Aren't kids great?
Discussion
Before mine trotted off to school this morning we got to talking about numbers. Well infinity actually. Apologies if this sounds real geeky.
My little dude shocked me about a year ago when we first talked about what the biggest number was - he grasped the idea of infinity pretty much straight off. I knew he'd understood, as when we got to talking about negative numbers and I asked him what the smallest number was, he thought for a little while and then came back with minus infinity. I was expecting possibly zero, probably one, but no, minus infinity it was. A star!
So this morning we were talking numbers again. This time I was suggesting that there might be an infinite number of infinities, not just two. I explained how there is a theory that every sequence of numbers leads to its own infinity, and there are an infinite number of sequences - odds, evens, Fibonacci, PI, counting in ten, counting in 100's etc etc (ad infinitum, you get the idea), therefore there are an infinite number of infinities.
Again he thought for a little while, and then came out with this, completely out of his own head:
"What about counting in infinities? Thats another infinity!"
Blimey! What a leap!
I worry sometimes that the primary school he's at are happy to send him home with a gold start because he counted to 40. Stretched? Er, not really.
My little dude shocked me about a year ago when we first talked about what the biggest number was - he grasped the idea of infinity pretty much straight off. I knew he'd understood, as when we got to talking about negative numbers and I asked him what the smallest number was, he thought for a little while and then came back with minus infinity. I was expecting possibly zero, probably one, but no, minus infinity it was. A star!
So this morning we were talking numbers again. This time I was suggesting that there might be an infinite number of infinities, not just two. I explained how there is a theory that every sequence of numbers leads to its own infinity, and there are an infinite number of sequences - odds, evens, Fibonacci, PI, counting in ten, counting in 100's etc etc (ad infinitum, you get the idea), therefore there are an infinite number of infinities.
Again he thought for a little while, and then came out with this, completely out of his own head:
"What about counting in infinities? Thats another infinity!"
Blimey! What a leap!
I worry sometimes that the primary school he's at are happy to send him home with a gold start because he counted to 40. Stretched? Er, not really.
I thought infinite meant no limits or boundaries in time or space or extent or magnitude, the lot, the total, all , everything, for ever, the whole kit and caboodle.
So how can you have multiple infinities?
As far as i see it, one infinity is everything ?
bagsy no returnseys infinitum
>> Edited by shadytree on Tuesday 1st November 09:44
So how can you have multiple infinities?
As far as i see it, one infinity is everything ?
bagsy no returnseys infinitum
>> Edited by shadytree on Tuesday 1st November 09:44
Forgot to mention, he's only five. I can't claim any credit genetically as he's adopted. 
Yes, I always thought there was only one infinity, but I read something in New Scientist about it. It's one of those mind bending things though, best not thought about for too long.
>> Edited by victormeldrew on Tuesday 1st November 09:46
Yes, I always thought there was only one infinity, but I read something in New Scientist about it. It's one of those mind bending things though, best not thought about for too long.
>> Edited by victormeldrew on Tuesday 1st November 09:46
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Isn't it a nightmare trying to teach them how for example a trailing "e" changes the sound in the middle of a word? Sometimes. English is so full of exceptions. I don't think they teach using the building blocks approach these days. I think some schools are introducing it as the latest wonderful idea - there was some woman on TV recently making a fortune out of it. Phonic something or other.
You do wonder sometimes what exactly they are teaching them.
Alex's unquenchable thirst for information tends to focus on Star Wars at the moment though. He's turning into a complete Star Wars geek! I'm convinced he's memorised the entire dialogue of all six films.
shadytree said:But apparently there are more molecules in a glass of water than there are grains of sand on the planet. So how many molecules in the Oceans then? Apologies in advance if your head implodes.
One thing that always used to get my brain fizzing (apart from the M25) was the question of how many grains of sand are there on the planet ?
There must be a total!
shadytree said:
One thing that always used to get my brain fizzing (apart from the M25) was the question of how many grains of sand are there on the planet ?
There must be a total!
But surely that total constantly changes..... Rocks get broken down into sand while sand is used to make glass etc...... Happy counting
RossMac said:
blimey
Our discussions aren't that deep
My 4 year old asked last week if he could have a pet fart. We had discussions whether it could be kept on a lead and made to run up to people and fart on them. Wife was tutting in the background
Does the pet fart hide under the duvet awaiting your misses ?shadytree said:
blimey
Our discussions aren't that deep
My 4 year old asked last week if he could have a pet fart. We had discussions whether it could be kept on a lead and made to run up to people and fart on them. Wife was tutting in the background
the little animal gets everywhere - in the bath, in lifts, even appears in a full car when the windows are closed. RossMac said:
RossMac said:
blimey
Our discussions aren't that deep
My 4 year old asked last week if he could have a pet fart. We had discussions whether it could be kept on a lead and made to run up to people and fart on them. Wife was tutting in the background
Buggers aren't they ! I had to take mine into the office yesterday. Evertime he reared his head, the desk emptied.
Know what you mean Victor. My eldest kid is officially "gifted". He joined Mensa at the age of 11 with IQ of 162 (in an adult Mensa test). I don't know where he gets it from, the only person I know with that level of intellect is our milkman - strange?
Anyway, bcause he's our oldest we had no point of reference when he was younger - he just seemed pretty clever, especially with numbers. What clinched for us though, was when he was just three years old and I was tucking him into bed one evening. He said this:
"Dad, I think 12 and 13 are unique numbers". "Why's that?", I asked. He then said, "12 squared is 144 and if you reverse 12 you get 21. 21 squared is 441 which is the reverse of 144. Also, 13 squared is 169 and if you reverse 13 it's 31 and 31 squared is 961 which is the reverse of 169". I asked him, "who told you that?" and he said, "I was thinking about it in bed last night".
I was gobsmacked!
Anyway, bcause he's our oldest we had no point of reference when he was younger - he just seemed pretty clever, especially with numbers. What clinched for us though, was when he was just three years old and I was tucking him into bed one evening. He said this:
"Dad, I think 12 and 13 are unique numbers". "Why's that?", I asked. He then said, "12 squared is 144 and if you reverse 12 you get 21. 21 squared is 441 which is the reverse of 144. Also, 13 squared is 169 and if you reverse 13 it's 31 and 31 squared is 961 which is the reverse of 169". I asked him, "who told you that?" and he said, "I was thinking about it in bed last night".
I was gobsmacked!
srebbe64 said:I bet you were! I had to read that three times before it made sense!
Know what you mean Victor. My eldest kid is officially "gifted". He joined Mensa at the age of 11 with IQ of 162 (in an adult Mensa test). I don't know where he gets it from, the only person I know with that level of intellect is our milkman - strange?
Anyway, bcause he's our oldest we had no point of reference when he was younger - he just seemed pretty clever, especially with numbers. What clinched for us though, was when he was just three years old and I was tucking him into bed one evening. He said this:
"Dad, I think 12 and 13 are unique numbers". "Why's that?", I asked. He then said, "12 squared is 144 and if you reverse 12 you get 21. 21 squared is 441 which is the reverse of 144. Also, 13 squared is 169 and if you reverse 13 it's 31 and 31 squared is 961 which is the reverse of 169". I asked him, "who told you that?" and he said, "I was thinking about it in bed last night".
I was gobsmacked!
What worries me is that I know that kids can get turned off by school if they don't get the stimulation they need, and it can happen at a very young age. My older brother was a problem at school, and they IQ tested him when he was about 8. His IQ was high 140's if I remember correctly, but he'd pretty much given up on school already. I was more fortunate; I was just clever enough not to have to try, but not so clever as to get completely bored.
I know Alex dumbs down for school. I've seen it on open days - the teacher will be praising something he's "just learned", and he's there looking at me with a sheepish look knowing we've been doing that for months.
So does your eldest get any special education, or is he still in mainstream education?
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