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Also, the article segues to fostering creativity without ever coming back to the question of whether those kids are more successful as adults. So having fewer

Also, the article segues to fostering creativity without ever coming back to the question of whether those kids are more successful as adults. So having fewer rules supposedly leads to more creative children, but do those kids do well later in life? Article doesn't say. I'm basically sympathetic to the more "hands off" parenting style being discussed. But the article really doesn't make its case.

pappyo 11y ago
>So having fewer rules supposedly leads to more creative children, but do those kids do well later in life? Is having no rules a steadfast rule? Chew on that one for a while :) And while you're thinking about that, realize that most children growing up in poor environments don't have many rules to follow. Few people would consider poor communities as bastions of creativity (not to say there isn't creative things happening in these communities, just they are not perceived that way). The problem with this article and others like it is the subjects - children - are not one thing in a vacuum. Some children will thrive in a structureless home life. But most won't. Some children will thrive with rigid structure. But most won't. So what's the answer? It depends on the kid. From my experience, most children need some sort of structure in their lives. They simply don't have the faculties to deal with the complexity of how life is today. That's what the parent is for. But to go overboard with rules generally doesn't work very well either.
- samshih 11y ago
  I feel that raising your child like so (having fewer rules) in fact parallels doing well later in life. The measure of success, especially here on hacker news, feels heavily skewed towards making money, success in the Silicon Valley, etc. But while some creative lifestyles may not make enough money (poets, writers, artists) I would argue that they would end up living more fulfilling lives, following their intrinsic motivations rather than any socially constructed notion of success.
  - pappyo 11y ago
    My point was children, in the abstract, are easy to overgeneralize. In reality, it's difficult to say how any given child will react to any given stimuli. Few rules might work for one child but not the next...and there is no rhyme or reason to it. Children are complicated things. Just as adults are complicated things.
sitkack 11y ago
In raising my own child in this manner, I am not so much fostering creativity, but not suppressing the person who is already there. We should enable everyone to be the best possible person. We raise or lower all of those around us.

pappyo 11y ago

>So having fewer rules supposedly leads to more creative children, but do those kids do well later in life? Is having no rules a steadfast rule? Chew on that one for a while :) And while you're thinking about that, realize that most children growing up in poor environments don't have many rules to follow. Few people would consider poor communities as bastions of creativity (not to say there isn't creative things happening in these communities, just they are not perceived that way). The problem with this article and others like it is the subjects - children - are not one thing in a vacuum. Some children will thrive in a structureless home life. But most won't. Some children will thrive with rigid structure. But most won't. So what's the answer? It depends on the kid. From my experience, most children need some sort of structure in their lives. They simply don't have the faculties to deal with the complexity of how life is today. That's what the parent is for. But to go overboard with rules generally doesn't work very well either.

samshih 11y ago
I feel that raising your child like so (having fewer rules) in fact parallels doing well later in life. The measure of success, especially here on hacker news, feels heavily skewed towards making money, success in the Silicon Valley, etc. But while some creative lifestyles may not make enough money (poets, writers, artists) I would argue that they would end up living more fulfilling lives, following their intrinsic motivations rather than any socially constructed notion of success.
- pappyo 11y ago
  My point was children, in the abstract, are easy to overgeneralize. In reality, it's difficult to say how any given child will react to any given stimuli. Few rules might work for one child but not the next...and there is no rhyme or reason to it. Children are complicated things. Just as adults are complicated things.

sitkack 11y ago

In raising my own child in this manner, I am not so much fostering creativity, but not suppressing the person who is already there. We should enable everyone to be the best possible person. We raise or lower all of those around us.