Driving home from the Worlds Next Door launch, Lyn spots Venus out the car window and points it out to the kids, which prompts us to have a conversation about the planet, and why it's so bright, and all of that sort of kiddie-inspiring sensawunda stuff. Shortly afterwards....
CONNOR: (gasps) Venus is following us!
ME: Oh no! Maybe it's stalking us!
LYN: Maybe it's because women are from Venus, and it can see there's two girls in the car so it's attracted to us and wants to be with us!
ERIN: Yeah, or maybe it's just that Venus goes around the sun the same way Earth does so it looks like it's moving at the same speed Earth is.
Well. Yes. Maybe it's that.
Fuck you, childhood world of magic.
There's a wonderful chapter in Carl Sagan's 'The Cosmic Connection', where he was persuaded to talk to a grade 2 class in New York, and asked them if they knew of any proof that the Earth was round. One little girl asked, "What about the Foucault Pendulum experiment?"
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