{"id":16535,"date":"2022-03-23T10:21:55","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T17:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/?post_type=teachertoolkit&p=16535"},"modified":"2025-10-07T10:26:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T17:26:42","slug":"noises-in-the-night","status":"publish","type":"teachertoolkit","link":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Noises in the Night"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A NOTE FOR TEACHERS<\/strong>: I\u2019m interested in helping young people think skeptically and philosophically about concepts like knowledge<\/em>, belief<\/em>, evidence<\/em>, fact<\/em>, and theory<\/em>. I developed the Vinland Map exercise<\/a> for this purpose for older students and then wrote Noises in the Night<\/em> as a way of starting similar conversations with younger age groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lesson:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I usually start this lesson with an open-ended discussion of what is obviously the key question raised by the story (available in the lesson plan attachment area above): What leads us (and \u2014 this isn\u2019t quite the same \u2014 what should or should not lead us) to prefer one explanation of something that\u2019s happened over another? <\/em>To get that going\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, offer a couple of very concrete examples of something unusual happening \u2014 say, all the lights in the classroom suddenly go off and come on again several times in a row; or, we hear or read someone claiming that they saw a person sitting in a chair, calmly hovering three feet above the ground; or, someone (or something!) walks into the room in a silvery spacesuit, gesturing strangely and talking in a mechanical voice in a language none of us has heard before. (Encourage students to make up their own examples.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, get the group to pick a favorite and, perhaps in small groups, brainstorm at least two stories that explain why the strange thing happened. (You may need to point out that in #2 above the strange thing is we were told<\/em> it happened!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then read out (better: have students read out) the story in the lesson plan attachment PDF available above, and ask: What would you<\/em> say next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the issues raised are obvious, like paying attention to how reliable the source of a \u201cfact\u201d is. Some are much less so, like asking what other (\u201cbackground\u201d) beliefs or theories one particular belief depends on or commits us to. (That in particular really helps young students get beyond \u201cfacts are things we know and theories are things we don\u2019t know\u201d and see that our beliefs form a complex network \u2014 and that new events can put \u201cpressure\u201d on our existing beliefs and force us to alter the shape of the network.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other issues, raised by the ending: How do we tell whether someone\u2019s claim or explanation is even meant seriously or not? And how do you feel about the story not solving the mystery by telling us what the answer is?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A NOTE FOR TEACHERS: I\u2019m interested in helping young people think skeptically and philosophically about concepts like knowledge, belief, evidence, fact, and theory. I developed the Vinland Map exercise for this purpose for older students and then wrote Noises in the Night as a way of starting similar conversations with younger age groups. The Lesson: … Noises in the Night<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16537,"template":"","toolkitcategory":[757,30,33],"gradelevel":[47],"topics":[423],"class_list":["post-16535","teachertoolkit","type-teachertoolkit","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","toolkitcategory-epistemology","toolkitcategory-languages-literature","toolkitcategory-science","gradelevel-middle-school","topics-skepticism"],"yoast_head":"\nNoises in the Night - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Noises in the Night - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A NOTE FOR TEACHERS: I\u2019m interested in helping young people think skeptically and philosophically about concepts like knowledge, belief, evidence, fact, and theory. I developed the Vinland Map exercise for this purpose for older students and then wrote Noises in the Night as a way of starting similar conversations with younger age groups. The Lesson: ... Noises in the Night\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PLATO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PLATOPhilosophy?fref=ts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-07T17:26:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-3698910.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1125\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@platoorg\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/teachertoolkit\\\/noises-in-the-night\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/teachertoolkit\\\/noises-in-the-night\\\/\",\"name\":\"Noises in the Night - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/teachertoolkit\\\/noises-in-the-night\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/teachertoolkit\\\/noises-in-the-night\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/pexels-photo-3698910.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-23T17:21:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-07T17:26:42+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/teachertoolkit\\\/noises-in-the-night\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/teachertoolkit\\\/noises-in-the-night\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/teachertoolkit\\\/noises-in-the-night\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/pexels-photo-3698910.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/pexels-photo-3698910.jpeg\",\"width\":1125,\"height\":750},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/teachertoolkit\\\/noises-in-the-night\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Philosophy ToolKit\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/teachertoolkit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Noises in the Night\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"PLATO\",\"description\":\"Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/Plato-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/05\\\/Plato-Logo.png\",\"width\":354,\"height\":181,\"caption\":\"Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/plato-philosophy.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/PLATOPhilosophy?fref=ts\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/platoorg\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Noises in the Night - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Noises in the Night - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization","og_description":"A NOTE FOR TEACHERS: I\u2019m interested in helping young people think skeptically and philosophically about concepts like knowledge, belief, evidence, fact, and theory. I developed the Vinland Map exercise for this purpose for older students and then wrote Noises in the Night as a way of starting similar conversations with younger age groups. The Lesson: ... Noises in the Night","og_url":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/","og_site_name":"PLATO","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PLATOPhilosophy?fref=ts","article_modified_time":"2025-10-07T17:26:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1125,"height":750,"url":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-3698910.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@platoorg","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/","url":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/","name":"Noises in the Night - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-3698910.jpeg","datePublished":"2022-03-23T17:21:55+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-07T17:26:42+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-3698910.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-3698910.jpeg","width":1125,"height":750},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/noises-in-the-night\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Philosophy ToolKit","item":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Noises in the Night"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/","name":"PLATO","description":"Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/#organization","name":"Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization","url":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Plato-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Plato-Logo.png","width":354,"height":181,"caption":"Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PLATOPhilosophy?fref=ts","https:\/\/x.com\/platoorg"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/teachertoolkit\/16535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/teachertoolkit"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/teachertoolkit"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"toolkitcategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/toolkitcategory?post=16535"},{"taxonomy":"gradelevel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gradelevel?post=16535"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=16535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}