Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for August 09, 2024

There are kids and then there’s Calvin.

Mom should have made Calvin clean it up, mom is the dumb one

It’s by listening now and then…..

That’s not being ‘dumb’, it’s just being careless.

Bad genes

If that was true, then the heavy matter (such as planets) would be at the core of the universe. I believe that Copernicus and Galileo proved that theory is false.

The number of facts that any particular person knows, intelligence, and common sense are three different things.

Started so smart

And speaking of lemonade, there’s a mop and pail waiting for you in the kitchen.

B.C has Clumsy Carp. Mum and Dad has Clumsy Calvin. I wonder if they are distant relatives?……

If you spill or drop something, blame it on Isaac and Albert.

Today’s strip is an important one in understanding Calvin. People often say he is “lazy” or “dumb”. He is lazy and dumb in SOME ways but he also enjoys learning about things that interest him and he does enjoy learning things in his spare time but NEVER enjoys learning in school.

As I have mentioned before on Calvin and Hobbes sites – including the one where today’s strip was last reprinted in 2019 – there was a Roadrunner comic in which the Roadrunner said of Wile E. Coyote:-

“One thing I’ll never understand about our chum,

How can he be so smart and yet so dumb?"

Both Calvin and Wile E. Coyote are strong examples of the ability to develop knowledge and still act carelessly. They also sum up the ability to develop complex plans yet overlook small but important details.

so he says that anything that passes by, like light, rolls towards the planet. Then he says that gravity deflects light. So which is it?

Because, Madam, we only learn what is interesting to us.

Ok, I’m not a kid, but it still applies.

Einstein eventually created a theory about space…and it was about time, too.

The best definition of an orbit that I’ve ever heard was an object falling towards a planet with just enough sideways velocity to keep missing it.

When life gives you lemonade, drop it on the floor.

Our 9-year-old was carrying his comforter towards the basement. (me) “What happened?” (him) “I spilled chocolate milk on it; bringing it down to wash.” Didn’t know he helped himself to 16 ounces of milk; AND he left the comforter on the floor!

Mom should recognize that, when Cal starts a long detailed explanation of anything, there’s something broken somewhere.

Why were you wearing roller skates in the house in the first place?

Knowing it and applying it are two different things, a difference that many never seem to figure out.

How tragic! Too bad it wasn’t prune juice.

……so clumsy!!!!!!!

Glass pitchers were made to be broken. Wonder why they don’t bottle milk in glass anymore? Clank two of those together and see!

Calvin should’ve blamed dad.

It’s not just kids.

It breaks my heart to see a pitcher of lemonade spilled on the floor, but only if it’s a freshly squeezed pitcher of lemonade. If it’s the powdered stuff, you can launch it to the moon.

As a side note…..

Public service announcement: If you’re ever on roller skates in a skating rink and you see water on the rink’s floor…or the restroom, avoid it at all cost. It’s slipperier than ice, and you will fall if you roll through it. I don’t care how good or skilled you are, a tumble is in your future if you dare a puddle to a duel.

My Mom’s been asking that same question for over 50 years.

Howland Owl said “how can I be so stupid when I is so smart?”

Yes, but that does fit with the flat earth theory.

true of everybody actually

Teach him how to use a mop.

If you think this is bad, wait until mom hears his explanation of the Big Bang

Said he while slowly backing away from the disaster in the kitchen….

Gotcha Mom!!!

That’s pretty much the way Carl Sagan explained it, if I recall correctly.

Common sense.

Calvin just focuses on different things in life.

I remember a quote from somewhere: “You don’t have to understand the workings of an Italian to enjoy spumoni.”

It might have been Professor Nebulous.

Mom should be teaching Calvin about Newtonian physics. For every action, there is an opposite reaction, Calvin mopping up the lemonade.

Yeah……

Book smart vs street smart.

I had older relatives who didn’t graduate from high school due to economic situations, but they could tackle any DIY project or repair and do a great job.

Then there are some academics I work with who are respected in the community for their abstruse research, but they are forbidden by their spouses from attempting any DIY project at home (based on past mishaps).

As my mentor once observed, one of the scarier sights in this world is a physicist with a screwdriver…

A lot of adults are the same way!!!

Recently I realized the problem with common sense isn’t that it isn’t all that common. Instead I’ve figured out that common sense is a choice. Calvin reminds me of this frequently.

And this is the same kid struggling to get grades in school. Mrs Wormwood lacks skill to identify the bright little ones.

Jeremy’s mother over at “Zits” could make the exact same comment.

It’s called having a high IQ and low common sense. Believe it, lady.

One can generate a theory based on observations. Then design an experiment to that controls enough variables to test the theory. If the tests are consistent, then ask other to test it. After multiple tests by various others, you’ll have your result. This process takes time. And patience. But it does pay off in the end.

Let’s do the time warp again!

Move over, Mr. Wizard.