Saturday, August 29, 2009

Reasoning with children

Molly: "That's not just Halloween costume, that's an advertisement. If you wear that, you will be turning yourself into a walking advertisement for Hanna Montana."

Caroline: "But you're going to let Joey wear the Wolverine costume, and that's just an advertisement for Wolverine."

[Look, a counter example! Its reflective equilibrium!]

Molly: Yes, but it is not an advertisement for something I hate.

[Revising the rule in light of the counter example.]

Molly: Also, I'm not as excited about the Wolverine costume as I was about the Princess Dragon Ninja costume that wasn't an advertisement at all.

[Adding nuance to the rule to make the whole thing more plausible.]

No comments: