Where did he learn that?

As an education professor, I have enormous respect for the human mind, all humans, all minds.  Sometimes, in a discussion of a tyranny, a fan of education, that is, schooling and instruction, will ask how any citizen of a mind-controlling society will ever get an idea of democracy or more freed if they aren't taught such an idea.  There are ways and a big one is basic human intelligence.  I am tempted to amend that to basic "animal" intelligence because of what I am learning about crows and dolphins but that is another topic.

Every once in a while, I come across a good example of human brain power: good observation, good thinking.  When my five year old great-grandson, walking just the two of us along a trail in the woods, breaks our silence with "Yo mama", I am quite amazed.  Where did he learn that?  He doesn't know and neither does anyone else.  In that case, it had to be observation or rather ear-servation, probably from television but who knows.  It is extremely unlike that he heard it spoken by someone physically near him.  

Sometimes young marrieds have let me know of their passion to raise a manly but not warlike son.  They have applied the strategy of not allowing any play pistols or rifles as gifts or toys.  From the presence of other little boys or from tv or something, the son learns the fun of making a pistol-like position of an upright thumb and extended forefinger and shouting, 'Bang! Bang! You're dead."  Where did he learn that?  No one knows for sure.

I know very little about the struggles in Syria between the government's troops and the citizens but what I have heard about makes it seem to be a very sad and unpleasant assault on unarmed people.  The picture of a Syrian soldier who fled the army probably had the shortest quote from its subject: " I was ordered to fire live ammunition at protesters. It was unbearable. I didn't see any protesters with guns."  

Where did he learn that?  Where did he learn that he to be appalled to be ordered to shoot unarmed people?  Where did he learn to use his eyes and brain right in the middle of an order?  Maybe from his parents, maybe from his religious training.  I bet it was his innate common sense.  Sometimes, someone just thinks and that is all it takes.

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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety