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What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?

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Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?

#171

Post by throwmeunder »

afarrell wrote: post #166
angersock wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go outside and talk to humans, old people, rich people, and get laid. No reading necessary.

> get laid That's a bad goal to direct you to anything useful. Trying really hard to just plain get laid is a self defeating quest because you'll probably creep people out in the process and make them not trust you enough to share their experiences (much less their sexuality) with you.

And in turn learn social cues, how to approach people, rejection.

Mistakes will hurt a bit more than at 16 yo but at the same time the social circle is more mature as well and can express themselves better if necessary.

Also I agree that it's better to not have that as a end goal but if the person feels it as a burden, sex is a great tool for validation and ego boost. And it certainly is a quick way to bond with someone. Also in the pursuit of it people can really focus on improving themselves.

Again it might be unhealthy to try really hard and in turn alienate people but it can also be motivating and can help sometimes. Especially if the person is mature enough and recognises normal limits.

edit:Sorry. I got lost in the comment chain and missed the context of your post, sorry if that edit comes after your post.

Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?

#173

Post by derefr »

MollyR wrote: post #56

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle Essentially start with the classics of philosophy. Its my biggest regret I wasn't introduced to them as a child.

People might be put off by the old thinkers if they know much modern analytic philosophy.

And this is why you should... http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/04/11/read-history-of-philoso...

Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?

#174

Post by ivansavz »

I'd recommned the No bullshit guide to math and physics (http://noBSgui.de) which is a book that introduce the reader to two poerful modelling tools: mechanics and calculus.

But then again, I might be biased since I'm the author ;)

Another thing that would be useful as an introduction to computing is this SymPy tutorial that covers many manth topics that highschoolers are familiar with: http://minireference.com/static/sympy_tutorial.pdf

Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?

#175

Post by angersock »

afarrell wrote: post #166
angersock wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go outside and talk to humans, old people, rich people, and get laid. No reading necessary.

> get laid That's a bad goal to direct you to anything useful. Trying really hard to just plain get laid is a self defeating quest because you'll probably creep people out in the process and make them not trust you enough to share their experiences (much less their sexuality) with you.

It's worked for tens of thousands of years, so I think it's a reasonable goal.

If somebody's goal is to understand sexuality, they should be out interacting with other people instead of reading books.

Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?

#176

Post by evanwolf »

The humanities and body stuff get short shrift. And they have the highest impact when you inhale them young.

So take up meditation.

Make dancing something you do often.

Hack things with your hands.

Sing.

Sing while bicycling.

Play the harmonica with soul.

Perform your poetry to others.

Hug, kiss, and shake hands with enthusiasm.

Find people that make you uncomfortable and talk with them.

Learn a non-european language well enough to dream in it.

Audition for a Shakespeare role.

Startup a new business every three months.

Wait for sex until waiting is excruciating. Then just a bit more.

Find out what's not taught in your school and invent your own private curriculum.

Go out of your way to attend life events like christenings, bar mitzvas, quinceañeras, weddings, and funerals, for people you know and people you don't.

Yoga.

Read something non-fiction written before your great, great, great, great grandparents were born.

Make a box out of wood without power tools.

Interview older relatives and strangers like they are time travelers.

Learn to cook well enough to work in a diner.

Start a lifelong diary.

Invent a religion.

Learn all the medical names for your body parts, inside and out.

Write obituaries.

Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?

#177

Post by NhanH »

angersock wrote: post #175
afarrell wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> get laid That's a bad goal to direct you to anything useful. Trying really hard to just plain get laid is a self defeating quest because you'll probably creep people out in the process and make them not trust you enough to share their experiences (much less their sexuality) with you.

It's worked for tens of thousands of years, so I think it's a reasonable goal. If somebody's goal is to understand sexuality, they should be out interacting with other people instead of reading books.

Actually, unless I'm severely mistaken, most people managed the get laid over the last tens of thousands of years, but they're mostly terrible at understanding human and relationships. I've seen too many relatives, elders and generally people around me making one too many mistakes -- some even seems to do everything wrong. And I'm rather scared of that.

"Getting laid" is definitely a skill by itself, but I disagree whether it has any relations with understanding human beings at large.

Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?

#179

Post by meric »

afarrell wrote: post #166
angersock wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go outside and talk to humans, old people, rich people, and get laid. No reading necessary.

> get laid That's a bad goal to direct you to anything useful. Trying really hard to just plain get laid is a self defeating quest because you'll probably creep people out in the process and make them not trust you enough to share their experiences (much less their sexuality) with you.

Trying really hard to just plain get laid is a self defeating quest because you'll probably creep people out in the process and make them not trust you enough to share their experiences (much less their sexuality) with you.

If that's the stage you're at, creeping people out, and making people not trust you enough to share their sexuality with you, getting laid is probably a worthwhile thing to practice.

The real reason getting laid is a self-defeating quest - It's very hard to get laid by people you find very attractive. By the time you're good enough at getting laid to get laid with people you find very attractive now, they won't be attractive to you anymore because you've become a lot more attractive than they are. When you're too good at it you can hardly find anyone you could fall in love with, because your expectations have become sky high.

It's worthwhile to get to know the fundamental principles anyway, for those special nights when you want to engage in some special moments between you and your wife/girlfriend, you get how to do the "dance". Being good at this aspect of a relationship makes the relationship that much stronger.

Because that's what you get better at every time you're getting laid. As with everything, more deliberate practice will result in more skill.

Re: What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?

#180

Post by meric »

NhanH wrote: post #177
angersock wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worked for tens of thousands of years, so I think it's a reasonable goal. If somebody's goal is to understand sexuality, they should be out interacting with other people instead of reading books.

Actually, unless I'm severely mistaken, most people managed the get laid over the last tens of thousands of years, but they're mostly terrible at understanding human and relationships. I've seen too many relatives, elders and generally people around me making one too many mistakes -- some even seems to do everything wrong. And I'm rather scared of that. "Getting laid" is definitely a skill by itself, but I disagree w…

angersock mentioned sexuality specifically rather than non-sexual relationships. Getting laid doesn't help as much with non-sexual relationships and it doesn't help as much with non-sexual aspect of human beings. For those, I still agree with the advice they should be out interacting with other people instead of reading books, which means interacting with relatives, elders and generally people around you.
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