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Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled

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Re: Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled

#11

Post by speeder »

I want to homeschool my future kids but it is still illegal in my country (illegal as in: if you attempt it, the government will arrest you and send the kids to an orphanage)

Thing is: public schools here outright suck, teach lots of bullshit and are dangerous.

Private schools are crazy expensive, and although they are more useful they still teach a lot of bullshit.

Also the educational style of all schools here is outright awful, there is an article from 1950s I believe written by Richard Feynman and it still applies 100%

Re: Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled

#14

Post by apsec112 »

scandox wrote: post #9

> But with longevity and other deeply existential problems, the horror of what’s happening has been tragically normalized. I will never understand this attitude. Why don't we see how valuable aging and death are? How can we possibly reframe this as a "horror". The horror is this idea that personal identity can go on indefinitely. Aging is a process of coming to terms with death. None of this is being "tragically norm…

"If a young child falls on the train tracks, it is good to save them, and if a 45-year-old suffers from a debilitating disease, it is good to cure them. If you have a logical turn of mind, you are bound to ask whether this is a special case of a general ethical principle which says “Life is good, death is bad; health is good, sickness is bad.” If so – and here we enter into controversial territory – we can follow this general principle to a surprising new conclusion: If a 95-year-old is threatened by death from old age, it would be good to drag them from those train tracks, if possible. And if a 120-year-old is starting to feel slightly sickly, it would be good to restore them to full vigor, if possible. With current technology it is not possible. But if the technology became available in some future year – given sufficiently advanced medical nanotechnology, or such other contrivances as future minds may devise – would you judge it a good thing, to save that life, and stay that debility?

The important thing to remember, which I think all too many people forget, is that it is not a trick question."

http://yudkowsky.net/singularity/simplified/

Re: Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled

#15

Post by vslira »

newfeatureok wrote: post #8

Is homeschooling actually better once you control for the types of people who are capable of doing it? I would imagine a good chunk of people who homeschool their children are incredibly active in their children's education, by definition. These children I would argue, would be fine with or without homeschooling. Homeschooling also just seems unsustainable. Modern society generally requires two parents to be working.…

Yeah, it seems like an anti-pattern. Also, it's supposedly better for children to be educated by a great educator and most parents, like most people, are not.

The fact of the matter is that the implicit assumption of many pro-homeschoolers is that most professional educators - either for individual or systemic reasons - are also not good educators, and would rather take their chances. I can't entirely blame them.

Re: Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled

#16

Post by agentdrtran »

specrux wrote: post #12

Given that her family inherited the Murphy Oil fortune (Tulane's Department of Medicine is named after them), it's not that surprising she would have exemplary homeschooling resources

This seems like an important piece of information!

Re: Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled

#17

Post by swiley »

speeder wrote: post #11

I want to homeschool my future kids but it is still illegal in my country (illegal as in: if you attempt it, the government will arrest you and send the kids to an orphanage) Thing is: public schools here outright suck, teach lots of bullshit and are dangerous. Private schools are crazy expensive, and although they are more useful they still teach a lot of bullshit. Also the educational style of all schools here is o…

As someone who was homeschooled and socialized almost exclusively with other homeschoolers as a kid, I was on the fence about it.

Then I grew up and met people who went to public school. Holy cow I can’t believe people think it’s ok to put their kids through that! I can’t believe we collectively accept children being exposed to the violence and other problems that are pervasive there! It’s not surprising so many people become criminals now.

Re: Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled

#18

Post by mminer237 »

giacaglia wrote: post #2

This is super interesting! I wonder what other homeschooled people think of their experiences!

I was homeschooled my whole life. It was fantastic. I wish I had more of a chance to socialize with other kids after school or something, but I'm not any worse for wear for it. I feel like I learned a lot more than people did in public schools, and that it's really served me well. It allows for a very personalized education with a very good student-to-teacher ratio. You can be pushed where you're capable and can do more, and you can receive personal help where you struggle.

It's not for everyone, but I've met a lot more homeschooled people since, and I've never met someone who's wished they hadn't been.

Re: Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled

#19

Post by mc32 »

nathanbarry wrote: post #6

Such a great interview. It's fascinating to see how different education styles can have such a big impact. While homeschooling isn't the right fit for everyone, I was homeschooled and it had a huge impact on me. My habits now for constant learning, working to complete tasks quickly, building projects with my hands (remodeling, woodworking, etc), and my desire to start companies all came from the time and energy that…

One of the biggest advantages as well as disadvantage of homeschooling I think would be limiting the amount of school induced brainwashing.

I don’t mean they make kids into automatons, but there is a tendency to _tell_ kids this is right and that is wrong along ideological lines without allowing kids to discover those things for themselves.

I’m talking about things like tax policy, education, religion, government, etc.

For example, kids are indoctrinated to believe if they get good grades they can go to college and they’ll be set. That government is there to take care of you, that the education system is good, etc.

So these kids graduate, go to college, university and then wonder why after doing all that their humanities or business classes don’t land them jobs.

They should be allowed to discover more and question the whole system more. Some should be tracked for vocational schools rather than everyone expecting they are fit to work anywhere they desire... its unrealistic.

Re: Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled

#20

Post by leotaku »

speeder wrote: post #11

I want to homeschool my future kids but it is still illegal in my country (illegal as in: if you attempt it, the government will arrest you and send the kids to an orphanage) Thing is: public schools here outright suck, teach lots of bullshit and are dangerous. Private schools are crazy expensive, and although they are more useful they still teach a lot of bullshit. Also the educational style of all schools here is o…

Could you possibly share what you mean by "bullshit"? I am genuinely interested in what that entails.
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