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Isn't hindsight grand. I never had to study, take notes (or write anything down for that matter), or do homework to get through highschool. College wasn't too d

Isn't hindsight grand. I never had to study, take notes (or write anything down for that matter), or do homework to get through highschool. College wasn't too difficult, but it was too much of the same, and I couldn't keep with the grind. > "For some people, that's an obstacle they never overcome." It's amazingly difficult to create these habits. I often struggle with large projects, where it's impossible to keep it all in my head. The urge to take notes happens too late, or I don't know what to take or how to take it. A recent project where I'm learning a new codebase and language simultaneously is forcing me to reevaluate how I work. It's almost more than I can mentally handle at once, and even still, I'm brute-forcing it by internalizing everything. I'm taking notes here and there when I think of it, trying different methods; wikis, textfiles, carrying a notepad; but it's slow going. Parents, teachers, mentors - do your best to make sure your kids are challenged. Praise them for succeeding, but don't let them ride that success through life, because it does end.

jimbokun 17y ago
"Praise them for succeeding" Praise them equally for failing, if they worked hard, learned something, and are willing to keep trying.
- ominous_prime 17y ago
  "Praise them equally for failing, if they worked hard, learned something, and are willing to keep trying." I Agree. I guess I was lucky in this regard - I learned to love failing, and saw it as a challenge. One of my favorite pastimes, chess, was taken up because I was so bad at it, yet saw that it could be a master-able skill.
- billswift 17y ago
  You need to be careful about the praising for trying bit, especially as they get older: "Treating like an adult: You're fucking up. Here's how to fix it. Now fix it. "Treating like a child: You're trying really hard! Good job! It's not the result that matters, it's just that you try! "(That's actually a functional way to deal with children up to a point. In most cases they can't do a real job. But when they get to the point they can, when they're ready to learn to be adults with adult responsibilities, "it's a good try" should never cut it.)"
aoriste 17y ago
> "... do your best to make sure your kids are challenged. Praise them for succeeding..." I especially agree with those two thoughts. I might be inclined append the the caveat that giftedness qua giftedness does not constitute an achievement - does not constitute a success. It is doing, and not being, that counts. While Socrates was surely a brilliant fellow, we'd know almost nothing about him or his philosophy were it not for his equally brilliant but vastly more dynamic pupil. Without the doings of Plato the wisdom of Socrates would have amounted to little of consequence.

jimbokun 17y ago

"Praise them for succeeding" Praise them equally for failing, if they worked hard, learned something, and are willing to keep trying.

ominous_prime 17y ago
"Praise them equally for failing, if they worked hard, learned something, and are willing to keep trying." I Agree. I guess I was lucky in this regard - I learned to love failing, and saw it as a challenge. One of my favorite pastimes, chess, was taken up because I was so bad at it, yet saw that it could be a master-able skill.
billswift 17y ago
You need to be careful about the praising for trying bit, especially as they get older: "Treating like an adult: You're fucking up. Here's how to fix it. Now fix it. "Treating like a child: You're trying really hard! Good job! It's not the result that matters, it's just that you try! "(That's actually a functional way to deal with children up to a point. In most cases they can't do a real job. But when they get to the point they can, when they're ready to learn to be adults with adult responsibilities, "it's a good try" should never cut it.)"

aoriste 17y ago

> "... do your best to make sure your kids are challenged. Praise them for succeeding..." I especially agree with those two thoughts. I might be inclined append the the caveat that giftedness qua giftedness does not constitute an achievement - does not constitute a success. It is doing, and not being, that counts. While Socrates was surely a brilliant fellow, we'd know almost nothing about him or his philosophy were it not for his equally brilliant but vastly more dynamic pupil. Without the doings of Plato the wisdom of Socrates would have amounted to little of consequence.