I agree with a lot of this. Culture exerts a very important epigenetic pressure and develops genotype into resulting psychological and mental phenotype. It’s funny because I have some primitivist leanings but the opposite of Rousseau. It is not that we start off perfect, that assumes barbarism didn’t have culture that they transmitted. They very much did and I agree with Spengler that it’s the culture that develops into high culture.
So the question really is about the balance between natural wonder and learned recursive knowledge. Without the former there is a lack of real creativity, but the later is needed to uphold the former. So the parts I like about inspiring wonder are grounding a child in more natural desire to learn. What I’ve found is the absence of minimization of passive entertainment leads to increased curiosity to learn. There are also natural inclinations in a child. My son loves math. My daughter loves art. I love both but math a little bit more.
There needs to be a balance between uniformity of thought and the ability to expand on it…. Or the ability to specialize. The Chinese go way too far to the extreme of pressures on children. I like the idea of classical education at school age but natural inclination at younger ages just developing what they like. Starting sports young and doing those as extracurriculars, but the child’s choice after trying many sports yields their own best attributes to contribute to a whole. My son loves to fight and my daughter loves to dance, trying to force her to fight wouldn’t be the best use of her potential since she isn’t naturally inclined, but choosing good self defense measures for her to learn is still necessary… and in this case, I can balance it with knife fighting and firearm training as she grows but for now ground her in her favorite sport.
So I love this article in that we do need to not just focus on generation which is important, but the quality of rearing. Striking that balance could be in having expectations but allowing natural inclination to dictate what forms they express in. Expecting a sport and allowing them to try them out until they find their sport. Positive reinforcement goes a long way not just consequences for not meeting expectations. Showing up and being excited to see them perform. The human element and bonding aspect of this can’t be lost. It’s summer and I require them to read (they pick what) , write, I read myth to them and discuss it, and they do sports in addition to a part time farm camp where they explore in nature, do crafts, help with animals etc. Nature is a wonderful teacher and by curtailing excessive passive entertainment, we increase their desire to learn.
I love to learn. I love to discuss ideas for hours. I read not because anyone expects me to but because I enjoy it. I love to daydream… my parents being strict about not allowing me to use video games or passive entertainment grounded me in these patterns. My extended family doing outdoor things together a lot and family gambling instead of isolated entertainment. Games are a great way to learn for children. My dad had to drill lists and organization into me because I naturally am chaos lol.
I’m so grateful to send my children to a right wing classical school next semester. They can provide more than I can like foreign language and music. The cultural yolking there is excellent. They wear adorable uniforms and have strict codes of appearance. Individuated parts of a whole can express those differences in varied contributions to thought, art, and sport without doing so in superficial appearances… though my daughter will still have her unique accents to dress during dance classes. Variety within the range of a high standard is ideal.
liberalism is an enemy of art and moral
I agree with a lot of this. Culture exerts a very important epigenetic pressure and develops genotype into resulting psychological and mental phenotype. It’s funny because I have some primitivist leanings but the opposite of Rousseau. It is not that we start off perfect, that assumes barbarism didn’t have culture that they transmitted. They very much did and I agree with Spengler that it’s the culture that develops into high culture.
So the question really is about the balance between natural wonder and learned recursive knowledge. Without the former there is a lack of real creativity, but the later is needed to uphold the former. So the parts I like about inspiring wonder are grounding a child in more natural desire to learn. What I’ve found is the absence of minimization of passive entertainment leads to increased curiosity to learn. There are also natural inclinations in a child. My son loves math. My daughter loves art. I love both but math a little bit more.
There needs to be a balance between uniformity of thought and the ability to expand on it…. Or the ability to specialize. The Chinese go way too far to the extreme of pressures on children. I like the idea of classical education at school age but natural inclination at younger ages just developing what they like. Starting sports young and doing those as extracurriculars, but the child’s choice after trying many sports yields their own best attributes to contribute to a whole. My son loves to fight and my daughter loves to dance, trying to force her to fight wouldn’t be the best use of her potential since she isn’t naturally inclined, but choosing good self defense measures for her to learn is still necessary… and in this case, I can balance it with knife fighting and firearm training as she grows but for now ground her in her favorite sport.
So I love this article in that we do need to not just focus on generation which is important, but the quality of rearing. Striking that balance could be in having expectations but allowing natural inclination to dictate what forms they express in. Expecting a sport and allowing them to try them out until they find their sport. Positive reinforcement goes a long way not just consequences for not meeting expectations. Showing up and being excited to see them perform. The human element and bonding aspect of this can’t be lost. It’s summer and I require them to read (they pick what) , write, I read myth to them and discuss it, and they do sports in addition to a part time farm camp where they explore in nature, do crafts, help with animals etc. Nature is a wonderful teacher and by curtailing excessive passive entertainment, we increase their desire to learn.
I love to learn. I love to discuss ideas for hours. I read not because anyone expects me to but because I enjoy it. I love to daydream… my parents being strict about not allowing me to use video games or passive entertainment grounded me in these patterns. My extended family doing outdoor things together a lot and family gambling instead of isolated entertainment. Games are a great way to learn for children. My dad had to drill lists and organization into me because I naturally am chaos lol.
I’m so grateful to send my children to a right wing classical school next semester. They can provide more than I can like foreign language and music. The cultural yolking there is excellent. They wear adorable uniforms and have strict codes of appearance. Individuated parts of a whole can express those differences in varied contributions to thought, art, and sport without doing so in superficial appearances… though my daughter will still have her unique accents to dress during dance classes. Variety within the range of a high standard is ideal.