I liked the story and it is painfully close to the truth. Software is very buggy, right now being modified at our expense. Everyone is ok with using this buggy software because it still "improves our lives". Meanwhile the ability of future generations to think is diminishing as they are modified by this software from the day they are born...

I still think Farenheit 451 is closer to where we are right now with people plugged into their screens and mentally unchecked from reality. This story os definitely the next step. A natural carastrophy of some sort might save us perhaps

 

What I have noticed over the years is you can tell a lot about what a kids parents are like by how they act themselves.

In most cases if the kid's an over opinionated lazy self entitled idiot who thinks everyone else should do their work and take responsibility for his/her actions there's a pretty good chance the parents were too.

Low hanging fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.

 

What I have noticed over the years is you can tell a lot about what a kids parents are like by how they act themselves.

I learned that from my puppies.
If a dog ducks when you go to pet it, you know it's been beaten.
If it barks all day, you know its owners allow that.
If it expects a trophy for sitting there, you know it's a Millineal.

 

What I have noticed over the years is you can tell a lot about what a kids parents are like by how they act themselves.

In most cases if the kid's an over opinionated lazy self entitled idiot who thinks everyone else should do their work and take responsibility for his/her actions there's a pretty good chance the parents were too.

Low hanging fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.

While I would agree that this tendency exists, I have seen far, far too many families in which the kids turn out to be polar opposites of each other -- my sister and I would be just one case in point -- for me to be too comfortable assuming that I can tell much about the parents by the way the kid acts. I think there is likely a reinforcement bias going on here. When we see a kid behave a certain way and then see how their parents behave in a similar way, it registers with us in a very conscious way -- how many of us haven't gone, "Well, no surprise here. Of course the kid's a spoiled little brat. Just look at his parents." But when we see parents that act very differently, it doesn't draw attention to itself and so we don't remember, with as much intensity, the numerous times that the parents and kids do not behave similarly.

 

What I have noticed over the years is you can tell a lot about what a kids parents are like by how they act themselves.

Now that I've thought about this, I have to partially disagree.
One guy I worked with had 6 kids and they taught me that souls are dealt from a shuffled deck. Every one of them had a personality which was markedly different from the others. I met a brilliant little girl in 1990. I went to her house and the place was a like the inside of a Dumpster. She was rebelling against a world of chaos. In my case, I rebelled against a world of ignorant hicks.

Still, it's amusing to find a Little Lord Fauntleroy type and find his parents are insufferable snobs, completely detached from their children and devoid of any parenting skills. Earlier in this Thread, I lamented the Nurturing Earth Mothers who raise helpless little snowflakes. That example is just as real as the contradictory examples in my first paragraph.

Sometimes you're right. Sometimes it doesn't work that way.

 

I think there are many difference in siblings based on age etc (also remember they might not be necessarily from the same genepool). My mother and her sister are nothing alike. From what my mom told me, they always polar opposites in their thinking and personalities... So the nature vs nurture question is a tough one I think

 

Now that I've thought about this, I have to partially disagree.
One guy I worked with had 6 kids and they taught me that souls are dealt from a shuffled deck. Every one of them had a personality which was markedly different from the others. I met a brilliant little girl in 1990. I went to her house and the place was a like the inside of a Dumpster. She was rebelling against a world of chaos. In my case, I rebelled against a world of ignorant hicks.

Yea, The more I have thought about it you're more right than me.

I rebelled from over achieving over driven perfectionists.

Still I see a lot of parents my age I knew as kids and know of as adults and I do see a strong correlation between crappy parenting and crappy kids both in how they were as kids and how they are as parents plus in how their kids act now too.

Granted most will grow out of it but until they do I can't rule out parenting as being a very strong nurture influence in how they act and behave. Especially until they have had life knock them on their asses enough to learn like most of us did when our parenting failed us in one way or another.

A friend of one of my long time friends is a single parent mother and everything about her kid tell s me that unlike what she blames, ADHD and this that and whatever else on, for his acting like a wild animal/spoiled brat what he needs is a father figure in his life that wouldn't hesitate to take him, and his mother ,out behind wood shed and put the belt to both of them until they got their acts together.

 

A friend of one of my long time friends is a single parent mother and everything about her kid tell s me that unlike what she blames, ADHD and this that and whatever else on, for his acting like a wild animal/spoiled brat what he needs is a father figure in his life that wouldn't hesitate to take him, and his mother ,out behind wood shed and put the belt to both of them until they got their acts together.

Wood sheds are very useful places, even if you don't have a fireplace.

My daughter is very good at threat assessment -- and has been since before she was one year old. She always is very aware of how far she can push individual people in her life. Our dogs (as stupid as they are) were similarly good in this area. One night my daughter was refusing to go to bed for her mother and I finally got tired of it, so I simply said, "Hey, good night!" To which she drooped her shoulders, dejectedly said, "Night, Papa," and went up to bed. A couple hours later the dogs were refusing to go to bed for my wife and I finally got tired of it, so I simply whistled and pointed up the stares and both dogs immediately trotted up the stairs and into the laundry room. At that point me wife turned to me and asked, "Why will the three animals obey YOU?!" I merely replied, "That's because all three animals are fully aware that I am fully capable and willing to rock their world."

And it's paid off (so far). My daughter is an absolute delight and we get along wonderfully (though she is still willing to push her mom's buttons on a pretty regular basis). But I think a big part of that is that hers is just intrinsically a very pleasant soul and that she is someone that is very willing and happy to live within defined boundaries once she knows that they really are boundaries that carry consequences for violating. I'm hoping this bodes well for her teen years. But I've also taken very deliberate steps to keep her from taking herself too seriously. I'll tease her about things pretty mercilessly; at first this often reduced her to tears and hours of pouting. But I also made sure that I made even more fun of myself and that I eagerly accepted any teasing that she did in return. The result has been that now we can kid each other in a very relaxed way and really enjoy our time together, yet somehow have managed to not blur the fact that I am the parent and she is the child.

 

My daughter is very good at threat assessment -- and has been since before she was one year old. She always is very aware of how far she can push individual people in her life. Our dogs (as stupid as they are) were similarly good in this area. One night my daughter was refusing to go to bed for her mother and I finally got tired of it, so I simply said, "Hey, good night!" To which she drooped her shoulders, dejectedly said, "Night, Papa," and went up to bed. A couple hours later the dogs were refusing to go to bed for my wife and I finally got tired of it, so I simply whistled and pointed up the stares and both dogs immediately trotted up the stairs and into the laundry room. At that point me wife turned to me and asked, "Why will the three animals obey YOU?!" I merely replied, "That's because all three animals are fully aware that I am fully capable and willing to rock their world."

Unfortunately I grew up in a very high tension and caustic household so thusly I got really good at assessing what value my parents placed on an act or expectation of me Vs the value of a threat or punishment for doing or not doing it and I always made sure it was clear I valued doing what I wanted more than anything they could offer or take from me.

Sure I spent most of my childhood grounded from literally everything but eating sleeping and going to school but I never did anything I didn't see any value or personal gain in. I mean, if you know have nothing to lose what's the point of doing anything you don't want to do or not doing something you really want to even if it's going to get you in trouble?

I was offered $50 once (1980's money at that) to not beat my brother up for a month. I didn't take it because I was told I couldn't spend it on what I wanted (Lego's) so the next time he did something stupid (about an hour or less later) I kicked his ass big time to make my point that the money had no value to me if I couldn't spend it on what I wanted.

 

Can't remember if this video was posted somewhere else before... but here it goes anyway:

 

A generation scuffing at the next generation is nothing new. Rarely have I met an older generation praising the new generation. It all went downhill when we gave our children the warmth of a cave and fire.

I've met millennials that I dislike and some that I actually think have some real potential

But like The Who said.

 

A generation scuffing at the next generation is nothing new. Rarely have I met an older generation praising the new generation. It all went downhill when we gave our children the warmth of a cave and fire.

I've met millennials that I dislike and some that I actually think have some real potential

But like The Who said.

I'm an exception... I think my kid's more mature, and a far better human being than I ever was at his age... plus, I have to admit he's got great friends, and has chosen them well ... (for the record, I too have great friends... I probably set at least that good example for him)