Flubber - 1:40 p.m.

Shock Bear Shock

Listening to the radio the other day, Mr. Oaf was extremely disturbed to hear a good bear being put down.

A child psychologist was relating how a certain test was done with children to discover if they had an aptitude for mathematics. Two rows of identical blocks were laid out in front of the children. When asked if the shapes of the blocks were all the same, the children would invariably answer yes. Correct answer. If the person conducting the test, let’s say it was man in a white coat, knocked one row of blocks out of alignment and the children were asked if all the blocks were still all the same shape, they would answer no. Wrong answer and therefore children don’t have an aptitude for mathematics until they are about seven years old.

This “test” was conducted some years ago and is considered the standard. But along came some younger psychologists and restaged the test, this time using a Teddy Bear to ask the questions instead of some grumpy old man with halitosis and a white lab coat on.

When asked by the unnamed Bear if the blocks were still all the same shape when the two rows were messed up, the children answered yes. Correct answer, and now maybe we can understand that children have innate mathematical skills just as they have innate language skills.

Being interviewed on the radio, the young psychologist lady was asked “why did the children answer correctly?” and she claimed it was because if the man asked them the question, they told him what they thought he wanted to hear, but if “a silly teddy bear was asking the question”, the kids felt free to answer correctly.

Mr. Oaf was aghast. How could the psychologists come to that conclusion? If they had said the bear was whispering the correct answer, then they might have had a point, or perhaps even that the bear was their mathematics tutor, as Teddy had helped Mr. Oaf with his terrible innumeracy, this might wash. But to say that the bear was “silly” is demeaning and possible libelous. Teddy is currently looking into mounting a suit against psychology as it has been some time since he last began a class action.

bears in history - future bears

“This diary cracked me up, completely, perhaps the oddest diary I have ever read. I'm not sure if it's a takeoff on something or someone that I have somehow missed. Regardless, TEZNEZCO! chronicles the adventures of two bears and describe them as if they are a minority of some sort. The writing is disturbingly matter-of-fact as if it is perfectly normal to be writing about these bears as people. I like it; it's pleasantly novel" - Diaryreview

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