Time

I love the amazing questions Oliver asks and the conversations we have had lately.  He remembers everything and combines concepts in the most interesting and sometimes amusing ways.

I wish I could think of all the examples, but the moments usually pass and are lost.

However, our conversation from the bath last night is still making me laugh today, so I will try to write it down while I can remember most of it.

One of Oliver's favorite questions of late is, "if you touch X, what does it feel like?"  For example, if we are reading about a semi-truck, a frog, a jet engine, etc. fill in X.  Then I try to describe it, or I ask him what he thinks it feels like.

A few of these came up in the bath last night and after a few rounds, he looked at me and he said, "if you touch time, what does it feel like?" 

I said, "well, time is not thing, it is an concept created in our minds to keep track the minutes, hours, days as they pass." 

Oliver: "if I touch my mind, what does it feel like?" 

Me: "you cannot touch your mind, "your mind" is what we call the collection of ideas that is stored in your brain.  But, your brain is a thing that you could see and touch, but it is in your skull so you cannot actually touch it.  If you could touch it...." 

Oliver:  "if I touch an idea, what does it feel like?" 

Me: "an idea is just something you imagine with your brain, but it is also just a concept, it is not a thing."

Oliver (with a big smile): "what if an idea touches time?"

Me:  ummm...well that is an interesting idea...silence...

Oliver (still smiling):  "if an idea touches time, it would give time a big hug and then time would be very happy."

End of conversation.