Nothing rather than Something?

Children are born philosophers, but only some stay that way. Overwhelmed with modern technologies, exposed to constant shifts of attention, they risk losing their capacity for deep reflection. They’ll be quick and efficient in the superficial realms, but as philosophy demands time and profundity, not guaranteeing any quick gains – in fact, guaranteeing no gains at all - they might lose interest in that domain.

That’s why it’s better to limit the game-playing time and let them climb trees more. But what to do if the only trees they are interested in are the digital ones they can construct by themselves? I was quite desperate.

Maybe it is too late? Maybe the brains of my children have gone in the direction predicted by Nicholas Carr in “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains” and they will soon turn into efficient, quick and short-tempered robots (short-tempered they already are), who won’t be able to concentrate on a page of text longer than ½ of an A4 or reflect on anything but how to kill those aliens?

A recent visit to church proved the contrary. Bored during the mass, my 7-year-old bombarded me with questions:

-          How do people know that angels exist?

I was perplexed, but replied:
-          Well, they don’t actually know they exist, they believe they do. Just like some people believe in God, and others don’t.  
-          Can God do anything he wants?
-          Yes, he can.
-          So he can also do nothing? – he grinned suspiciously, as if preparing a trap for me
-          Well… I guess he can do nothing, if he chooses to.
-          But what I mean is not that he lies back and does nothing, but that he creates nothing.
-          You mean, that he doesn’t create anything?
-          No, I mean that he creates a nothing.
To be honest, I felt cornered and wondered if this wasn’t the time to ask him to stop talking. A typical excuse for your own lack of answers. I chose not to say a word, but he continued:
-          No, of course not. Nobody can create a nothing, not even God! – he started to laugh, and there were twinkles in his eyes, as if he’s just made a big discovery.

Which he did.

He will learn one day that there were some people before him who undermined the power of God, by positing that if God is almighty he should also be able to create a stone so heavy that he couldn’t lift it by himself. 

He will also learn that some religions don’t speak of God, but of Nothing. And I hope he can reconcile those notions in his clever blond head. Even if the trees he likes to climb are all digital.