The Strange World of Grown-Ups

"Grown-ups are obsessed with numbers and figures. When you talk to them about a new friend, they never ask about the essential things. They never ask what the person’s voice is like, what games they like, or if they collect butterflies. They only ask how old they are, how many siblings they have, how much they weigh, and how much their father earns. And only after these questions do they think they know the person! If you tell grown-ups that you saw a beautiful house made of red bricks, with windows overflowing with geraniums and its walls covered in pigeons, they’ll never be able to picture it. You have to tell them you saw house worth millions for them to exclaim, ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ You shouldn’t be upset with them. Children must be forgiving towards grown-ups!" 

— From The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Indeed, the world of grown-ups is very complex, confusing, stern, and sometimes incomprehensible, and even grown-ups themselves don’t understand their own world. Why? Because, as children, rather than learning fundamental and essential concepts of modern human life through traditional education, they are focused on numbers, mathematics, geography, computers, and in short, pure sciences.

Therefore, it is crucial to introduce children from a young age to fundamental philosophical, human, and ethical concepts that they will encounter in the modern world. Understanding these concepts is essential for living in a free world. Concepts like dictatorship, racism, media, artificial intelligence, migration, celebrity, capitalism, equality, freedom, and many others impact children’s lives from a young age, and they are not unaware of them in today’s media-driven world. Children are constantly engaged with these concepts through news and personal experiences, and they need to be aware of them.

The aim of this collection of stories is to spark children’s attention to these concepts and provide them with a small understanding of their complex modern world. Developing a child’s philosophical and free-thinking abilities will allow their imagination to soar in the stern and complex reality of the adult world, offering new ways of living for humankind. Perhaps grown-ups need to return to the pure philosophical and imaginative perspective of children to once again experience happiness in their contemporary world.

One of the stories in this collection, "D, Like The Dictator" attempts to show a glimpse of the life of a totalitarian dictator to its readers.

A
artificial intelligence

B
Beauty

C
Celebrity

D
Dictator

E
Evil

F
Freedom

G
God

H
Health

I
Imagination

J
Joke

K
Kill

L
Love

M
Money

N
Nature

O
Other

P
Peace

Q
Question

R
Reality

S
Sexuality

T
Time

U
Ugly

V
Virus

W
War

X
xenophilia

Y
You

Z
Zzz