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> To help kids become more creative, we actually need to start doing less. Yes to doing less, yes to let kids getting bored, because "boredom" is fertile and e

by gbog 10y ago

> To help kids become more creative, we actually need to start doing less. Yes to doing less, yes to let kids getting bored, because "boredom" is fertile and even necessary. But the aim is not to make kids "more creative", this is not something you really want for your kids as a parent. What you really want is to maximise chances that your kids will have a "good (enough) life".

Retra 10y ago
That's entirely unsustainable. If enough people do what you suggest, your children will find themselves facing a Malthusian catastrophe with the wrong values to avoid it. It's also quite selfish.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Depends on what you understand as "good life", and differences in that understanding are probably why we aren't in the middle of that catastrophe yet (at least in this area of life). But if everyone were to raise their kids for optimal job-market value, then yeah, that would start sucking pretty quickly. > It's also quite selfish. Seems that having children in general does that to you. It's something that I hope I'll be able to avoid when I have children of my own.
- gbog 10y ago
  Well yes and no. Let's take another example, voting. I think an ideal democratic process should be that people vote selfishly for their own "well-understood" interest. This "well understood" is crucial, it means all the "therefores" in this logic: one will vote for one's own interest, therefore in one's country's own interest, therefore in the world's best interest, therefore in our universe's best interest. The same for my kids: I want them to have an happy life, therefore I teach them the values that will help them achieve this modest ambition, and these values are modest but also useful for other people: be friendly, open minded, accept life as it comes to you, do not value money for more than it is, do not expect too much from others, do not let your "underbelly" drive your will or your life, read good books, learn how to "garden" friends, be honest, serious, finish what you've started, etc. To me all of these values are stubornly selfish: they draw the surest and well-know way to a happy life, for a normal human being.

by gbog 10y ago

Retra 10y ago

That's entirely unsustainable. If enough people do what you suggest, your children will find themselves facing a Malthusian catastrophe with the wrong values to avoid it. It's also quite selfish.

TeMPOraL 10y ago
Depends on what you understand as "good life", and differences in that understanding are probably why we aren't in the middle of that catastrophe yet (at least in this area of life). But if everyone were to raise their kids for optimal job-market value, then yeah, that would start sucking pretty quickly. > It's also quite selfish. Seems that having children in general does that to you. It's something that I hope I'll be able to avoid when I have children of my own.
gbog 10y ago
Well yes and no. Let's take another example, voting. I think an ideal democratic process should be that people vote selfishly for their own "well-understood" interest. This "well understood" is crucial, it means all the "therefores" in this logic: one will vote for one's own interest, therefore in one's country's own interest, therefore in the world's best interest, therefore in our universe's best interest. The same for my kids: I want them to have an happy life, therefore I teach them the values that will help them achieve this modest ambition, and these values are modest but also useful for other people: be friendly, open minded, accept life as it comes to you, do not value money for more than it is, do not expect too much from others, do not let your "underbelly" drive your will or your life, read good books, learn how to "garden" friends, be honest, serious, finish what you've started, etc. To me all of these values are stubornly selfish: they draw the surest and well-know way to a happy life, for a normal human being.