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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

#121

Post by lisper »

jniedrauer wrote: post #48
lisper wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if a 120-year-old is starting to feel slightly sickly, it would be good to restore them to full vigor, if possible That is far from clear. It is even far from clear that this is true all else being equal , and all else is definitely not equal. Extending longevity exacerbates the strain on global resources caused by overpopulation -- most notably at the moment, the capacity of the planet to absorb carbon emissions,…

This really sounds like mind-body dualism. There's no difference between our "minds and souls", and we weren't designed to do anything. We have woken up and find ourselves in our present circumstances. But we don't have to accept them. We choose our destiny.

I was using the word "designed" metaphorically. Of course we were not actually designed. The point is that our fundamental nature is determined by evolution, and evolution only "cares" about reproductive fitness, so that's what we're "optimized" for. (I put these words in scare quotes because evolution doesn't actually "care" about anything, and it doesn't optimize, it merely satisfices.)

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

#122

Post by viscanti »

nimbius wrote: post #35

>I grew up homeschooled in NZ with a hilariously small amount of context for what the real world was like. kind of a blunt take here but yeah, homeschooling will do that because its limited to what your parents know. Public schools work to immerse kids in a diverse environment with many people from many different walks of life. they work to build soft skills like empathy, listening, and conflict resolution. she says…

> I grew up homeschooled in NZ with a hilariously small amount of context for what the real world was like. In retrospect, it was totally ideal.

You missed the next sentence which seems to contradict the argument you're making. There's absolutely no evidence that the author is missing "critical thinking skills". It sounds like the positive reinforcement from the father created an idea that anything is possible (which probably is missing from most people who go through the traditional education system).

No one is arguing that all homeschooling is great. It's going to depend on the teachers/parents. This seems like an example where it worked out really well.

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

#123

Post by 1123581321 »

Barrin92 wrote: post #110
1123581321 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One parent who does not work. This is typically achievable for middle class and up, depending on cost of living, of course.

Single income households are quite rare these days. In the US and Europe about 30%. In addition to that the parent needs the qualification and resources and time to actually teach. This practically excludes all but the affluent upper-middle-class (the exception being extremely religious people who want to keep kids out of society for ideological reasons). This family is pretty much the perfect example. She comes from…

Typically a homeschooling family (about 1% of households in the US) plan their lives around it, which makes it available to lower economic tiers within middle class, and occasionally lower class. It is not something that incidentally happens as income rises. A typical homeschool co-op will have a mix of blue-collar and white-collar careers among the parents who provide income.

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

#124

Post by lisper »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #72
lisper wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if a 120-year-old is starting to feel slightly sickly, it would be good to restore them to full vigor, if possible That is far from clear. It is even far from clear that this is true all else being equal , and all else is definitely not equal. Extending longevity exacerbates the strain on global resources caused by overpopulation -- most notably at the moment, the capacity of the planet to absorb carbon emissions,…

> Extending longevity exacerbates the strain on global resources Suppose we didn't die. Would you start killing people (yourself or others) in order to "reduce the strain on global resources"? It helps to not take the status quo as a given, or as immutable. > So even if we could tweak our bodies to live longer, it is not a foregone conclusion that this would be healthy for our minds We're going to need to solve that…

> Suppose we didn't die.

You may as well say, "Suppose there were unicorns." All sexually reproducing organisms die.

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

#126

Post by JoshTriplett »

lisper wrote: post #124
JoshTriplett wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Extending longevity exacerbates the strain on global resources Suppose we didn't die. Would you start killing people (yourself or others) in order to "reduce the strain on global resources"? It helps to not take the status quo as a given, or as immutable. > So even if we could tweak our bodies to live longer, it is not a foregone conclusion that this would be healthy for our minds We're going to need to solve that…

> Suppose we didn't die. You may as well say, "Suppose there were unicorns." All sexually reproducing organisms die.

Solving a problem starts with seeing it as a problem rather than an immutable fact. And "suppose we didn't have the problem" is a thought experiment. In this case, it helps show the moral equivalence between killing people and stopping people from living longer.

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

#127

Post by lliamander »

jonstewart wrote: post #56
nimbius wrote: post #35

>I grew up homeschooled in NZ with a hilariously small amount of context for what the real world was like. kind of a blunt take here but yeah, homeschooling will do that because its limited to what your parents know. Public schools work to immerse kids in a diverse environment with many people from many different walks of life. they work to build soft skills like empathy, listening, and conflict resolution. she says…

Exactly—one anecdote about homeschooling doesn’t apply generally. In the US, the average homeschooled kid is likely to be raised in a very religious family with little to no science education.

There are statistics out there about the academic performance of homeschoolers, and all the evidence out there shows that they have better academic performance than public school kids.

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

#128

Post by dx87 »

swiley wrote: post #17
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 peop…

Crime rates have been dropping for a long time, and you're trying to say that schools are the reason people become criminals. This is honestly one of the most ignorant things I've read in a long time on this site. Maybe if you were allowed to socialize outside of your homeschooled bubble, you wouldn't have that opinion.

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

#129

Post by uticus »

throwawaysea wrote: post #115

Homeschooling is a very important freedom for parents to retain. Otherwise, parents are increasingly at risk of not being in control of how their children are raised. Schools and colleges are increasingly politicized and are being used by politicians and activists to instill certain values into children early on. Those values are derived from whomever has the most power in a given jurisdiction. For instance, in Seatt…

The focus of this comment struck me. Seems to me that education of children involves influence - even a "hands-off" approach influences, no? So, apart from questions about physical safety and measurable/occupational skills taught, these points seem to touch on the greater question of who or what should be an influencer, and to what degree?

Western culture (my personal background) has seen shifts in answers to this question over the past centuries... and not in isolation from other shifts in viewpoints about cultural interactions.

Are we going in a direction that is good? All I can say for sure is that it becomes increasingly easy for me to focus on myself and current times while ignoring children and what they will grow into, and increasingly harder for me to understand the reasons my parents, grandparents, etc thought and reasoned the way they did. Again, a slice of the world, but if my experience is widespread, that surely affects how decisions about education are currently being made.

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

#130

Post by lisper »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #126
lisper wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Suppose we didn't die. You may as well say, "Suppose there were unicorns." All sexually reproducing organisms die.

Solving a problem starts with seeing it as a problem rather than an immutable fact. And "suppose we didn't have the problem" is a thought experiment. In this case, it helps show the moral equivalence between killing people and stopping people from living longer.

I'm not saying we should stop people from trying to live longer. I'm saying be careful what you wish for.
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