Yesterday I worked at a local elementary school. As I was walking by a 1st grade classroom, I happened to hear the teacher's lesson about gravity. It went something like this:
"Gravity," she said, "is something that keeps us stuck to the ground. We have gravity on earth. Other planets that are in the solar system..." (at this point, a feeling of dread passed over me as I realized what she was about to say) "...float around in space, just like we do, but they don't have gravity. Since we're on Earth though, we have gravity."
It bummed me out to hear her saying that. She might as well have told them that the sun is the center of the universe, or that astrology is real, or that people actually give a damn about what happens to Brittney Spears.
It reminds me of a misconception I picked up when I was a kid. Somewhere along the way, someone had told me that ants sing. I remember standing very still next to ant hills, craning my neck to see if I could hear just a few notes from some jolly ant.
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