605: Kid Logic

This American Life vor 6 Monaten

Kids using perfectly logical arguments and arriving at perfectly wrong conclusions.

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This American Life

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Each week we choose a theme. Then anything can happen. This American Life is true stories that unfold like little movies for radio. Personal stories with funny moments, big feelings, and surprising plot twists. Newsy stories that try to capture what it...

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Kids using perfectly logical arguments and arriving at perfectly
wrong conclusions.

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Prologue: Ira talks with Rebecca who, using perfectly valid
evidence, arrived at the perfectly incorrect conclusion that her
neighbor, Ronnie Loeberfeld, was the tooth fairy. Ira also talks
with Dr. Alison Gopnik, co-author of the book, "The Scientist in
the Crib," about what exactly kid logic is. (6 minutes)

Act One: More stories like the one in the prologue, where
kids look at something going on around them, observe it
carefully, think about it logically, and come to conclusions that
are completely incorrect. (11 minutes)

Act Two: Michael Chabon reads an excerpt from his short story
"Werewolves in Their Youth," from his collection of the same
name, about an act of kid logic that succeeds where adult logic
fails. (16 minutes)

Act Three: Howie Chackowicz tried a risky combination when he
was little, kid logic with puppy love. He used to think that
girls would fall in love with him if they could just see him
sleeping or hear him read aloud. He revisits his biggest
childhood crush and finds out that not only did his methods not
work, but that no one even noticed them. (10 minutes)

Act Four: Alex Blumberg investigates a little-studied
phenomenon: Children who get a mistaken idea in their heads about
how something works or what something means, and then don't
figure out until well into adulthood that they were wrong.
Including the tale of a girl who received a tissue box for
Christmas, allegedly painted by trained monkeys. (13 minutes)

Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

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