Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

mathstodon.xyz

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 199 posts

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#171

Post by Aeolun »

throw0101a wrote: post #144
burticlies wrote: post #3

I see this clearly at kids birthday parties whenever there is a piñata. Adults hate them. All they see is the goal and the incredibly inefficient path the kids are taking towards it. But the kids love it, they don’t care when they miss, they are just enjoying hitting something with a stick. And every miss heightens the excitement for the eventual lolly scramble.

> And every miss heightens the excitement for the eventual lolly scramble. People under-appreciate (or have forgotten) that a lot of happiness is is related to anticipating as opposed to getting . I think if more people focused on the journey or the process (or the (present) moment), versus the goal, there'd be more joy/happiness around.

I think this is often related to the 'getting' not really being a challenge any more in a lot of cases.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#172

Post by amanaplanacanal »

mvc wrote: post #168
astura wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, for all the moralizing about sports gambling people on HN do, they sure love to prime their children for it. It also just helped me understand the value of money, which to say has served me well is a massive understatement. Plus a real understanding of the fact that there's cons dressed up as fun, not everything is as it appears. It's okay to say 'no' to high pressure sales tactics. But, again, we simply just di…

> Yep, for all the moralizing about sports gambling people on HN do, they sure love to prime their children for it. Can't get through life without gambling at least a little bit. Even taking out a life insurance policy is making a bet you're going to die before it expires

Although it uses the same technology as gambling, it's for a different purpose. You aren't hoping to die, you are doing risk management for your family.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#173

Post by qwertytyyuu »

throw0101a wrote: post #144
burticlies wrote: post #3

I see this clearly at kids birthday parties whenever there is a piñata. Adults hate them. All they see is the goal and the incredibly inefficient path the kids are taking towards it. But the kids love it, they don’t care when they miss, they are just enjoying hitting something with a stick. And every miss heightens the excitement for the eventual lolly scramble.

> And every miss heightens the excitement for the eventual lolly scramble. People under-appreciate (or have forgotten) that a lot of happiness is is related to anticipating as opposed to getting . I think if more people focused on the journey or the process (or the (present) moment), versus the goal, there'd be more joy/happiness around.

Maybe that's why people gamble so much...

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#174

Post by Aeolun »

lynx97 wrote: post #38
apt-apt-apt-apt wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think everyone wants the experience of living, but it's not a great one without money, and money commonly requires full-time work until financial freedom. But that point usually comes at 65. So it's not that only children appreciate life, it's just that adults have to deal with that whole money problem, while children don't.

I take a 8 hour work day over being subjected to more or less random weirdness from "adults" every day. IOW, not everyone has this rose-tinted view of their childhood. I still remember adults saying "you will once look back at your childhood and miss the times". Turns out that was totally and utterly wrong. I even have bad dreams about my school/childhood time every few months. I am sooooo glad that time of being sub…

> I am sooooo glad that time of being subjected to the will of others is over.

I mean, I am absolutely glad about that.

I'm not so glad that I'm now subjected to the will of others on a far longer time horizon.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#175

Post by bigDinosaur »

veltas wrote: post #93
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get piñatas, but there is an extreme version of this that I find just too much. Not sure in other places, but in Spain there is a kind of fair stall where children use a plastic fishing rod with a magnet or hook to catch some plastic ducks with the corresponding magnet or hook. The ducks have some points and give you rewards, but the payoff is terrible - maybe you spend €10 and you get a gift that you could buy for…

Don't overthink it, I think you are being a bit cynical. If your kid enjoys it then it's worth the money. If you can't afford that then find other things your kid enjoys. The reward of a game is playing it, not the 'prize', although that can add to the enjoyment too.

As a parent you should absolutely think about what kind of expectations and behaviours you're setting up for the future if 'if they enjoy it then it's worth the money' is teaching kids. Sure it's not perfectly clear cut but not thinking about value at all does not end well.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#176

Post by Aeolun »

DerArzt wrote: post #163
ryuuseijin wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the argument is not to not work, but to change the mindset that is so ingrained in our society that you must work. You don't want to starve, so you work, but you can do it with mindset that is fundamentally different, where you choose to focus on being in the moment, and don't let yourself get stressed by outcomes you have no control over, just as you would if you are playing a game or playing music. Changing…

At least in the USA, due to the lack of social safety nets I have to disagree. It's very much work or starve. Yeah you can try to change your perspective, but unless your in a privileged situation where you have a safety net (i.e. a wealthy family to support you if things go wrong) then it's difficult to stop thinking about it.

Yes, it is work or starve. But you are going to work anyway. Thinking about the starve component doesn't help you enjoy it at all.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#177

Post by Balgair »

All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "Le Petit Prince."

While I love de Saint-Exupéry generally, even in his time (especially?), he knew that not all children got to be children. Hell, I think even in his childhood, he never really got to be a child. The reason not many remember it is because for some, they really don't want to.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#178

Post by timoth3y »

burticlies wrote: post #3

I see this clearly at kids birthday parties whenever there is a piñata. Adults hate them. All they see is the goal and the incredibly inefficient path the kids are taking towards it. But the kids love it, they don’t care when they miss, they are just enjoying hitting something with a stick. And every miss heightens the excitement for the eventual lolly scramble.

> they are just enjoying hitting something with a stick

This is truly one of life's under-appreciated little pleasures!

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#179

Post by BigTTYGothGF »

burticlies wrote: post #3

I see this clearly at kids birthday parties whenever there is a piñata. Adults hate them. All they see is the goal and the incredibly inefficient path the kids are taking towards it. But the kids love it, they don’t care when they miss, they are just enjoying hitting something with a stick. And every miss heightens the excitement for the eventual lolly scramble.

Because of circumstances I was involved in running several birthday parties for children these past few years. All of them had pinatas. In my experience:

> Adults hate them

This is absolutely not the case.

Re: All grown-ups were once children, but only few of them remember it

#180

Post by 12967-12986 »

Children also resist, and adults used to resist as well.

Politely outlining coping strategies while taking money from the "AI for math" fund and SAIR doesn't do anything except Tao can point at it later any say "I was concerned".

Maybe if adults get more unruly again and say "stop this IP theft and concentration of capital" people will have more radical math ideas, too. Politicians would listen to math professors but they stay silent.

Post reply on HN