Michael Strong asks five-year-old Alana questions at a playground about height, growth, and how thinking changes. She wants to be as tall as Mount Everest and eventually agrees that her thinking will shift as she gets older, though she can't say how.
Yes, I am. I'm at the playground.
Is it fun?
Yes, it is.
What are you doing that's most fun?
Um, swinging on the little bars that twist around.
That sounds like a lot of fun. When I was a kid, I loved, loved, loved to do that.
Really?
Yeah, sounds like you love to do it too. So, um, I was thinking about how you are probably growing taller and taller. Are you growing taller?
Yes, I am.
Are you taller than Logan?
Yes, I am.
Are you as tall as your dad?
No, I'm not.
You think that you will be taller next year than you are now?
Yes, I do think.
You think the world looks different for tall people?
Well, they grow taller and the Earth is bigger than them, but they're growing taller.
So can you see the top of a refrigerator?
Yes, I can.
From where you're standing?
Yes, I can. From where I'm standing.
Um, do you ever ride on your dad's shoulders?
Um, excuse me?
Do you ever ride on your dad's shoulders?
Yes, I do sometimes.
Does the world look different from up there?
Yes, it does.
Would you like to be that tall?
Um, yes, I do.
Would you like to be as tall as a tall building?
As tall as a tall building? Yes.
How would you like— would you like to be as tall as a mountain?
Yes, I want to be as tall as Mount Everest.
You do? Do you want to be so tall you don't fit on the earth anymore?
Yeah, I want to be so tall I would be taller than everyone.
I see. So you, you think it's a good thing to be tall?
Yeah. Okay.
Um, so do you think that, uh, adults think different than you do?
No, I don't.
You think that you will think exactly the same way you do as an adult?
Yes.
Excuse me? Do you think that, uh, you will think just the same way that you do now when you are an adult?
Yes, I think.
You think that Logan thinks the same way you do?
No, I don't.
Why not?
Um, because he's a baby and like he knows like less things than others, except for like little babies that are smaller than him.
So you think differently than Logan. Do you think you thought differently than Logan when— you think you thought differently than Logan? I mean, then you— when you were Logan's age, when you were little, did you think differently than you do now?
Yes, I think so.
When you were younger, you thought differently, but you don't think you'll think any differently when you grow older?
Yes, I think that is—
will you know more stuff when you get older?
Yes, I think so.
So if I understand you correctly, you're saying you think differently than Logan because you know more stuff. Is that correct?
Yes.
And you, Alana, will know still even more stuff when you get older, correct?
Yes.
But you're saying that knowing more stuff from now on will not change how you think?
Yes, I do think so.
It sounds like, um, at 5 years old, Alana's mind is kind of perfect and done. Is that correct?
Yes.
Um, do you think that's true for everybody or just for you?
True for everybody.
So is Logan gonna, um, do you think Logan will change how he thinks?
Yes.
So wait, you said everybody doesn't change how they think, but Logan will change?
I said everybody does change.
Like, does that mean Alana will change how she thinks?
Yes, that means that.
I think you just changed your mind. That's true.
Yes.
Okay. What made you change your mind? Um, I don't know. So now you think that Alana will in fact think differently when she's older, is that correct?
Yes.
You think that you will think a lot differently?
Yes, I think so.
Can you give me— and this is a hard question, so I'm going to let you know this is a hard question— Can you name one way in which you might think differently when you are, say, a teenager?
Uh, excuse me?
So we know that you're going to think differently as you get older. You know what a teenager is, right?
Yeah. Yes, I do.
Someday you're going to be a teenager, right?
Yes, someday.
So how will you think differently when you're a teenager compared to how you think right now?
Um, I don't know.
I told you it's a hard question. So how about I leave that to you for a question to think about for the future, and we come back to it, okay?
Okay.
Okay, I'm gonna let you go play and have more fun than I'm gonna have fun today, and I'm gonna think of Alana out there in the sunshine playing on the playground, having a blast, okay?
Thank you.
You're welcome. Bye-bye.
Bye.
