An interesting Facebook conversation from something so seemingly trivial

I posted this on Facebook last week after a conversation with Joshua.

On my FB wall, I wrote-  Son just asked me-" 爸爸, u r a science teacher, can u tell me why my teacher say when we put our underwear in the freezer, it can help save the earth?" I m trying v v hard to defer judgement.... What should I say ????

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    Frederick Chong Tell teacher,"My daddy tried but he's no superhero still.."

    Thursday at 10:45pm · ·
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    John Yeo Good one Fred... Thanks for reminder. Now to go look for my red cape. Maybe my old and torn crocodile undies be helpful too...

    Thursday at 10:54pm · · 2 peopleLoading... ·
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    John C Lim i really would like to know what is the teacher's answer to that remark. If he/she cannot give an acceptable answer, MOE should need to answer parents what kind of teacher they had employed to

    Thursday at 11:24pm · ·
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    Loo Kang Lawrence Wee not everything people say is true. Decide and verify yourself the validity of that hypothesis

    Thursday at 11:40pm · ·
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    John C Lim

    allow me to rephrase. "kids are kids. they are in a learning mode. They will absorb what their teachers teach to be true. It is good that Josh will ask Teacher Daddy, but not all parents pay extra attention to what their kids learn, and for... some when parents ask, they simply do not respond, so, the children assume what they learn in school is correct. My daughter will came home one day and argue with me about 'rain rain go away', because the tune was somewhat out of rhythm, i corrected her. Her reply was, 'no, teacher teach me is like that'. so, kids accept what their teacher teach to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Of course if we are talking to a secondary school kids or jc student, they are already at the stage where they know how to judge whether the teacher is teaching or joking. but at early childhood teaching, for me, age between 2 up to, even primary school, primary 3-6, we cannot expect children to judge accordingly. So, if there are teachers who teach such things, we as responsible parents should be ask what kind of teacher is that? and we should also ask, whether Singapore is really in a state of shortage of teachers, when we should take in 'tom, dick and harry' to teach our children? (of course, i had known good responsible teachers but this one is a black-sheep among the white ones.)"See More

    Yesterday at 12:38am · ·
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    John Yeo

    Wow... Thanks for the very thoughtful comment guys. Interesting it's all the daddies staging this discussion. I think it's a matter of perspectives. Firstly, from a child's perspective, did he interpret what the teacher said accurately? At ...the very least, the teacher was highly successful in helping the child inquire about some scientific principles. There is a high level of logical reasoning involved here and I sincerely celebrate that the teacher was able to stir the curiosity of the young mind. Hypothetically, what does it mean to 'save the world'? Look at the quick connection Fred made immediately in his first comment. Rather then passing off as thinking it was a silly joke, is there value in verifying that question? Digging deeper, could there be certain excretory substance that contain some catalyst that can be activated below zero degree c? Ever wondered how Viagra, penicillin, or post-its came about? From a parenting perspective, I am more curious to ask my wife why she wanted Josh to ask me that question- was it stemming from an intent of ignorance, of wonder (and amusement) or of (loving) trust that the scientific father may know better??? Now I am really curious ....See More

    Yesterday at 4:43am · ·
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    Frederick Chong

    I can't help but think everyone is over-analysing this simple statement. 1. Cold gonads, less thinking of reproduction, hence less over-population.
    2. Cold gonads, prolonged sensation of feeling cool, hence less need for air-conditioning (think electricity, heat, fossil fuels)See More

    23 hours ago · ·
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    Allan Yeo wow i need to hang out with all of you more. Science out of my area and after reading this post, i've already learnt so much more about my freezer

    13 hours ago · ·

 Sometimes you really never know what social media platforms like FB can do in terms of knowledge co-creation. From the above discussion, there was so much to learn about critical and creative thinking and more importantly, how people can read/ misread information. All said and done, I am lurving it!