Discerning Reality

I've recently been seeing a number of cat photos where the cat thinks the fish or birds on the tv or computer screen are real... like this one:

There's some commercial with a phone ringing that sounds like mine, and I fall for it every time. On Sunday night, I was watching 60 Minutes and they had an update about the Sudanese "Lost Boys" -- refugees from Sudan's civil war whose parents were killed and many were relocated here in the United States and they knew nothing about modern living. Their US hosts had them set up in apartments where they demonstrated the sink, the toilet, a can opener, the stove -- right down to telling them that they can't touch the stove's electric burners when they are on.

Then one of the organizers told 60 Minutes that a challenge was teaching them reality vs fantasy. He gave two examples... he told them that there had been a man on the moon and then they saw Mr. Ed on TV. So he asked, "What's harder to believe? A talking horse or a man on the moon?"

Another interesting part was preparing these people to come to the United States and the teacher was telling them about winter and then he passed around a big chunk of ice -- something they had never experienced -- it was fascinating to watch.

They showed a scene of looking at a Santa Claus doll in a store window and the 60 Minutes host was trying to explain Santa and they didn't know if it was real.

Anyway, then the show updated how they are doing. Not surprisingly, some good, some just couldn't make the adjustment.