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What Can 4-yr-olds Understand About Science?
dr.karl.b asks: "My 3 and a half year old son is in Kindergarten. Here in Germany that includes 3 to 6 year olds. He is supposed to explain what his parents' occupations are. I am a scientist, and despite all the advice I have received saying he can't understand what I do, I am determined to try. I study self-motion perception, from basic-science vestibular processing to the role of real-motion cues in flight simulation. We have several cool labs in my institute, like robot-arm motion simulators and full-immersion virtual reality set-ups. We can easily compete with amusement parks for wow-factor, but I have 2 questions: How can I explain my work to my son? How can I invite his class (3-6 yr olds) to our institute to have them learn AND have fun, rather than ONLY have fun?"
They won't understand vestibular processing, but they will probably understand "that dizzy feeling they get when they spin around". You can then explain why that happens when it does, then talk about manipulating balance for virtual reality (maybe using video games or movies as an example) and the work that your lab does. You just need to find some way to relate it to them while maintaining its "coolness".
OK... let me translate the tongue-in-cheek version you are calling lies and hatred on a phrase-by-phrase basis into a Church-Speak(tm) version and you tell me which part is a distortion of what many believe to be true:
Let us pray to the All-mighty God, creator of the Universe, who came down to us Himself in the form His son Jesus Christ - He who was reborn from the dead, risen so that He may cleanse us of our sins and grant us eternal life. By eating the bread that is the body of Jesus and drinking the wine that is His blood, we pray to Jesus to accept Him as our Savior, whom we worship and none other. We pray that He remove our sins, both those we have committed ourselves and the original sin Of Adam and Eve with which we were born.
I'd say the two are presenting the identical facts, albeit using slightly different terminology and phrasing... and heck, you might actually hear the second one in a church on any given Sunday.