Who am I, really, and then who are you?

It is time for one of my favorite library lessons. I love it so much that this is my second blog posting on it. Last year I wrote about the 4th grade classes learning the Dewey Decimal System and one of the harder sections, Philosophy, Psychology and Ethics. You can read the posting Here. A year later I find myself enjoying the conversations this subject inspires. I thought I would share some of the ideas your wonderful thinkers thought up.

I told them about the famous French philosopher, Descartes, famous statement "I think, therefore I am". These are the 4th grader's interpretations.

"My brain is my partner"

"If I can think, I can do it"

"By thinking, I am human"

"Believe in yourself"

"If you don't use your mind, you aren't a thinker"

When we discussed the idea of beauty or what makes something beautiful the children came up with these ideas.

"If you are blind, how do you know what is beautiful? Everything could be beautiful"

"We all see things differently."

I asked them the question, How do you know the sky is blue? We discussed how a dog does not see a blue sky because his body doesn't let him see color. Our body decides (interprets) what we see in the sky as blue. 

"So, not everybody sees the same thing"

"Is this really...REAL?"

"Only God knows the color of the sky"

"If you don't know, can you have feelings about it?"

"But somehow, you KNOW! without knowing"


I love our thinkers!