tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post8798166867510571282..comments2024-02-29T03:57:00.088-05:00Comments on The Mermaid's Tale: Is there a right way to raise children?Anne Buchananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-81380951335617093272014-04-14T18:00:17.438-04:002014-04-14T18:00:17.438-04:00A very good marketing ploy by colleges! But middl...A very good marketing ploy by colleges! But middle-class pretensions and vested interests are not unique to us, nor the pressure to 'succeed', nor prestige criteria for success. They were documentably present in ancient times.<br /><br />That doesn't mean we shouldn't resist them! And when we pretend to be Darwinians we ought to note carefully who has the most children....Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-22028261612650244012014-04-14T16:12:40.335-04:002014-04-14T16:12:40.335-04:00"Also, it gives people the idea that if their..."Also, it gives people the idea that if their kids grow up to be truck drivers, carpenters, stay-at-home moms, or whatever, that they (the parents) are failures."<br /><br />The marketing campaigns by colleges and universities in selling college degree to everyone plays a big role. Truck drivers are 'inferior, because they did not go to college'.Manoj Samantahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04264467983614167240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-89785198547677009912014-04-14T13:47:03.541-04:002014-04-14T13:47:03.541-04:00Also, it gives people the idea that if their kids ...Also, it gives people the idea that if their kids grow up to be truck drivers, carpenters, stay-at-home moms, or whatever, that they (the parents) are failures. In many ways I think it's a signature way for middle-class people, worldwide, to behave when wealth is competitive and not by virtue of noble birth.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-48638633313040032072014-04-14T13:36:30.219-04:002014-04-14T13:36:30.219-04:00Actually, Manoj, I'd go so far as to say the a...Actually, Manoj, I'd go so far as to say the analogy still applies. Just as with how to define success, the heart disease, or asthma, or hypertension phenotype, or many others, are not so easy to define. Anne Buchananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-31783820301436143842014-04-14T12:17:24.839-04:002014-04-14T12:17:24.839-04:00Actually it is more complex than heart disease, be...Actually it is more complex than heart disease, because in case of heart disease we know the malice and the goal is to avoid it. For "right way to raise children", we do not even know who the rightly raised adults are. Is being US president a 'success'? Is being a poet a 'success'? Is being a billionaire a 'success'? Is being a good farmer a 'success'? Is being a kind person helping his small village a success?<br /><br />There are complications even within those categories. Is a successful scientist the one, who raises the most money from government (ENCODE), or is a successful scientist the one, whose theories last the longest (mathematicians)?Manoj Samantahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04264467983614167240noreply@blogger.com