Conservation of Knowledge
2007.05.16 by jcOur oldest son must make a documentary film for a school project. The title of his film? “How Cars Work.” No surprise there. Shooting hasn’t started yet, but he wrote a draft of the script, which he gave to me to proofread.
| son: | “I don’t need you to fix any spelling or grammar. I just need to know if it’s right on a technical level.” |
| me (head): | “That’s code for — ‘Dad, you’re a functional illiterate, but you’re the only person in the family who knows more about cars than I do.’” |
The script was well written and nicely organized. He covered the major components in a logical succession, starting with the engine and ending with the brakes. That’s when I got to this part:
“The brakes are responsible for converting the kinetic energy of the car into heat energy, so they need to be well ventilated.”
Wow! He actually listened when I taught him about conservation of energy. Cool.
My chest swelled with geek-pride.
