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Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

theatlantic.com

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Re: Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

#51

Post by pintxo »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #48
gambiting wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also think there is a crazy push to say that no, boys/girls definitely don't like certain things naturally, it MUST be social conditioning, and if you even dare to suggest that there is any natural difference to how children develop you must be sexist/patriatrchist/etc etc. All I want to say is that there seems to be a stupid amount of aggression towards even the mere idea that statistically girls/boys might like s…

Are you really saying that in our society there is a more stupid amount of aggression towards things being gender neutral that are actually gendered than the reverse? This seems absurdly out of touch with reality. To give just one example, but I hope you'd agree there are literally millions if you think about it for a second: There was a recent Hollywood movie and documentary about the true story of a man who was bea…

> Are you really saying that in our society there is a more stupid amount of aggression towards things being gender neutral that are actually gendered than the reverse?

GP did not say anything about x > y. The post merely pointed out that some people like to link everything to social influence.

Re: Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

#52

Post by AndrewOMartin »

To add my pet theory, it's a attractive to kids because it's an immediately understandable job. "Pick up all the rubbish, put it in the truck, press the button, move on". You can imagine a kid watching the whole routine and feeling like they understand every part of it, the wider context and the minutiae.

The classic "what do you want to be when you grow up" responses (Firefighter, Police, Doctor, Chef, etc.) all have that property of being immediately relatable.

Re: Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

#53

Post by ZeroGravitas »

pintxo wrote: post #51
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you really saying that in our society there is a more stupid amount of aggression towards things being gender neutral that are actually gendered than the reverse? This seems absurdly out of touch with reality. To give just one example, but I hope you'd agree there are literally millions if you think about it for a second: There was a recent Hollywood movie and documentary about the true story of a man who was bea…

> Are you really saying that in our society there is a more stupid amount of aggression towards things being gender neutral that are actually gendered than the reverse? GP did not say anything about x > y. The post merely pointed out that some people like to link everything to social influence.

I dunno, they didn't explicitly say anything about it, but it seems about the same as someone getting really angry that someone thinks pi = 3 in a society that has for centuries legally enforced, on pain of death, that pi = 10.

Yes, pi is not 3 but are people really unaware of the social signals they give off by being so outraged at the mistake given the context?

To extend this analogy far beyond what is wise, I'm not really sure there are that many people who think that pi is 3, probably mostly 3.1 or 3.2, which makes fixation on extreme outliers who might believe it's 3 extra odd.

Re: Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

#54

Post by jinushaun »

skavi wrote: post #14
isolli wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a similar theory to explain why boys are more interested in cars than girls (which my kids have proven convincingly, albeit with a low sample size): boys, as future hunters, are attracted to preys that move, hence, in the modern environment, to balls and cars.

Are you perhaps discounting the societal influences pushing your kids towards their respective interests? If they view any amount of advertising or interact with other children who do, for example, they could already have ideas about what is "appropriate" for them to like.

I’m guessing you don’t have children.

Re: Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

#55

Post by [deleted] »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #47
okusername wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is research showing male rhesus monkeys to have preference for wheeled toys https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2583786/ We shouldn't discount possible genetic influences on preferences.

If this is the same research that always gets cited, then it more accurately shows that boy and girl monkeys played with the wheeled toys an equal amount, but the girls played with the doll toys more. That still shows a gender imbalance, but I find it interesting that it always seems to be used to imply that girls don't like trucks, rather than boys don't like dolls as much. (A similar rhetorical trick is used when t…

[deleted]

Re: Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

#56

Post by aklemm »

isolli wrote: post #13
ajkjk wrote: post #4

This didn't address my favorite theory: that (some) kids are programmed to learn as much as they can about the nearby megafauna, and in this world the closest approximation is these big garbage/fire/construction vehicles.

There's also a similar theory to explain why boys are more interested in cars than girls (which my kids have proven convincingly, albeit with a low sample size): boys, as future hunters, are attracted to preys that move, hence, in the modern environment, to balls and cars.

All this back-and-forth about whether and how it's nature or nurture. The point of modern gender freedom is not to deny there is a strong nature influence, it's to nurture kids to go whichever directions they like.

All these anecdotes about how this kid and that kid displayed common traditional gender preferences seem to be offered as an argument against trying to upset the traditional nature of these preferences. Sure, maybe only 5% of girls are ever going to want to race cars, but the idea is to make room those 5%, and that takes conscience effort.

Re: Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

#57

Post by isolli »

skavi wrote: post #14
isolli wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a similar theory to explain why boys are more interested in cars than girls (which my kids have proven convincingly, albeit with a low sample size): boys, as future hunters, are attracted to preys that move, hence, in the modern environment, to balls and cars.

Are you perhaps discounting the societal influences pushing your kids towards their respective interests? If they view any amount of advertising or interact with other children who do, for example, they could already have ideas about what is "appropriate" for them to like.

Fair point! But I have been fairly neutral (except unconsciously...). I have also observed marked differences as early as 15 months. And it matches the experience of a lot of parents.

Re: Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

#58

Post by remmargorp64 »

Waterluvian wrote: post #3

In the words of my two year old, "woah! It's so big!" I've learned not to over-analyze and trust what he says.

You'll notice that kids don't get as excited about other things that are just as big, or bigger, though. For example, my son can barely even be bothered to look up at 18 wheelers. He sees them as common and boring.

But a garbage truck? It's loud and interesting. It does stuff with its tusks. Honestly, garbage trucks are still fascinating even to me, as an adult.

Re: Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

#59

Post by isolli »

aklemm wrote: post #56
isolli wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a similar theory to explain why boys are more interested in cars than girls (which my kids have proven convincingly, albeit with a low sample size): boys, as future hunters, are attracted to preys that move, hence, in the modern environment, to balls and cars.

All this back-and-forth about whether and how it's nature or nurture. The point of modern gender freedom is not to deny there is a strong nature influence, it's to nurture kids to go whichever directions they like. All these anecdotes about how this kid and that kid displayed common traditional gender preferences seem to be offered as an argument against trying to upset the traditional nature of these preferences. Su…

Agreed. You could make a similar point about race when it comes to sport abilities. It would be horrific to offer sports activities to children based on race, even though, in effect, some children will have a much smaller chance of becoming professionals at some sports than others. But let's never discourage a kid who wants to try whatever he or she likes!

Re: Why Kids Love Garbage Trucks

#60

Post by Waterluvian »

remmargorp64 wrote: post #58
Waterluvian wrote: post #3

In the words of my two year old, "woah! It's so big!" I've learned not to over-analyze and trust what he says.

You'll notice that kids don't get as excited about other things that are just as big, or bigger, though. For example, my son can barely even be bothered to look up at 18 wheelers. He sees them as common and boring. But a garbage truck? It's loud and interesting. It does stuff with its tusks. Honestly, garbage trucks are still fascinating even to me, as an adult.

Every kid is wonderfully different. Mine loves anything that's large. Loves busses. 18 wheelers, any construction equipment.
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