The moral life of children

Spore Sprout has suspected it for a while, and now he is almost sure: that his ten-year-old has a more finely-tuned sense of morality than he does, a greater capacity for moral reasoning, a higher degree of moral intelligence.

Discussing their favorite characters from the Mahabharata, Spore Sprout explained why he thought Karna was heroic.  Please see last post.

Making his case for Yudhishthira, Small Sprout recalled the Pandava prince's reaction to the Pandavas' victory over their kinsmen and the news of Karna's death.  "We have murdered our brother," Yudhishthira was inconsolable.  Small Sprout asked, half rhetorically, "Do you think Karna would have felt as sad if it was the other way around?"  Spore Sprout said he thought not, and asked Small Sprout: "So Yudhishthira is the greater, because he loves his enemy?"  "Yes."  Spore Sprout must say that his son may have a point.

This brings to mind an earlier conversation between father and son when Small Sprout had just turned seven.  The boy was learning about the "life cycle" in school.  The father asked, "Why 'cycle'?  Why not a life 'line' instead?  How is life like the water cycle that you just learned about?"  "Because life goes on after death -- like leaves falling after they grow and growing after they fall."  "Is there a human life cycle?"  "A man dies and his children and grandchildren live on."  This enlarged sense of the self impressed Spore Sprout greatly.