Young kids somehow are able to cut right through all the preconceptions, pretenses, prejudices, and pre-teen hormones that adults (and pre-teens) have.  And the clarity of vision they possess is remarkable.  Here is a case in point.  Recently we headed out on a 1300 mile roadtrip.  The 'we' is two adults, a teenager, twin first-graders, and a 3 year old.  All of us packed into a large SUV driving across the Western United States.  Amidst the numerous "are we there yet?", "I'm hungry", "I'm thirsty" (and the follow-on 30 minutes later, "I have to go to the bathroom") questions we heard someone from the back ask, "Are Earthlings Aliens?". 

Of course our resident expert, the 6 year old boy, promptly answered that yes, they are.  His twin sister reacted like all twins and she said that they aren't.  The dialogue quickly turned into an are-too/are-not debate.  Being patient parents we let this constructive communication continue till we felt that it was no longer profitting anyone, that is, about 5 seconds, and then interupted the two telling them to stop arguing.  My wife decide to put the whole issue to rest.  She told my son, "Earthlings are who we are."  That should have settled it.

The mind of a child is amazing.  Easily able to look beyond the simple and mundane.  It is able to see the true essence of issues.  And thus, it is able to quickly, even subconsciously, reject the easy answer.  So in light of my wife's statement the boy began to think.  Clearly there is more to the issue.  Isn't the question of alienness a matter of perspective?  Doesn't it require a deep understanding of basic common-ground or shared context.  How different do two have to be before one is an alien to the other?  Surely there is more to this question.  Surely Earthlings are aliens.  And now, Mom's statement?  What could it mean? 

With only a few seconds of thinking my son asked the only reasonable follow-on question, "Mom, what's a hoo-we-arr?"

Clearly, Earthlings are aliens.  And a strange breed at that.  Something called a Hoo-We-Arr.