Afarensis is a 3.5-2.8 million year old hominin from the Kada Hadar member of the Hadar formation in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. He is approximately 41 inches tall, weighs approximately 60 pounds and has a cranial capacity of a whopping 410 cc (approximately). Afarensis is currently considered to be transitional between apes and humans and displays some traits of both. Since he spends a lot of time on the couch watching monster movies, some observers question whether he is an obligate biped (although no one has observed him climbing a tree). He also has a blog called 
But the study revealed an interesting sidebar that is tougher to explain. Among things they can't see, from germs to God, children seem to be more confident in the information they get about invisible scientific objects than about things in the spiritual realm."We don't have a firm view on why it is they're a bit more confident on the scientific information," said Paul Harris, a professor of education at Harvard University. "But one possible plausible reason is that when we talk about things like germs or body organs, we talk in a very matter-of-fact fashion. We don't say, "I believe in germs," we simply take it for granted that they exist."
On the other hand, adults tend to assert the existence of God more strenuously, possibly raising doubts in children's minds as to the existence of an unseen deity, Harris said.
The study is available here
Okay, the link is fixed...
Email this entry to a friend
View the Technorati Link Cosmos for this entry
Comments
and for that matter, adults who "assert the existence of God more strenuously" also have a subset of which *don't* "believe in germs". :)
Posted by: Joe Shelby | May 23, 2006 1:34 PM
Very interesting indeed.
Posted by: D.R.M. | May 23, 2006 3:34 PM
There is some problem with the last link.
Posted by: Duane | May 23, 2006 4:35 PM
Here is the correct link to the PDF.
Posted by: coturnix | May 23, 2006 4:51 PM
This is very interesting, although sad when you think how much parents can twist their children common sense
Posted by: Salvador | May 24, 2006 3:01 PM
I do agree with Harris' statement. God seems to be something that is questionable in the minds of children. i believe that children do get confued because they get different information about spiritual spirts from so many people that they don't even know what to think. when they get FACTS from say germs they hear the same information so often that that becomes a fact in their brain and it is no longer just a thought or belief. Children at a very young age are thought that they should not touch certain things because they contain germs that could harm them. they hear this information from more than one adult, but stuff about God they can only talk about with their families.
Posted by: Ruben Ramirez | December 7, 2006 2:48 AM