In Defense of Blowing Sh*t Up

This post almost never got written because everyone hated this idea.  They argued with me so much that I almost never got the time to write it.  By time I did start writing it, I was in the habit of anticipating objections and answering them preemptively.  As a result, this post is written in a format you could call Frequently Unasked Questions.

Q: You actually think blowing up sh*t is good?
A: No.  I actually think blowing sh*t up is great!  I love it and I’m not alone: millions enjoy fireworks and movies where sh*t gets blown up.  Crowds always gather to see them demolish an old building or blast a tunnel for a new road.  And who can forget when they blew up a beached whale carcass, creating an Internet video sensation that delighted us all?

Q: So aside from destruction and entertainment what good are explosions?
A: Explosions are good for lots of things- they shoot things into the air (they blow sh*t up), slam jack-hammers into rocks or even impel the pistons which turn the wheels which move your car.  Explosions hurl bullets down barrels of guns and sustained explosions lift the space shuttle into orbit.  Blowing sh*t up is essential to our modern world plus it makes great science demos and provides massive relief of stress.

Q: What do you mean rockets are controlled explosions? No they aren’t!
A: Yes, they are.  Rapidly expanding gases are explosions.  If those gases are trapped they can demolish a building, but if they are directed they can propel a rocket through space.  (There’s even an idea to use atomic bombs to propel a rocket through space, called Project Orion.

Q: So you want little children to play with explosives and rockets?
A: Yes.  But only little explosions for the little ones – let’s leave the heavy ordinance to professionals.  Explosions aren’t the only things which have levels of amateur and professional – most of us don’t drive race cars or operate high powered lasers.  Most of us stick within our skill level on most things – explosions shouldn’t be any different!

Q: What type of explosion is appropriate for a grade-school child?
A: That depends on the child.  But for a start try putting some baking soda & vinegar in a pop-top bottle, quickly cram on the lid and watch it fly (the details are left as an exercise for the reader lol).  Then maybe progress to dry ice in a soda bottle – or maybe Mentos & Diet Coke (these are outdoor activities).  More experienced and skilled children may be ready to use flammable propellants like breath spray or hair spray (favorites for spud-guns and tennis ball cannons).  Launching Air-rockets or Water-rockets are safe activities in high fire danger areas.  (Although not technically explosions trebuchets and catapults still unleash impressive amounts of power for entertainment purposes and are given honorary status - as seen in this video)

Q: Don’t you realize that explosions are NOT family values?
A: Hmm, then why does Disneyland end every day with a fireworks show?

Q: I don’t want my neighbor playing with bombs, do you?
A: “Bombs”?  No!  “Explosions”?  That depends how much it affects me – for example I don’t want to hear explosions from a leaf blower or a jack-hammer at 6:00 am.  But I don’t mind the whoosh of rockets or the bangs of fire crackers in the afternoon.

Q: Isn’t it sexist to encourage little boys’ urges to blow up sh*t?
A: No, but it is sexist to assume that only boys have those urges.

Q: How would you feel if you inspired someone to play with explosions and they got hurt?
A: About as bad as I would if I encouraged them to ride a bicycle or climb a tree and they got hurt.

Q: Riding bicycles and climbing trees aren’t the same as explosions- don’t you think?
A: You’re right.  They’re not nearly as educational.

Q: Why do kids need to play with explosions for education, don’t they go to school for education?
A: I am not saying that all kids need to play with explosions.  I am saying that those who want to can get value from it so let’s encourage it and channel that curiosity and creativity into safe, fun and rewarding accomplishments.  Besides, scientists, engineers and inventors are not made in schools – they are made in garage-labs and back yards where they can be creative and truly experiment.  All great scientists have a creative streak in them and school is the death of creativity – Ken Robinson says it well in this talk

Q: Are you saying playing with explosions is better than doing science experiments in school?
A: Yes.  When kids play with rockets, spud-guns, or fire crackers eventually they try doing something different – IOW: They experiment.  When students do science ‘experiments’ in school they follow a strict recipe and cannot try new things.  There is nothing experimental about science classes.  Maybe people think scientists are uncreative because they were never allowed to be creative when they were in science classes.  This gets back to my point: scientists are not produced in schools.  To paraphrase Pablo Picasso, “All children are born scientists. The problem is to remain scientists as we grow up.”

Q: Name one scientist or engineer who got into science by way of explosions!
A: I’ll name two: The Bad Boy Scientist and Homer Hickam.