Socratic educator Michael Strong with five year Alana

Hello, Lana, how are you?

Hello, hello, Michael Strong, how are you?

I'm well, I'm well. So for some reason my camera is not working.

Wait, right now I cannot hear you because I'm having breakfast and it's so loud.

Are you walking away from the breakfast place?

Yeah, but except I'm at a hotel.

It looks like a fun place with a swimming pool and everything.

It is.

Do you like swimming pools?

Yes, I do.

Somehow I thought you would. Somehow I thought you would. So tell me about your week at school. What happened at school?

It was great, except this weekend I was with my cousin, so I, so I cannot go to school.

And do you enjoy being with your cousins?

Excuse me?

Do you enjoy being with your cousins?

I did enjoy it.

That's good, that's good. Did you learn anything at school last week?

Yep, I told you some of it about spiders, but I think I have some more.

Okay, well, spiders— let's go back to the spiders because I think last time we talked you said that spiders were just as smart as human beings. Did you say that?

Excuse me?

Did you say that spiders were as smart as humans?

I think I did, yes. And did you know that some spiders are like poisons?

I do know, yes. Poison spiders, poisonous spiders are scary, and that's why you should be very careful about which spiders you touch.

And there's like big monster octopuses and squids in the ocean. And they're monsters.

They are. It's pretty amazing. Octopi. You know what octopi is? If you have more than one octopus.

I think I learned something from books because some books that I read had those kind.

Octopus?

Yeah.

I see.

Like a monster octopuses and squids.

So do you think an octopus is smarter or a spider?

Excuse me?

Is an octopus smarter than a spider, or is a spider smarter than an octopus?

A spider is smarter than an octopus. I mean, an octopus is smarter because when he's like trapped in a little tiny cage and there's just a little hole, he can get through it all by himself.

And you don't think the spider could figure that out?

Yeah, I don't know. So if it was a little tiny hole—

so figuring out how to escape is one way we figure out who's smarter.

Excuse me?

Figuring out how to escape is one way we figure out who is smarter.

I think there is a way because I think I I'm right, because the octopus is like really smart because if he wants to save crabs from jars, the crabs don't even like pinch them.

Do you think spiders are smart because they can make webs?

No.

Why not?

Because— or maybe they are because flies, they catch flies, mosquitoes, and all kinds of bugs. And so they— so that, so that the world can like stay how it is. So, and so that everything doesn't wash away.

Do you know what a brain is?

A brain?

Yeah.

Yep. It's like a little tiny ball in your head from inside the skull. All that can help you think.

Do you think that spiders have bigger brains or octopi have bigger brains?

Uh, no, I don't think so.

You don't think— which one is, is an octopus brain bigger than a spider brain, or is a spider brain bigger than an octopus brain?

The octopus is bigger.

Um, and how can you tell?

Because its head is even more bigger.

Do you think that that might be some evidence that octopus— octopi are smarter than spiders?

Excuse me?

Do you know what evidence is?

Evidence?

No. Yeah, evidence. So evidence is something that makes you believe one thing more than another. So if And so I was asking, I was using the word evidence in a sentence. Do you think that the fact that octopi have bigger brains than spiders is evidence that octopi are smarter than spiders?

Excuse me?

Does the fact that octopi have bigger brains than spiders, is that evidence that octopi are smarter than spiders? Would it make you more likely to believe the octopi are smarter because they have bigger brains?

I think— wait, sorry, it's just so loud and I can't even hear you.

Okay, no problem. I'm going to go a different way. How about, um, do you think that elephants have big brains?

Excuse me?

Do elephants have big brains?

Elephants?

Yeah.

Uh, wait, excuse me?

Do elephants have big brains?

I think elephants does it.

Does? Okay, well, you know what, it sounds like it's pretty loud there. Is that right?

Excuse me?

Sounds like it's pretty loud there, isn't it?

Yep, it is.

Okay, you know what? I think I should let you go and have fun with your family, and we should talk again next week. Yep, I think so.

We just started.

I know. Well, can you hear me? I guess it seems hard for you to hear me.

Yeah.

So how about let's do it again? Because I really want to talk about brains of animals, okay? So you study about brains of animals for next week to see which animals have bigger brains, okay?

Okay.

Okay, have a great week.

Have a great week.

Okay, bye-bye.