The woes of a 6th Grader

In a 6th grade classroom...

"Let's see who can answer this one. What are the conditions required for life on a planet?"

At once, there was a surge of voices.

"There is the temperature __"

"The availability of water__"

"The composition of the atmosphere__"

"The temperature, ma’am!"

Pleased by the unexpected enthusiasm in the class, the teacher smiled. She knew very well, this was the one answer that everyone had been interested in learning since they started science as a subject.

But, the minute this question was asked, I frowned. Not that I didn't know the answer, mind you...I could go on and on about the composition of the crust and a dozen other things that are of no real use to anyone.

No, I chose to keep mum because I didn’t agree with the question.

I mean, think about it. Do we really know the answer to that? Well, maybe life on earth is possible because of all those things so willingly listed by my friends...But what about life forms elsewhere?

Now before you say something clever like, "There's no proof of such an existence," (Really? You came up with that argument all by yourself? You must be so proud.) like my 6th grade teacher did, should we really be imposing such close-minded thinking in school children? Why not just accept that there are some things not yet clearly known to man? Or do we live in a society that thinks that man has come as far as he is ever going to go, and his views on a particular subject are unquestionably final? Doesn't this just show what a ginormous ego we have developed as human beings __ anything that I can't contemplate cannot exist, and, by extension, should not exist; and anyone who suggests otherwise is not only wrong, but also of questionable mental status.

Having very strong views on this subject, and I chose to remain silent amidst a bunch of enthusiastic classmates.

***

The next day, as though in mockery of my attitude, there was another version of it...

Q1. Why is the earth the only habitable planet?

Sighing, slightly miffed, I started writing, "Many factors make earth the only habitable planet. They are..."

***