvyn Bragg interviewing historical experts. I’ve linked the Neanderthal episode, but there are episodes on periods of time from prehistory to the near-present, and locations all across the world. All of the episodes are linked on the official BBC Podcast YouTube channel.
Those of you in Odyssey classes this semester know that we’ve been laser-focused in our examination of history, looking primarily at America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This podcast is a wonderful opportunity to listen to experts talk (and even argue!) about other areas of history. Bragg is wonderful because he’s wonderful at asking difficult followup questions about the information the experts present on the podcast, which leads to fascinating insights.
As someone who likes prehistory, I found this episode especially fascinating.
Odyssey, Extra! 