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A Cliff Note in history

This afternoon my grandson and I were working on his bicycle, fixing a flat tire. We had to change the inner tube, after which we put the tire back together. When we inflated the tire, it didn't come back together as planned. So I had to deflate the tube and hold it together while Ben pumped. This time was a success.

I asked Ben, who is a first grader, what happens when we don't get things right on the first try. He correctly answered that we learn from it.

I then told him that Thomas Edison failed ten thousand times before he succeeded in inventing the incandescent light bulb. Ben was amazed that it took him so many times. I then asked him what would have happened if Edison had gave up before the 10,000th try. Ben told me he didn't know.

I told him that we would have to watch television in the dark.

Comments

Amel said…
AWWWW...this is a wonderful session between a grandpa and a grandson! :-D LOVE reading it!
March 28, 2010 8:23 AM
Syd said…
I have read that 10,000 hours of doing something will make someone an expert. There is a book that has that as a premise--it's call Outliers. A good read.
March 29, 2010 10:37 AM
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