3 ms·

I largely agree with you. But the following line from the article is devastating, "For a lot of children, when they’re 8 years old, it’s too late." And this ma

I largely agree with you. But the following line from the article is devastating, "For a lot of children, when they’re 8 years old, it’s too late." And this mawkish line is published under the banner of Stanford, an arbiter of the truth. I expect better. edit: My comments seem to have sparked a nerve. I simply wanted to point out bad rhetoric that undermines the cause and weakens an institution of trust. The situation is bad, so there's no need to exaggerate or lie to deliver the point. And this isn't a partisan issue. A conservative like Thiel would deliver a similar message. There is, however, a pernicious insinuation in that quote. The notion that if you haven't achieved x by y age you're done. That's a debilitating notion. And we have it in the tech community, if you can't code by z age give up. Or if you haven't achieved some startup success or some corporate title at an early age you're a failure.

hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
It is possible for both to be true: For many children, if they have not had early childhood intervention, by 8 years old it is too late, but that for any individual child, they can still improve their lot later in childhood (or even, of course, well into adulthood). As a similar example, it is extremely likely that a child who is overweight or obese by middle school will be overweight or obese their entire life, and many scientists and clinicians believe that it is much easier to prevent childhood obesity than try to correct the weight imbalance later on. That doesn't mean that some people who are overweight kids won't eventually lose the weight and keep it off. Hanging on to the hope that people can change at any point in life does not mean we should ignore the fact that many of our personality and social "guiderails" are laid down pretty early.

3 ms·

I largely agree with you. But the following line from the article is devastating, "For a lot of children, when they’re 8 years old, it’s too late." And this ma

by lilsoso 7y ago

hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
It is possible for both to be true: For many children, if they have not had early childhood intervention, by 8 years old it is too late, but that for any individual child, they can still improve their lot later in childhood (or even, of course, well into adulthood). As a similar example, it is extremely likely that a child who is overweight or obese by middle school will be overweight or obese their entire life, and many scientists and clinicians believe that it is much easier to prevent childhood obesity than try to correct the weight imbalance later on. That doesn't mean that some people who are overweight kids won't eventually lose the weight and keep it off. Hanging on to the hope that people can change at any point in life does not mean we should ignore the fact that many of our personality and social "guiderails" are laid down pretty early.