13th August 2011, 7:56 PM
You can in fact stare blankly at every single one of those things Welty. You can't do that and appreciate it, but you can. The same goes for TV. Cosmos IS in fact a good introduction to science for kids, though I think I'm talking 12 year olds. For younger, try something like Bill Nye.
I've met plenty of kids who have to read something for school, do in fact "read" it, but comprehension goes out the window. Books are not an inherently superior medium. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses. 90% of everything sucks, such as made up statistics.
Simply put, I'd rather a kid watch an episode of Cosmos than read one chapter of "The Secret". By the same token, I'd rather a kid read one chapter of "The Selfish Gene" than watch an episode of Dr. Oz.
I've met plenty of kids who have to read something for school, do in fact "read" it, but comprehension goes out the window. Books are not an inherently superior medium. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses. 90% of everything sucks, such as made up statistics.
Simply put, I'd rather a kid watch an episode of Cosmos than read one chapter of "The Secret". By the same token, I'd rather a kid read one chapter of "The Selfish Gene" than watch an episode of Dr. Oz.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)