Why, Why, Why

Kids have this habit of asking “Why?” about everything. Like all parents, I’ve experienced different emotions when that happens:

-         It’s flattering because you know the answer;

-         Enjoying the experience of phrasing the explanation in a way that the kid gets it;

-         It sets off a hope that you’ve done your bit to encourage the kid to stay curious and seek (and hopefully understand) explanations;

-         It shames me that I don’t know something so basic;

-         And of course, at times it can be highly irritating.

One time, my 5 year old daughter asked me yet another Why question and I replied, “It’s too complicated to explain to you”. Upon which, she said, “But you’ve simplified other things in the past; so why can’t you to do it for this too?” I was both flattered and ashamed.

In this terrific video, Richard Feynman points out some key points about answering the Why questions:

“When you explain a why, you have to be in some framework that you allow something to be true. Otherwise, you’re perpetually asking why.”

Citing an example, he says:

“For example, if you go, “Why did she slip on the ice?” Well, ice is slippery. Everybody knows that, no problem. But you ask why is ice slippery?... And then you’re involved with something, because there aren’t many things as slippery as ice. It’s not very hard to get greasy stuff, but that’s sort of wet and slimy. But a solid that’s so slippery?”

In the same video, Feynman also brings out the inherent dangers of using analogies when trying to explain things. The first risk is obvious: there will always be some differences between the actual thing and the analogy you use, which if not identified, can lead to a wrong understanding. The second risk is, well, let Feynman explain it himself:

“For example, if we said the magnets attract like rubber bands, I would be cheating you. Because they’re not connected by rubber bands. I’d soon be in trouble. And secondly, if you were curious enough, you’d ask me why rubber bands tend to pull back together again, and I would end up explaining that in terms of electrical forces, which are the very things that I’m trying to use the rubber bands to explain. So I have cheated very badly, you see.”

All of which is why Feynman tells the interviewer:

“I really can’t do a good job, any job, of explaining magnetic force in terms of something else you’re more familiar with, because I don’t understand it in terms of anything else that you’re more familiar with.”

So there, kiddo, that’s why I can’t explain certain things using analogies: because there are no analogies that work. Thank you, Feynman!