

20 minutes to subvert 10 year old minds... - jmorr

This Friday I am the "mystery reader" for my son's 4th grade class.  As the title suggests, I have about 20 minutes to read basically anything of my choosing.  I'd love to hear any age appropriate suggestions that are other than what you might imagine parents choose for something like this. Two ideas I've had so far: Dawkins letter to his 10 year old daughter (already vetoed by the teacher - this one I felt compelled to get prior approval), and one of the dialogs from Godel Escher Bach (maybe Contrafactus?) the "geek-by-association" from which would probably fade by high school in time for him still to be able to date...<p>Anyway, from those two examples, you get the gist of my nefarious intent.  Any ideas?  Any of PGs essays work for 10 year olds?
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cperciva
I'd probably go with Feynman's 1974 Caltech commencement address concerning
cargo cult science.

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jmorr
LOL - I'd sure have their attention after the opening...

"At Esalen there are some large baths fed by hot springs situated on a ledge
about thirty feet above the ocean. One of my most pleasurable experiences has
been to sit in one of those baths and watch the waves crashing onto the rocky
shore below, to gaze into the clear blue sky above, and to study a beautiful
nude as she quietly appears and settles into the bath with me.

One time I sat down in a bath where there was a beautiful girl sitting with a
guy who didn't seem to know her. Right away I began thinking, "Gee! How am I
gonna get started talking to this beautiful nude babe?"

I'm trying to figure out what to say, when the guy says to her, I'm, uh,
studying massage. Could I practice on you?"

"Sure," she says. They get out of the bath and she lies down on a massage
table nearby."

Good general idea, though - I like the Feynman angle - just have to find some
of his stuff with minimal sex references...

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jacquesm
> Dawkins letter to his 10 year old daughter (already vetoed by the teacher -
> this one I felt compelled to get prior approval)

Why would that get vetoed ?

It seems like an excellent choice.

How about Feinmans story about how his dad would talk to him about 'small
things' by pretending he was very small ?

Another alternative, a bit from The Planiverse by AK Dewdney ?

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jmorr
I agree that it was an excellent choice :-) The response, in fairness, was not
a veto so much as a polite request to consider something else - recognizing
that it would require additional discussion for which there will not be time
in order to avoid (or at least provide adequate cover from) metaphorical
lightning bolts being shot from a certain type of parent. I have a couple of
books of/on Feynman that I was going to look through - I like that idea, too.
Not familiar with Planiverse - thanks for the suggestion.

~~~
bayareaguy
Another good letter is "My Darling Little Cecily". Ernest Shackleton's wrote
this to his 9 year old daughter before he set out to rescue the stranded crew
of the Endurance.

[http://www.archive.org/stream/lifeofsirernests00milluoft#pag...](http://www.archive.org/stream/lifeofsirernests00milluoft#page/232)

~~~
jmorr
Never seen that before - thanks! I am enthralled by Shackleton's story,
though.

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bhousel
I had an opportunity to do something like this last year.

I picked a passage from The World Without Us, talking about how all the
plastic that we use ends up in the ocean.

10 year old kids are old enough to understand environmental issues.

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jmorr
I think that's a good idea, but man kids in schools these days get hit hard by
environmental fundamentalism. I don't mean to sound insensitive to that cause,
but I'd be lost in a sea of messages like that.

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noodle
it would probably also get vetoed for many reasons, but i still love this
story:

<http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html>

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run4yourlives
Why would that be vetoed?

Last Answer :[http://destructionoverdrive.blogspot.com/2005/06/last-
answer...](http://destructionoverdrive.blogspot.com/2005/06/last-answer-by-
isaac-asimov.html) is also a good one.

~~~
noodle
might be too long of a read, it might be overly complex for some 4th graders,
and it brings up religious subtexts at the end.

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swalkergibson
"Guts" by Chuck Palahniuk

That one is probably way, way too graphic, but if your intent is to
subvert...you might even go with something from Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and
Loathing perhaps?

~~~
jmorr
:-) 4th graders?

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knieveltech
Spend 20 minutes reading from Diamond Age, pretty much anywhere in the book
that doesn't directly involve sex or violence should work.

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anigbrowl
Something from the _Cyberiad_ by Stanislaw Lem. After nearly 30 years, it
continues to both amuse and edify.

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qubit
I like David Foster Wallace's commencement speech, but it might be a little
too heavy for kids that age.

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jmorr
I love that one, too, but I'm saving it for at least 5 more years.

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DanielStraight
I ask in all honesty: What is the point of reading something to a child they
won't understand?

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jmorr
I'm not sure which of the suggestions you'd put in that category, but my
intent is not to select something they wouldn't get. I acknowledge the GEB
idea is at least close to that line, and way past if "get" means GET.

~~~
DanielStraight
I guess I am assuming "get" means GET. On the surface, a 10-year old could
understand Dawkins' letter, but to really appreciate the weight of the issue
and to be able to make an informed decision on their own (and not just believe
Dawkins because someone said they should) is past their ability.

~~~
jmorr
Fair enough, but I think that this particular group of 10-year-olds would
(small g) get enough for it to be useful - your original post left me with the
impression it would be so far over their heads as to be useless. If instead
you meant that they would get (small g) the WRONG thing from it, well, it
would certainly be ironic if they believed Dawkins just because their hearing
it made them infer that they should believe it because someone said they
should, when what Dawkins was telling them specifically NOT to believe things
supported only by the voice of authority.

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bayareaguy
I'd recommend Carl Sagan's "Who Speaks for Earth?".

