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Spin Zone / Re: The failure of a generation
« on: December 02, 2017, 10:14:12 AM »
Everyone can render opinions but that's not the same as having facts. I don't know if there are any real studies addressing this, but it would be extremely complicated. There are probably good things and bad things that result from this change, and a lot of it is tied to technology. Are children spending far more time with their computers and devices than they are physically playing? Maybe, but some children always had their noses in books and rarely played, and if that hurt them in some ways (not as coordinated or strong physically) it helped in others (very brainy, grew up to be scientists and engineers).
But it's something else to extend that lack of outdoor play to almost all children. Who knows the consequence? As a collective, we are communicating with others and sharing information at insane rates compared to the past. Will this result in a positive change for mankind? Or negative? Probably both.
If you think in terms of the big picture, bubble wrapping kids today is preventing the weeding out of the genes that would tend to get you killed. That in turn will lead to mandatory bubble wrapping as we lose the ability to keep ourselves safe individually and come to depend on the existence of the bubble wrap. I don't really think that's a good thing.
Take emotion out of it: If only 11 kids were kidnapped and killed by strangers in one year, the benefit to the other what... millions of kids who were allowed to run free around town is more than worth it. As a whole the group will be much stronger except those 11 won't be there anymore. But no. We have to confine all our millions of children inside and let them become obese and lack superior development because we can't stomach the sacrifice of those 11.
But you can't make any parent accept that risk once it enters their head that their kid might be one of the 11. I didn't. I am sad to say I didn't let my kids run free the way I did. From the age of 7 I had the run of the entire town, end to end. Was it because my mom didn't care? No, she just was not cognizant of the kidnappings, you didn't have it in the media they way you do today.
The explosion of information sharing is a good thing and a bad thing and closely tied to the concerns of this article. But there is no putting the Genie back in the bottle. We'll just have to see where the future takes us.
But it's something else to extend that lack of outdoor play to almost all children. Who knows the consequence? As a collective, we are communicating with others and sharing information at insane rates compared to the past. Will this result in a positive change for mankind? Or negative? Probably both.
If you think in terms of the big picture, bubble wrapping kids today is preventing the weeding out of the genes that would tend to get you killed. That in turn will lead to mandatory bubble wrapping as we lose the ability to keep ourselves safe individually and come to depend on the existence of the bubble wrap. I don't really think that's a good thing.
Take emotion out of it: If only 11 kids were kidnapped and killed by strangers in one year, the benefit to the other what... millions of kids who were allowed to run free around town is more than worth it. As a whole the group will be much stronger except those 11 won't be there anymore. But no. We have to confine all our millions of children inside and let them become obese and lack superior development because we can't stomach the sacrifice of those 11.
But you can't make any parent accept that risk once it enters their head that their kid might be one of the 11. I didn't. I am sad to say I didn't let my kids run free the way I did. From the age of 7 I had the run of the entire town, end to end. Was it because my mom didn't care? No, she just was not cognizant of the kidnappings, you didn't have it in the media they way you do today.
The explosion of information sharing is a good thing and a bad thing and closely tied to the concerns of this article. But there is no putting the Genie back in the bottle. We'll just have to see where the future takes us.