I thought the point of this post was the meta-level of whether such phrases ever make sense, not the more object-level of whether they make sense in this case.
The point was that using such phrases in front of the kids nurtures in them the habit of making highly incontestable statements requiring lots of disclaimers the kids can’t think of, because they don’t know enough stuff, and that’s OK for them. The point was that I, personally, learned names for some (biological) concepts long after I was presented with the ‘meat’ of them, and I don’t know if it is a good thing. But whatever, lichens are very interesting, too.
Yes, of course, it is reasonable; I have just not read any report on this, whether positive or negative. Will have to repair that gap.
I thought the point of this post was the meta-level of whether such phrases ever make sense, not the more object-level of whether they make sense in this case.
The point was that using such phrases in front of the kids nurtures in them the habit of making highly incontestable statements requiring lots of disclaimers the kids can’t think of, because they don’t know enough stuff, and that’s OK for them. The point was that I, personally, learned names for some (biological) concepts long after I was presented with the ‘meat’ of them, and I don’t know if it is a good thing. But whatever, lichens are very interesting, too.