Tuesday, November 15, 2011

We are all children

I work at a university. As with many universities we have a child care center on campus. These children have tenders who take them out for expeditions around campus. The babies go in baby buses--something like large wheelbarrows or others like very large wagons, with the kids in there like a pile of bunnies. The older kids, roughly ages three to six, get led around on a long rope, looking like miniature sherpas heading for K2.

Today I saw a line of these children brought to a grassy field that is enclosed by fence on three sides. It's large enough to serve as a soccer or lacrosse field. Plenty of room. Their handlers unleashed the kids and I saw them gesture out across the field:  go! run! 

Some kids took off like rockets. They ran dead-out. If there had been no fence they'd probably still be running. Others were less sure. They ran for a time, looked around and saw that the others were still running, so off they went again. A few tired and had to catch a breather.

By and large, this little selection of little humanity ran in a herd. One, though, had trouble getting out of the starting gate. Everyone else ran, but she just stood there, next to the adults. I don't think they even noticed her for a while. Eventually they gave her personal instructions:  go! run!  and off she went.

Then there was the non-conformist. She ran to the middle of the field and sat down. There she remained while the activity of the others went on around her. After a time she was summoned back by the grownups. Go! Run! She ran maybe ten or fifteen feet. Then, deciding that this did not conform with her vision of the word, she turned around and ran the other direction.  She was quite happy with this. She ran about twenty yards, turned around and came back. She had made up her own goal and achieved it, even as everyone else was doing more or less as told.

At the other end of the field, by the far fence, our human herd had run up against a problem in teleology. They'd been told go! run! but the instructions had left open what to do when there was no more room to run. Some tagged up and headed back toward the adults, but others milled around underneath the soccer goal post. Unclear on the concept. Gradually, enough were returning that most of the herd headed back as well. A handful remained at the far end, deciding that casual conversation and rolling in the grass was more appealing than another long jog. Some of these had to be fetched.

I suggest no profound insight from this. I only offer it as a kind of scatter chart of human behavior; an affirmation of humanity and a commentary on our limitations.