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Congrats to them! As an aside, I first learned about the Demaines in that PBS documentary years ago, but their relationship has stuck with me as a model for par
by jtr1 5y ago
Congrats to them! As an aside, I first learned about the Demaines in that PBS documentary years ago, but their relationship has stuck with me as a model for parenting, especially the clear joy Martin seemed to take in learning with and from his son. This is just endlessly cool to me:
> Erik Demaine learned basic math and the visual arts from his father, but eventually taught Martin advanced math and computer science. “Now we’re both artists and both mathematicians/computer scientists,” Erik Demaine said. “We collaborate on many projects, especially those that span all of these disciplines.”
- sometimeshuman 5y agoA bit of a tangent, but I recently read in an evolutionary psychology book (Moral Animal, maybe?) that there is a natural tendency for adolescents to seek distance from their primary care givers. I wonder if Erik ever felt that during his teenage years and if he did, what brought them back together. The probability of the type of parent/child dynamic experienced by Martin and Erik seems so low from my personal experience which is a shame given it must be one of life's best experiences. Edit: There's another vector of family dysfunction when a parent and a child have a good relationship -- sibling rivalry. I have witnessed children shun affection and interest from a parent as a preventative measure against the inevitable blowback from their siblings. Not sure if Erik had siblings, but if he did, I wonder what that experience was like.