When you look for sth here

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Knowing and understanding

Recently my SuperHeroGirl explained to me the difference between knowing and understanding things. It found that truly fascinating; first of all, realising she sees the difference; second, realising she is able to explain it in clear and simple way; third and final, realising she is not a baby anymore...

Now I know that if something is a fact, mum, there is nothing to understand. You either know, usually because I tell you, or not. And when I explain something to you, well, then you can understand, or not.

I have a vague idea of who I was when I was six. I recall I loved hiding underneath a coffee table, so that my grandpa couldn't see me, and I would shout that I was there after he looked for me around the house (yes, that was not one of my reasonable approaches to him and his health, but what can I say, I was six...). And that joy in hiding is something me and my daughter seem to share. But I don't recall having that deep examination of words, phrases, and attempts to define expressions and emotions properly. I guess we may call it a side-effect of English being our second language.

Still, it is fascinating...

No comments:

Post a Comment