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To be fair to yourself, kids often disappoint their parents, but this is more on the parents. An anecdote: My dad was driven nuts by how much time I wasted as

To be fair to yourself, kids often disappoint their parents, but this is more on the parents. An anecdote: My dad was driven nuts by how much time I wasted as a kid and teen on gaming, and how it seemed that I had few productive interests,never built anything, and stopped projects as soon as I got bored.. He wanted me to be obsessed with something, but few teens are obsessed with anything but not being lonely, social interactions more generally, and just following a random walk exploration. Dad never won those fights to make me serious then. But you know what? As an adult, I am quite different. I am now a post doctoral fellow conducting cutting edge neuroscience, having completed numberous complex, long-term research programmes that have required obsession, grit, and a determination to perfect his craft. If your kids can avoid the usual pitfalls (e.g. a serious drug addiction) Im sure all your efforts will come into fruition when they are ready to committ themselves. Today I buy my son Rasberry Pie's, laptops with GameMaker installed, etc hoping he too will find an obsessio. But he too resists i.e. stops as soon as he is bored. C'est la vie

justinator 10y ago
I don't mean to be rude, but would you mind sharing the type of financial situation you grew up in? I don't remember wasting that much time as a teenager, since if I wanted something, I needed to get a job and work for it. If there was any chance of my bettering the type of situation I grew up on, I had to make sure my grades were amazing. I had to deal with someone else's serious drug addiction in the family, and try to make sense of it, while committing to myself. I don't know if you were ever physically abused as a child because of the lack of drive? I'm just saying, you may have had the privilege to waste time on someone else's dime, and everything still worked out alright. Not everyone has that. Some of us, if we're not willing to fight from the get-go, we're going nowhere. Anwyays, congratulations on your post doctoral fellowship.
- SubiculumCode 10y ago
  I grew up in a neighborhood of dirt and chicken coops. My parents made less than 12k $ per year as I grew up. My parents never attended college and did not know the first thing about it. My privileges included a stable family that pushed me to succeed where they had not, and an above average IQ. I got through college with my family on student loans, stipends, and food stamps.And you know what, my kids will have opportunities I never even dreamed of. There is no better feeling. You decide for yourself what my anecdote is worth.
  - dennisgorelik 10y ago
    > my kids will have opportunities I never even dreamed of On another hand your kids are more spoiled with the wealth they were born into and potentially may have lower drive than you have. Hard to tell how they would turn out.
    - SubiculumCode 10y ago
      To be a parent is to worry :)
    - toyg 10y ago
      > your kids are more spoiled with the wealth they were born into An afghan (?) proverb I barely remember went something like this: "The king's father grew up in a tent; he worked hard, built his house, and led the people well. The king lived in a house but remembered the tent he was born in; he worked hard, built his palace, and led the people well. The king's children were born in a palace; they have never seen a tent. They are lazy and will not lead the people at all."
      - afghanPower 10y ago
        My dad always used to tell us this. I am so happy you reminded me of this proverb ;)
      - acoard 10y ago
        Maybe you're thinking of the famous quote from the Saudi ruler in the 60s: "My grandfather rode a Pony, my father rode a Pony, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_bin_Saeed_Al_Maktoum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_bin_Saeed_Al_Maktoum
      - kwhitefoot 10y ago
        The English language version is: Shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations.
    - 10y ago
- beachstartup 10y ago
  do you make it a habit to shit on peoples' achievements as foregone conclusions because of their upbringing? do you realize that this is an extremely transparent projection of your own insecurities?
- SubiculumCode 10y ago
  And I wanted to add something else because you make some very good points. When I first went off to college I failed. I did not know why I was there or how to do things. I dropped out and worked various jobs e.g. graveyard shifts at AMPM for two years, pizza delivery for a year, driver for a repoman repossessing cars..let me tell you that there were some pretty dark years then.. But I did succeed after failing The point is not so much a libertarian fairy tale though. It was only after I met my wife and started a family did the focus of my life come together with a vengence. It was only because I received a lot of support from a supportive wife, a stable dad and mom, a good graduate advisor,and a minimally sufficient social services system. Without these I would not have succeeded coming from where I did..
retro64 10y ago
To be fair to yourself, kids often disappoint their parents, but this is more on the parents. This is true, yes! But I am concerned about what this does to them as a person. Life will kick them down (and then in the head for good measure), and a time will come when they are truly standing alone. If they are lacking the inner self, will they have the fortitude and the wherewithal to navigate themselves back up, even without any immediate payoff? Or will this constant need to feed be so ingrained they won’t know how to push through a hard time with little hope and almost zero positive gain, and instead gravitate towards what feels good for the moment? But, your anecdote offers hope anyway. Thanks for sharing.
- pfranz 10y ago
  There's also value in having a shared culture when in social scenarios. Those hours of watching Simpsons episodes over and over give me points of reference and things to discuss with new people. Those social connections and the ability to make new social connections help when thrown into a new situation (going to college, starting a new job, moving to a new state, ending a relationship and rebuilding social connections). I wonder if it's some innate drive for kids because it comes up in multiple generations; listening to music, watching tv, on facebook or youtube?
burdalane 10y ago
My parents really wanted me to find an obsession as a teen. By the time I was in high school, my parents were fretting that I didn't have an obsession except for doing well all-around in school, so, they proceeded to tell me what they believed I couldn't do successfully. This ruled out everything except for computers. Ironically, my dad didn't understand how anybody could be passionate about computers, and considered it an to be easy field for mediocre people without an obsession. I still don't really have an obsession. Committing to a field feels so restrictive compared to reading about a variety of things. As a result, I haven't done very well professionally, but my dad, who was obsessed, didn't do well, either.

justinator 10y ago

I don't mean to be rude, but would you mind sharing the type of financial situation you grew up in? I don't remember wasting that much time as a teenager, since if I wanted something, I needed to get a job and work for it. If there was any chance of my bettering the type of situation I grew up on, I had to make sure my grades were amazing. I had to deal with someone else's serious drug addiction in the family, and try to make sense of it, while committing to myself. I don't know if you were ever physically abused as a child because of the lack of drive? I'm just saying, you may have had the privilege to waste time on someone else's dime, and everything still worked out alright. Not everyone has that. Some of us, if we're not willing to fight from the get-go, we're going nowhere. Anwyays, congratulations on your post doctoral fellowship.

SubiculumCode 10y ago
I grew up in a neighborhood of dirt and chicken coops. My parents made less than 12k $ per year as I grew up. My parents never attended college and did not know the first thing about it. My privileges included a stable family that pushed me to succeed where they had not, and an above average IQ. I got through college with my family on student loans, stipends, and food stamps.And you know what, my kids will have opportunities I never even dreamed of. There is no better feeling. You decide for yourself what my anecdote is worth.
- dennisgorelik 10y ago
  > my kids will have opportunities I never even dreamed of On another hand your kids are more spoiled with the wealth they were born into and potentially may have lower drive than you have. Hard to tell how they would turn out.
  - SubiculumCode 10y ago
    To be a parent is to worry :)
  - toyg 10y ago
    > your kids are more spoiled with the wealth they were born into An afghan (?) proverb I barely remember went something like this: "The king's father grew up in a tent; he worked hard, built his house, and led the people well. The king lived in a house but remembered the tent he was born in; he worked hard, built his palace, and led the people well. The king's children were born in a palace; they have never seen a tent. They are lazy and will not lead the people at all."
    - afghanPower 10y ago
      My dad always used to tell us this. I am so happy you reminded me of this proverb ;)
    - acoard 10y ago
      Maybe you're thinking of the famous quote from the Saudi ruler in the 60s: "My grandfather rode a Pony, my father rode a Pony, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_bin_Saeed_Al_Maktoum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_bin_Saeed_Al_Maktoum
    - kwhitefoot 10y ago
      The English language version is: Shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations.
  - 10y ago
beachstartup 10y ago
do you make it a habit to shit on peoples' achievements as foregone conclusions because of their upbringing? do you realize that this is an extremely transparent projection of your own insecurities?
SubiculumCode 10y ago
And I wanted to add something else because you make some very good points. When I first went off to college I failed. I did not know why I was there or how to do things. I dropped out and worked various jobs e.g. graveyard shifts at AMPM for two years, pizza delivery for a year, driver for a repoman repossessing cars..let me tell you that there were some pretty dark years then.. But I did succeed after failing The point is not so much a libertarian fairy tale though. It was only after I met my wife and started a family did the focus of my life come together with a vengence. It was only because I received a lot of support from a supportive wife, a stable dad and mom, a good graduate advisor,and a minimally sufficient social services system. Without these I would not have succeeded coming from where I did..

retro64 10y ago

To be fair to yourself, kids often disappoint their parents, but this is more on the parents. This is true, yes! But I am concerned about what this does to them as a person. Life will kick them down (and then in the head for good measure), and a time will come when they are truly standing alone. If they are lacking the inner self, will they have the fortitude and the wherewithal to navigate themselves back up, even without any immediate payoff? Or will this constant need to feed be so ingrained they won’t know how to push through a hard time with little hope and almost zero positive gain, and instead gravitate towards what feels good for the moment? But, your anecdote offers hope anyway. Thanks for sharing.

pfranz 10y ago
There's also value in having a shared culture when in social scenarios. Those hours of watching Simpsons episodes over and over give me points of reference and things to discuss with new people. Those social connections and the ability to make new social connections help when thrown into a new situation (going to college, starting a new job, moving to a new state, ending a relationship and rebuilding social connections). I wonder if it's some innate drive for kids because it comes up in multiple generations; listening to music, watching tv, on facebook or youtube?

burdalane 10y ago

My parents really wanted me to find an obsession as a teen. By the time I was in high school, my parents were fretting that I didn't have an obsession except for doing well all-around in school, so, they proceeded to tell me what they believed I couldn't do successfully. This ruled out everything except for computers. Ironically, my dad didn't understand how anybody could be passionate about computers, and considered it an to be easy field for mediocre people without an obsession. I still don't really have an obsession. Committing to a field feels so restrictive compared to reading about a variety of things. As a result, I haven't done very well professionally, but my dad, who was obsessed, didn't do well, either.