Monday, March 05, 2007

Autism Phenomenology

The following conversation actually happened. This afternoon Sweet M came bounding in to find me at my desk, with this urgent question:

"Mama, will I be in the future?"

"Oh yes, of course you'll be in the future."

"Will you be in the future?"

"Yes, I think there is a good chance I will be in the future."

"What happens to the future?"

"It becomes the present, and then the present becomes the past."

"Can I get to the past?"

"No, not yet, because we don't have time machines."

"Can I get to the future?"

"No, not until it becomes the present."

"Can I get the future back?"

At the risk of sounding like a New Age self-help book, I told her the truth, "No, the only time you can get to is the present."

As far as I can tell, she's picking up where Husserl left off.

And to think that some people think there's an issue with her intelligence.

5 comments:

kristina said...

She's way ahead of the rest of us!

KathyIggy said...

Megan and I once had a similar discussion about past-present-future and time machines. She was asking about what would happen in the future, and would she just be there, and how old would everyone else be ("Baby Claire (her sister) won't be a baby in the future, but she'll still be my sister...and Grandpa won't be in the future because he died in the past, but he'll be in the future heaven) Made my head spin with all those questions, but it's such a different take and interesting frame of reference.

Maddy said...

Although I moan, I love it when they bombard me with questions. Pity I can't my cool as well as you.
Best wishes

Larry Arnold PhD FRSA said...

Woa you are trespassing on my territory there.

Trees and Berkeley anyone,

How many grammars are there and within them how many states of what we in this language call Future?

Anonymous said...

brilliant!