33 Times Children Were Incredibly Philosophical

You don’t need to research schools of thought or read esoteric books to learn the basic tenets of philosophy — you just need to talk to a child. 

A Redditor remembered the time her daughter learned the difference between living and non-living things. Instead of just sitting on that newfound knowledge, her daughter did what any child would, and asked a million questions about what is and isn’t alive, while offering unsolicited opinions on all of them. She determined that humans are alive, of course, as are plants, but that cars aren’t, because they move but don’t grow. She then asked about words, which one would naturally consider non-living. But the pint-sized philosopher said that since words “change and grow when we use them,” that they’re very much alive. 

One word that came to mind for the Redditor after hearing this reasoning? “Mind-blowing.”

Other Redditors have shared the profound offerings philosophical children have uttered in their presence, including one very valid question: What does the wind do when it’s not blowing?