Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for April 13, 2015

Calvin can’t be bothered with minor details.

What if one was asking about cosmic history??

First graders get questions like this in school? Not likely. I don’t think I’d even heard of the Erie Canal until I was in 3rd or 4th grade, and then it was to sing that irritating old song about it.

in the cosmlic sence the universe is nil…nothing but a stage to be performed upon..

You also rarely pass tests.

Calvin always conjures up the most interesting ways to say “I didn’t study. I don’t know. Can’t we talk about something else now – like me?”

Lotta people got jobs.Lotta people got seriously injured or died.Hole inna ground fulla water, boats goin’ up an’ down.End of.

I guess it was significant to that guy who had a mule whose name was Sal, who hauled those barges filled with lumber, coal and hay for fifteen years.

According to Richard Armour, the problem with the Erie canal was that, after it had been constructed, a whole lot of people from Detroit and Cleveland came barging into New York City.

foreign fish in the Great Lakes (Superior in particular) which killed off the major fishing industry.

Made N.Y.C the most important city in the U.S.

Hey, cool! The Erie Canal runs right thru my town! In fact, we have a summer festival at the Canal every year!

That answer should get an A+. If the teacher writes vague questions they can hardly punish 100% correct answers.

Good to see at least one kid that grasps the USA is not the center of the universe.

The Eerie Canal freaks me out.

You never know, Calvin. The Erie Canal helped European expansionism in the US, and a result over time was NASA. NASA may be the first to encounter space aliens. So you see, all history might be important.

In order to dig the Erie Canal, they had to get rid of a huge quantity of tree roots. It very easily could have been named the Root Canal. Pretty eerie when you think about it.

The Erie Canal was also known as “Clinton’s Ditch” oe “Clinton’s Folly”, named after then-Governor DeWitt Clinton. Check the side of your can of Pepsi: yup, the company is "Clinton’s Ditch, a co-op of soft drink bottlers in upstate NY.

Just FYI.

Calvin is making history every day…

The significance can’t be zero, but it would be near zero. Given the size of the universe, the entire earth is of near zero importance. Monty Python got it right in the Meaning of Life.

I thought digging out the Erie Canal was a cure for deafness.

In the cosmic sense, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament (expanse) shows his handiwork.”“The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord’s; but the earth has he given to the children of men.”If God declares that humans are significant (because he made them), that’s good enough for me.

Cosmology could go into time immemorial, but it wouldn’t help evolution work. “It’s Impossible.” – Perry Como

Canals were a major means of transport until a better technology came along, ie the railroads.

We’ve noticed that, Calvin!

xxx

This has gotta be the next line after “…fifteen percent? Everybody knows that, but…”

@Puddleglum: Re: Perry Como on Cosmology and Evolution: I wonder whether this was before or after his thinking evolved…..

pathfindercec: That was the Chicago River and Welland Canals much later, not the Erie. I don’t think any fish could jump Niagra Falls.

Math can result in big pictures.

Calvin is a genius.

LeadingEdge: They have good distance, but only ten feet in altitude.

@Hobbes,Perry Como just sang the song. I used the title to proclaim my conviction that evolution could never happen. But some people will believe in it anyway, since the only alternative is the sovereign creator God whom they are determined to deny and reject. I try to use tactics that will avoid ‘barging’ into some people’s area of greatest sensitivity. Can you dig?

@Puddleglum: Well, it’s better than ditching your convictions……..

“We big picture people”? Oh, so you can read their minds all of a sudden. :P That’s what happens when your ego gets as big as Calvin’s. You can’t use a personal example as empirical evidence.