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David_Gerard comments on Several Topics that May or May Not deserve their own Post - Less Wrong Discussion
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As the parent of a 4yo, the annoying thing about "Why?" is that my daughter doesn't actually listen to the answer at all, so the chain of answers don't build up. This is when it just gets irritating. That and when "why?" doesn't make sense, e.g. "Why is it dinner?"
A lot of the time it seems to just be her saying something to achieve interaction with the parent, because she likes interaction even if it's meaningless. At which point I ideally try to get her actually thinking in some more meaningful way.
I have found "Why do you think?" to be an occasionally useful response, often producing an actual thoughtful response in turn (if one exists).
Have you had experience of parental responsibility for a small child? (not that such is required to post these questions, I'm just curious as to your perspective.)
My usual response to these sorts of questions, both from children and adults, is "twelve".
Isn't that just a curiosity stopper?
Depends. I've gotten a wide range of answers, but "Why twelve?" is pretty common, which sometimes segues into a whole discussion about whether "twelve" is or isn't a legitimate move in the conversational turn-taking game, which allows me to raise the question of whether "Why?" is. (Of course, depending on the age of my interlocutor, this exchange takes different superficial forms.)
But, sure, sometimes it just brings the exchange to a crashing halt.