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Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

economist.com

451–460 of 466 posts

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. People who go to the world's top universities are in the position where they don't HAVE to work for a big company. I went to one of the listed "second-tier universities" and work at FANG (and to be clear, not Amazon), and I don't think I have a single coworker from Harvard or Stanford. I have one coworker from Oxford who considers himself the "failure" of his graduating class because he only works at a big tec…

> I went to one of the listed "second-tier universities" and work at FANG (and to be clear, not Amazon), And in what way exactly is Amazon different?

Not the same reputation and prestige.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#452
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really need to do that? What evidence is there? (Serious question)

I know of a young person who felt compelled to obtain a patent in high school as part of buffing their brand. Do you need to do this? No. Is that the perception? In some places.

I also did this lol. What a misguided, neurotic person I was.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#453
post #27

16-year-old here. My experience is probably markedly different from most teenagers in the US (I'm an immigrant who goes to a competitive school full of other immigrants) but I find that, for the most part, this article hits the nail on the head. High School is nothing like the usual media portrayal - I've never heard anyone even talk about a party, nobody's doing anything stronger than weed, nobody's fucking or even…

> nobody's doing anything stronger than weed, nobody's fucking or even dating at all

Doesn't align with my high school experience at all, where there were several pregnant girls and coke was commonplace.

Maybe each high school is just different?

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know, kids being kids is just another word for getting in trouble. I certainly wouldn’t want kids roaming around my property if they are anything like I was at that age.

It's liability. Letting people onto your property is liability no matter what the context. Unsupervised kids roaming my property is a no-go and not my responsibility. I get that people want to have their ideals here, but there's a whole "risk to the property owner" side to this conversation that's not happening.

For those downvoting me I'd really like to hear a supporting argument as-to why I should let your kids roam my property? One that doesn't posit a world different than it is today - I don't want to hear how it SHOULD be... that's moot.

I refuse to take liability and/or responsibility for people on my property that are there without my permission. If I find someone on my property who is there without permission I have a full lawful right to ask them to leave immediately as they are TRESPASSING.

YOUR children are not MY responsibility.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried to select classes that would give me the most flexibility so I could pivot as needed. Though one of the most fun classes was Jet Engine Cycle Analysis. I finally learned how they really work, other than that hand-wavy nonsense that was ultimately unsatisfying. Got a job offer from Pratt&Whitney and almost took it.

That's an interesting point and can help you go anywhere when starting off. With what you've done over the past couple of decades (I assume you're the guy that has written one of the first C++ compilers and invented D), would it not have been better for you to take more classes on compiler design or other computer science/computer engineering related courses? Did jet engine analysis (I assume you're a mechE) ever hel…

I took a compiler construction extension course offered by Stanford in the summer of 1982. That covered all I needed to know. Modern compiler technology is just more of the the same.

My experience at Boeing has been surprisingly useful in writing software.

Besides, perhaps you don't realize how cool jet engines are? :-) Taking that class was very satisfying for me.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The decline of manufacturing EMPLOYMENT (not value created) is also a big part of this. I read a paper that said value created down everywhere except computer equipment. And even then that's probably an accounting fiction. The US is employing less people in manufacturing and we're making less stuff across the board. The US makes me think of a description by a GI of a German Army surrendering at the end of WWII. Fir…

"If you occupy the right position in US society you can believe everything is fine. If your a smart kid from a formerly working class family in Ohio, you know by the age of 12 that you need to escape." But that's... common sense for ambitious people to dream then (at least attempt to) "escape" to a greener pasture. That's how things rolled since the dawn of humanity. What's really different here/now?

Nothing,the same way than current teenagers are not better or worse than any previous generation. All of this is just a healthy mix of recency bias and narcissism.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I went to one of the listed "second-tier universities" and work at FANG (and to be clear, not Amazon), And in what way exactly is Amazon different?

Not the same reputation and prestige.

Why?That is rampant and naive credentialism.And in the wider world (even in in the tech world) a run of the mill grunt worker bee at Amazon is the same than her peers at Google et al.If the company gives the prestige to YOU and not the opposite, then either you are not that good or your drank the whole Kool Aid jar.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If you occupy the right position in US society you can believe everything is fine. If your a smart kid from a formerly working class family in Ohio, you know by the age of 12 that you need to escape." But that's... common sense for ambitious people to dream then (at least attempt to) "escape" to a greener pasture. That's how things rolled since the dawn of humanity. What's really different here/now?

Nothing,the same way than current teenagers are not better or worse than any previous generation. All of this is just a healthy mix of recency bias and narcissism.

I think the difference between you and I is I was teenager in the 1970's

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#459
post #14

I became a young father with 19, after way too much party starting from 15. So naturally I was concerned that my son would behave like me at that age. Or even just 50%. So I was kinda dissapaointed how well behaved he is now with 22. Mostly interested in E-Sports, Tinder and his CRM job. Said that, becoming a father at 19 was a great career move. Got a job making websites in the dot-com area as I needed money and was…

The older I get the more I'm convinced that having kids young is the right decision. I had my first daughter when I was 24 and now that I'm entering my prime earning years I don't have to worry about child care or being around 24/7 the same way I did when my kids were babies. I also have less "free time" now than when I was in college and I had way less than most college kids. It sounds counterintutive in this day an…

"I'm entering my prime earning years I don't have to worry about child care or being around 24/7 the same way I did when my kids were babies. I also have less «free time» now than when I was in college"

Although not clear how much of that free time "less" means, I wish to point out that if you're a male (as I'd guess from your nickname), your contribution to the education of your descendants becomes the most useful after kid's childhood. Progressing as teenagers, they need less and less love and start needing more and more guidance and advice. That's the period where maternal inherent love and affection progressively looses its value. As time goes, when facing problems, the teenager would rather receive insight (which is something expected to be had from a father) instead of consolation. That may be your most needed paternal contribution of the entire offspring upbringing.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the same reputation and prestige.

Why?That is rampant and naive credentialism.And in the wider world (even in in the tech world) a run of the mill grunt worker bee at Amazon is the same than her peers at Google et al.If the company gives the prestige to YOU and not the opposite, then either you are not that good or your drank the whole Kool Aid jar.

Okay boomer. Just stating my Kool Aid opinion.
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