One of my first introductions to critical thinking was through the Encyclopedia Brown books. They were more like riddles than mysteries, but they always taught you to pay close attention to the details and figure out which part was bullshit.
The author of these wonderful books, Donald J. Sobol, has passed away today.
If you have a few moments today, you can go read up on the ten most difficult cases or peruse the Encyclopedia of Encyclopedia Brown.
So long, and thanks for all the fun!
Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket knows that children have the best appreciation for the imagination at work.
I’m not there because I subscribe to the specious and lunkheaded notion that children are unspoiled spouters of true wisdom. (Let’s mothball that idea, next to the one that African-Americans are inherently rhythmic and Latinas can’t be on the Supreme Court.) I’m merely looking for the most interesting conversationalists. If I could find an adult icebreaking with “Last night I dreamed I was a horse” or “Tree frogs have big eyes,” I’d drink with them instead.
SAM: The little man walking down the street and he doesn’t see a dinosaur walking by. And he eats him. *delighted cackle*
Simple, emotional, exactly as complicated as the story needs to be. Go watch Sam. He likes Stegosauruses. Me too.
