A More Child-Like Science

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Why do leaves turn red? Where does the sun go at night? What made Whiskers die? Will Mommy die sometime, too?

Children are notorious for posing naïve and perplexing questions. When one of our sons was four years old, he asked, “Why did God make poisonous snakes?” I do not recall our answer, but very much doubt that it was helpful. And who among us can do justice to the most perplexing question of all — the one incarnated in every newborn child: “Who are you, and for what purpose have you entered our lives?”

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Steve Talbott, “A More Child-Like Science,” The New Atlantis, Number 4, Winter 2004, pp. 23-31.