Socratic conversation with Alana, age four
A four-year-old named Alana talks with an adult about her week, her use of Duolingo to learn Spanish, and what it means to think. She knows perro, gato, and vaca, and explains that thinking happens in the brain. When asked if dogs, trees, and mosquitoes can think or learn languages, she says only humans can.
Chapters
Oh, I'm so glad. I should remember to restart my computer because I have this problem almost every week. How was your week?
Good.
What did you do this week?
Well, I did Duolingo 2 times.
Muy bueno! So tell me about Duolingo. What did you do on Duolingo?
Well, Duolingo— wait, excuse me?
What is— tell me about Duolingo. What do you do on Duolingo?
Oh, it helped me learn Spanish.
How does it help you learn Spanish?
Because some we need to match, match the words like in English and Spanish, and some things you need to type it.
Do you already know a lot of the words in English and Spanish?
Yeah, sometimes I forget.
I know it's hard. I bet it's really hard.
Yeah, it is.
I know yo sé un poco de español, pero no mucho.
Yo sí.
But you know what pero means?
Yes.
What does perro mean?
Dog.
Exactamente. Gato? What is gato? Cat. There we go. Y vaca? Cow. There we go. I bet you know more Spanish than I do. Do you like Duolingo?
Yes.
Why?
Because it gets me smarter. Like I kept doing y'all in J-O, but it's actually Y-O.
Oh, for yo. Oh, so it helps you learn how actually to spell Spanish and to spell English better. Is that right?
Yes.
Very good, very good. So, um, I'm glad I'm doing—
and I'm in my balcony.
Very, very nice. I didn't know you had a balcony. Is that right outside your, your house?
Yes, just because I live in neighbor house.
It's wonderful. I love being outside. Fresh air is good.
Yeah.
So I was wondering if we can— if you're ready to do a little bit of thinking.
Okay, I'm ready.
Okay, good. So first What happens when you think?
Sing?
When you think.
Oh, when you think, you get smarter.
You do? How can you tell when you're thinking?
Because of your brain.
So does your brain say, "Hello there, I'm thinking right now"?
No, it just thinks.
It just thinks? Do you think dogs think?
Yes. All the things in the whole world think except the objects.
So give me an example of an object that does not think.
Trees.
Okay, so trees don't think. How about houses? Do houses think?
No.
How about bicycles?
No.
Do books think?
No.
How about mosquitoes?
Yes.
What do mosquitoes think about?
Like when they bite people, they actually think of doing that.
So you think there's a mosquito buzzing around and it says, I want to annoy Ilana, so I'm gonna go down and bite Ilana just to annoy her. Do mosquitoes think through that?
Yes, but a mosquito never bit me, but I have some bites on me from them.
I'm confused. How could they never bite you if you have bites on you?
I don't know, except I know one mosquito that cannot bite you.
Do you think mosquitoes like put their bites on you by magic?
No, one mosquito doesn't.
Okay, so mosquito—
big one.
Do you think maybe mosquitoes bit you when you weren't looking?
Excuse me?
Did a mosquito bite you when you weren't paying attention?
No, only big ones don't bite.
Little ones do bite? Yeah. Okay. Excuse me, I had a sneeze.
And one time when I was at school, when I was leaving, we saw a tiny mosquito, but it didn't bite us.
That's good.
Well, it wasn't big, it was small, but it didn't bite us.
I hate mosquitoes.
I hate mosquitoes too. I have a plant that can keep mosquitoes away. No.
What's your plan?
Well, it has a sign like, "Say no to the mosquito." I see, I see.
So remember when we were talking about how— why something— how does a bird fly?
Excuse me?
Remember when we were talking about how birds fly or how paper airplanes fly? Yes. So remind me why you think paper airplanes fly.
Because they have wings, but only in the air they fly.
Okay. Do you think that mosquitoes can figure out what can fly and what doesn't? Hmm, no.
Only mosquitoes can fly, but houses and trees and playgrounds don't fly. That's incredible. I mean, that's impossible.
So do you think— let's see, you know how to learn different languages. Do you think that mosquitoes know how to learn different languages?
No.
Why not?
Because they're not humans. They're bugs. They're insects.
Do you think dogs could learn different languages?
No, they only can bark.
Do you think you could? You don't have a dog, do you?
Yeah, when I move I can.
Okay, but you've seen people talk to dogs in English, right? Have you seen people talk to dogs in Spanish?
No, no way.
You don't think it's possible to talk to dogs in Spanish? So you think all dogs were born English-speaking?
No, dogs are all born barking.
Okay, all they speak is barking. How about parrots? Have you ever heard a parrot talk?
In English?
Or in any language?
No, they only do "cock-a-doodle-doo." Okay.
So do you think any animals understand human talk?
No.
So only humans understand human talk? Yeah. Okay. And I'm trying to think of something else you like to think about. What do you like to think about? Is there anything you like to daydream about?
Yes.
What?
Good things.
Tell me one good thing you like to daydream about.
That I was with my dad and my mom and my brother.
Oh, that's very nice. Do you think that dogs daydream about being with their families? No. Why not?
Well, they do have brains, but I don't think they do.
Okay, how about mosquitoes? Do mosquitoes daydream about being with their families?
No.
Why not?
Because they have a brain, but I don't think they do.
Okay, um, how about cats? Do cats daydream about being with their families?
No.
Okay, so you think only humans daydream about being with their families?
Yes.
Okay, so maybe why do you think humans get to daydream about their families but dogs don't get to do that? So I think right now you're thinking— when I see you go with your eyes, when I see you do that, I think Alana is trying to think about why dogs may not daydream about their families. Did that feel like thinking to you?
Excuse me?
Does that feel like thinking to you when you try to figure things out?
Yes.
So you can use your brain. If I ask you a question, you can decide to use your brain. Is that right?
Yes.
Do you think dogs can decide to use their brains?
No.
Why not?
Because they're not humans.
So do you think that humans are smarter than dogs?
Yes.
How can you tell?
Because they know everything and dogs don't.
Okay, humans know everything?
Yeah, and my friends. Dad just found a dog, but the owner found her.
Oh, was that—
and the found dog was a girl, and she was very smart.
The dog was smart? Tell me, tell me how smart she was.
She was like super smart.
Could she do math?
No, dogs cannot do math.
Okay, well, I want to know how you know the dog was smart.
Because when my friend's mom, like, called her to do sit, she did it. And when she called her to lay down, she did it.
Oh, so the dog sounds like the dog understood English pretty well.
She did.
But you don't think we could teach a dog like that to lay down in Spanish?
Yeah, the dog only listened to my friend's mom.
Okay, so a smart dog is a dog that understands commands. When a person gives them commands, that makes them smart?
Yes.
Okay, but you don't think we could ever teach a dog to listen to commands in Spanish? Yes. Yes, we can, or yes, we cannot?
Yes, we cannot.
Okay. Solamente per los que entienden inglés, correcto?
Sí, correcto.
Okay. Well, I think we have figured out that you think— you say humans understand everything and dogs don't, and that's how we know that humans are smarter. Right? Yes. Okay, anything else you want to say about dogs or thinking before we call it a week? Um, okay, I just want to say for your dad and anybody else out there that you are doing a great job of thinking about thinking. So I ask you questions about how to think, and you think about how to think. And you're doing a great job of understanding reasons why. So you are explaining to me why you believe things or why you know things. And I think that's really, really interesting. So you're welcome. I want to thank you for thinking with me a little bit this week. And I want you to have una semana maravillosa.
Perfecto.
Perfecto, exactamente. So have a great week, and we will talk next weekend, hopefully.
Okay.
Adiós.
Adiós.
Bye-bye.
