Conspiracy Theories for Kids!
Kids and the Internet!
There are so many fascinating things for kids to learn on the Internet. My kids (ages 7 and 5) know how to navigate around wikipedia both by clicking from one article to related articles and by searching for terms that they know or copy from science books. They like finding pictures through Google image search. They also like finding Astronomy movies on YouTube. I showed them the first two — the last one they figured out all by themselves…
On the one hand, I like for them to be able to take the initiative to explore their interests. On the other hand, I know I have to keep an eye on what they’re doing because it’s pretty easy to stumble upon stuff that’s not appropriate for kids. I’m not just talking about the sex (as I discussed here), but also violent or scary stuff, or just things that generally require a little parental guidance or discussion. (And once they learn to write well enough to “chat” we’ll have to have the talk about safety when socializing online…)
But the other day Nico was showing me the movies he’d found, and he showed me something I hadn’t even anticipated dealing with: conspiracy theory movies that (to a kid) look just like normal science movies!
Nico was watching movies on the relative sizes of the planets and stars (his favorite subject at the moment), and he found a film by a guy who claims that the Earth is growing! It’s actually kind of a cool thought exercise as he shows how the continents fit together perfectly (without the oceans) on a much smaller sphere:
This theory leads to some obvious questions that weren’t addressed in the film:
- If the Earth is growing, then where is the extra matter coming from? Or is the Earth just expanding by becoming less dense?
- What about the water? He shows the supposed original Earth with continents and no oceans, then when the oceans opened up, the water must have come from somewhere. Or was the primitive, smaller Earth just covered with a deep layer of water?
He also states that scientists won’t even consider this theory because it would force them to question lots of other theories they’re attached to. But, really, our knowledge of plate tectonics is surprisingly recent — the mechanisms have only been well understood for about fifty years. I would suspect that he could get some scientists to take this idea seriously if he had a more complete model — including some answers to the questions it implies — and if that model explains other data better than the existing model.
All in all, an interesting exercise for critical thinking and the Internet.
Siamang Said,
February 2, 2009 @ 11:44 pm
Um…. so the parts of the geological plates that are visible on top of the water are the only parts of those plates which exist?
Gee. I’m glad there’s no earth’s surface at the bottom of the ocean. Because that would completely blow that guy’s theory.
The continents are just a bunch of puzzle-pieces the shape of a map that float around on that blue stuff.
I’m just giving you some material to help the kid think through this stuff. The problem is computer animation can illustrate this stuff in a way that ignores reality, and impinges on people’s ability to imagine what’s actually happening.
Julie Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 1:41 am
Thanks for reading, Siamang. We need to do our first Rational Dad guest piece soon, so stay tuned….
Lene Taylor Said,
February 3, 2009 @ 7:49 am
Ah, Neal Adams – one of the best comic comic book artists alive, and a complete loon when it comes to geology, physics, etc. You need to listen to his interview on The Skeptics Guide to the Universe to get the full story:
http://www.theskepticsguide.org/archive/podcastinfo.aspx?mid=1&pid=51
chanson Said,
February 4, 2009 @ 8:40 am
Thanks for the info! I had no idea this guy was famous for anything other than being a geology/physics crank.
We had some good discussions on ideas about how this theory could work (or not), and I think it’s a reasonably good introduction to the concept of “you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet.”
JBL Said,
February 6, 2009 @ 4:33 pm
“conspiracy theory movies that (to a kid) look just like normal science”
LOL…An Inconvenient Truth comes to Mind!
Siamang Said,
February 10, 2009 @ 10:39 am
Cool! Rational Dads yooknight!
Nico’s favorite astronomy movies on the Internet! Said,
July 1, 2009 @ 4:15 pm
[...] other sites with science videos, I was worried about what he might stumble onto. As we discussed here, he was confused by a weird conspiracy theory movie that looked like a science movie. But that [...]