The progression of a question.
I was trying to guide some conversations with his older colleagues regarding the catalysts and beginnings of war, specifically The Great War, World War II, and now inevitably telegraphed and imminent…Ukraine. And then…
“When Mama home?”
he asked, his 2-year old face looking earnestly up at me, hoping for a favorable answer; the only favorable answer being : she’ll be here in one second.
She’ll be home soon! I brushed him aside with this classic parental-brush-aside as I continued doing something important.
I do not recall what.He looked at me intensely, looking for eye contact. Where is home?
I glanced down again. Still there. Umm, Mt Norway, I said.
What is Mt Norway, he persisted.
It’s a mountain, I said kindly-ish.
Oh. He said, and did not go away. What is mountains?
Mountains, I said with great wisdom, are uhh, big tall pieces of land that are bigger than hills.
What are hills? He demanded.
Hills, I said not entirely impatiently, are like tiny mountains.
Where are mountains? He asked 2-year oldishly.
Mountains, I replied wisely, are where we live. On a mountain.
Oh. He said, When Mama home?
Soon, I said, scooping him into my arms. Soon.
—
Sometime later.
His senior colleagues and I continued conversations about war and about types of logical fallacies and faulty arguments used by the lazy, and today’s focus was :
“Ad hominem”
An argument based on attacking a person’s character or personality rather than the substance and content of the argument itself.
If only there were some contemporary examples to illustrate this one…But really, the important thing is:
The tiny conversations we have between the “important” conversations. See above. These are the dialogues that help me remember what true north is. Thank you, 2-year olds and children of all ages who help keep us asking the questions that need to be asked, with perseverance and persistence.
