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> Dolls are supposed to be for the child to project their own fantasy onto[...] And not to forget: Dolls are most often initially "brought to life" by parents

by skore 13y ago

> Dolls are supposed to be for the child to project their own fantasy onto[...] And not to forget: Dolls are most often initially "brought to life" by parents when playing with their children. They can form a vital path of communication and conveying of culture between parent and child. You could argue that the parent talks to the bear and the bear talks to the child. But seriously now - I don't want Siri between me and my child, thank you. Also - I don't want my child to be constantly affected by me. The good thing about a lifeless teddy bear is that they find out that they can change it, completely. If the Siri Bear is molded by me, initially, this now means that the degree to which it is able to be molded by the child is determined by the Siri Bear, not by the child.

bargl 13y ago
As a guy who is about to be a father, holy shit by the way, I appreciate this perspective. My first thought to this bear was, aww that's nice but I don't want one. Now it's more of, oh man I can see how the ramifications of something like this haven't quite been thought all the way through. What if this stifles the creativity of my child because it is too responsive? Or maybe it boxes them even more into an antisocial atmosphere. I just don't know, but I'll wait until the research has caught up with the technology. If there's one place I'm a luddite it's with regards to the rearing of children.
- skore 13y ago
  That's the thing - Being a Luddite is the delusion that you are able to halt technological progress for your own benefit. Being a parent is about guiding the personal progress of an actual human being. It's at the discretion of the parent to decide what influences a child can or should be able to deal with. I don't see the use of this bear in that context - I think it's dangerous if introduced too early and rather useless when introduced later. (And I have similar "too early" reservations towards smartphones, or anything with a screen, really.) I think that the quality of life a human (first child, then adult) enjoys is based on getting the basics right first - everything else builds upon the fundamentals of movement and perception, thought and expression that you learn in your first years. I've seen a couple too many children who are astoundingly incapable of commanding their own body, leave alone understanding their own person in context of the society they are in. I have enjoyed a lot of time for myself in contact with my surroundings - I got a lot of exposure to the elements - and that's what I want to pass on. I think what you get from that is a calm sense of being connected to reality and only from that comes the ability to properly understand abstract concepts like smart phones or computers. If you lack that connection, you might still excel in the use of these devices, but there will always be something missing. You would be disconnected from reality and thus always try, but fail to connect with it fully. Some manage to claim that connection back (the usual stories you read about people travelling to India come to mind), but like learning languages very late in life, the effort is a lot higher and you might find yourself wondering how your life could have been had you connected earlier.
- po 13y ago
  I first noticed it with more and more 'realistic' baby dolls targeted at girls. Dolls that cry like a real baby, make noises, have wakeup timers, etc… totally unnecessary. After that, I just couldn't stop seeing it in other toys. But thinking back to my childhood, it was the simpler, more abstract toys that I remember. Hell, I still remember that cardboard box our kitchen stove was delivered in that I turned into a tank. That lasted like a month and it was just a bunch of cardboard. Good luck on being a father. Remember that probably 90% of what kids need is consistency and love and you don't have to think that part through much at all. :-)
  - skore 13y ago
    > Hell, I still remember that cardboard box our kitchen stove was delivered in that I turned into a tank. I was just talking about the Siri Teddy with my wife when this came up - More often than not, the box that something came in was a lot more interesting than the thing itself. And when somebody in the family got new shoes, getting the shoebox was heaven. I vividly remember being upset a couple of times because my parents forgot to bring home the box when they got new shoes. Oh the things we built(/d) from cardboard boxes. That's what life is all about.

by skore 13y ago

bargl 13y ago

As a guy who is about to be a father, holy shit by the way, I appreciate this perspective. My first thought to this bear was, aww that's nice but I don't want one. Now it's more of, oh man I can see how the ramifications of something like this haven't quite been thought all the way through. What if this stifles the creativity of my child because it is too responsive? Or maybe it boxes them even more into an antisocial atmosphere. I just don't know, but I'll wait until the research has caught up with the technology. If there's one place I'm a luddite it's with regards to the rearing of children.

skore 13y ago
That's the thing - Being a Luddite is the delusion that you are able to halt technological progress for your own benefit. Being a parent is about guiding the personal progress of an actual human being. It's at the discretion of the parent to decide what influences a child can or should be able to deal with. I don't see the use of this bear in that context - I think it's dangerous if introduced too early and rather useless when introduced later. (And I have similar "too early" reservations towards smartphones, or anything with a screen, really.) I think that the quality of life a human (first child, then adult) enjoys is based on getting the basics right first - everything else builds upon the fundamentals of movement and perception, thought and expression that you learn in your first years. I've seen a couple too many children who are astoundingly incapable of commanding their own body, leave alone understanding their own person in context of the society they are in. I have enjoyed a lot of time for myself in contact with my surroundings - I got a lot of exposure to the elements - and that's what I want to pass on. I think what you get from that is a calm sense of being connected to reality and only from that comes the ability to properly understand abstract concepts like smart phones or computers. If you lack that connection, you might still excel in the use of these devices, but there will always be something missing. You would be disconnected from reality and thus always try, but fail to connect with it fully. Some manage to claim that connection back (the usual stories you read about people travelling to India come to mind), but like learning languages very late in life, the effort is a lot higher and you might find yourself wondering how your life could have been had you connected earlier.
po 13y ago
I first noticed it with more and more 'realistic' baby dolls targeted at girls. Dolls that cry like a real baby, make noises, have wakeup timers, etc… totally unnecessary. After that, I just couldn't stop seeing it in other toys. But thinking back to my childhood, it was the simpler, more abstract toys that I remember. Hell, I still remember that cardboard box our kitchen stove was delivered in that I turned into a tank. That lasted like a month and it was just a bunch of cardboard. Good luck on being a father. Remember that probably 90% of what kids need is consistency and love and you don't have to think that part through much at all. :-)
- skore 13y ago
  > Hell, I still remember that cardboard box our kitchen stove was delivered in that I turned into a tank. I was just talking about the Siri Teddy with my wife when this came up - More often than not, the box that something came in was a lot more interesting than the thing itself. And when somebody in the family got new shoes, getting the shoebox was heaven. I vividly remember being upset a couple of times because my parents forgot to bring home the box when they got new shoes. Oh the things we built(/d) from cardboard boxes. That's what life is all about.