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> kids too poor to really take the time If there's one thing poor kids have, it's free time. I think it's actually relatively easy for a smart poor kid in the

> kids too poor to really take the time If there's one thing poor kids have, it's free time. I think it's actually relatively easy for a smart poor kid in the US to learn ~whatever they want; that was certainly my experience, and I think the structures that were available to me are available to basically any American kid today. One thing to keep in mind is that poverty is strongly anticorrelated with intelligence - this is not PC, but the evidence is overwhelmingly clear - so it's easy to see that there aren't many poor kids doing stuff like this and (mistakenly) conclude that it's because they don't have the extrinsic opportunity, rather than that they lack the intrinsic means.

gridspy 6y ago
There are simple things you are taking for granted which many "poor kids" do not actually have. - A quiet space that the child can use to learn - The foundation of self-efficacy and value of learning one receives from educated role-models - Access to the internet and the materials to engage with the coursework You'd be lucky to find a "poor kid" who has 30 minutes of safe time, fed and quiet. Unless you are meaning "lower middle class" as poor kid - i.e simple household with no extreme resources. In that case I do agree with you that you can do a lot with a little if you are that lucky.
jahaja 6y ago
So your take is that the poor is just intellectually inferior? What a 200 year aristocrat throw back.
vagrantJin 6y ago
When your parents scold you for leaving a light on you can be certain that getting internet and spending hours dong something no one understands is a far away from you. Much worse now with the library and bookstore either being greatly gentrified or closed for good. Parents supporting a child hobby because they understand its potential value cant be overstated. Being poor just doesnt give any latent interest a chance to develop. That's the key. NGOs try to bridge this gap but without the kids parents/siblings/community understanding the value of these things, its an upward slippery slope with far more risk.
- centimeter 6y ago
  The library isn't "gentrified"; it's full of homeless people.

gridspy 6y ago

There are simple things you are taking for granted which many "poor kids" do not actually have. - A quiet space that the child can use to learn - The foundation of self-efficacy and value of learning one receives from educated role-models - Access to the internet and the materials to engage with the coursework You'd be lucky to find a "poor kid" who has 30 minutes of safe time, fed and quiet. Unless you are meaning "lower middle class" as poor kid - i.e simple household with no extreme resources. In that case I do agree with you that you can do a lot with a little if you are that lucky.

jahaja 6y ago

So your take is that the poor is just intellectually inferior? What a 200 year aristocrat throw back.

vagrantJin 6y ago

When your parents scold you for leaving a light on you can be certain that getting internet and spending hours dong something no one understands is a far away from you. Much worse now with the library and bookstore either being greatly gentrified or closed for good. Parents supporting a child hobby because they understand its potential value cant be overstated. Being poor just doesnt give any latent interest a chance to develop. That's the key. NGOs try to bridge this gap but without the kids parents/siblings/community understanding the value of these things, its an upward slippery slope with far more risk.

centimeter 6y ago
The library isn't "gentrified"; it's full of homeless people.