*** Copyright c 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1995 by Nicholas
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Electronic Toddlers

     What is it about electronics that makes it so easy for youngsters to
understand?
     I got my first home computer in the late 1970s. My youngest son,
in his early teens, understood it immediately. He didn't "study computers"
then, or since. But he now carries a laptop computer to his college classes,
and helps run a computer-infested language training lab.
     My eldest son actually studied electronics, and now helps direct the
electronic operations of one of the nation's largest subway systems. But no
home computers for him. He was born three years too soon.
     Some years ago I remember hearing about a children's video
festival. These were not shows for kids to watch. They were videotapes
produced by them. And the youngsters involved were not college- or high-
school-aged. They were preschool and grade school students.
     One six year old boy was asked his impressions of a piece done by
a three year old girl. He liked it, he said. She had a lot of promise. But he
thought her work still showed some immaturity.
     For some reason I was reminded of that immature three-year-old the
other day when I read about the two-and-one- half-year-old who picked
up the phone and called for help.
     Remember the story? The girl's 17-year-old baby sitter fell down
the stairs and was knocked unconscious. The toddler evaluated the
situation and had the presence of mind to call the operator and ask for
assistance.
     And you know what the police dispatcher said? "She was real calm,
but it was hard to understand her."
     That reminded me of yet another (untrue) story. A young man was
leaning against a lamp post at high noon, a bottle of booze in one hand
and big, black cigar in the other. He was approached by an outraged older
woman who asked, "Young man, why aren't you in school?" To which he
replied, "Hell, lady, I'm only four years old."
     I could imagine the little girl saying to the police dispatcher, "I'm
sorry you can't understand me better, but hell, lady, I'm only two years
old."
     It puts us off a little that young people seemingly master this new
electronics world we live in with greater ease than we do. But in our
ego-driven need to minimize their intuitive skills are we, perhaps, being a
little too hard on our two- and four-year-olds?
     When I was a boy we had a genre of humor called "shaggy dog
stories." One of my favorites involved a stranded traveller approaching a
mountain cabin in a blizzard. When the mountaineer opened the door the
traveller saw a large shaggy dog at a round table, holding a hand of cards.
     Incredulous, the traveller asked, "Does that dog play cards?"
Nonplused, the mountaineer replied, "Yeah. But I don't know what's so
remarkable about that. I beat him three out of five games.
     So the little tike made an emergency phone call and "was real
calm." Don't know what's so remarkable about that, "it was hard to
understand her."
  [December 2, 1985; Cowles December 29, 1985; ICPC December 30, 1985]
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