Of these four achievements, which would you want most for your child?
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Marco van Burgsteden 🍋replied to Evan Prodromou last edited by
That woild be up to them. How can I decide what they aspire?
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Evan Prodromoureplied to Evan Prodromou last edited by
I've already gotten a lot of responses along the lines of "whatever they want" or "whatever makes them happy".
That's an admirable rubric for making a decision.
Now, look at the list and pick the one that you think is most likely for them to want or to make them happy.
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Evan Prodromoureplied to Marco van Burgsteden 🍋 last edited by
@Marrekoo don't worry, it's a non-binding poll.
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@evan Fame is unhealthy for most people. Thus of the four options I have picked the one least likely to make my child famous: CEO.
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@evan My younger daughter has her masters in social work, and works at a school that serves mostly poor minority children. As a politician she’d be thoughtful about raising up our most vulnerable.
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@bplein Aw! Best answer so far.
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Brian Hawthornereplied to Evan Prodromou last edited by
@evan Then why did you ask which I would want most for my child? Maybe this is one of those trick questions where allistic people know they are supposed to intuit the context or subtext and “read between the lines.”
Seriously, if you meant to ask a question about the nature of the occupations, why did you instead directly ask us a question about our aspirations for our children’s achievements?
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@evan None?...
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Actually none of them. I don't care about end goals. I care that whatever journey they are onto they are happily becoming a better version of themselves.
If achievements come, they're just a bonus.
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@evan My initial reaction was revulsion at all of the options, which says much more about how I feel about current political leaders than it does about my child.
Then I remembered that one of the problems with political leaders is that the worst examples are drawn to the position for the wrong reasons, and that what we need are people who genuinely want to find the best solutions.
On reflection, my child could be one of the good ones. Thus my choice.
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@elduvelle no
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Evan Prodromoureplied to Mark Mifsud last edited by [email protected]
@MarkMifsud which of the options do you think they would like most?
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@dbs good choice!
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Evan Prodromoureplied to Brian Hawthorne last edited by
@bhawthorne it's not a trick question but it might feel that way. "Would you want X for your child?" is another way of asking, "Do you think X is good for someone? Or is minimally harmful?"
Because for many of us, we want what's best for our kids more than almost anything, so it's a way to think about an option with the utmost care for the participant.
It may be specific to your family; if your child is passionate about lacrosse, sports might be the best option for them, if not for everyone.
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Evan Prodromoureplied to Evan Prodromou last edited by
@bhawthorne anyway, I'm sorry I replied to your choice not to answer the question. It's none of my business if you answer or not. I'm deleting my reply.
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@evan
What is the point of creating a poll with limited narrow options and pushing people, who even don't have kids, to choose one? -
@evan I mostly enjoy your polls and do my best to enjoy them as thought provocations rather than as pedentry provocations.
Anyway, curious whether anyone has attempted to characterize differences in outcomes across these four, with caveat that it'd be hard to calibrate "levels" across them.
ps I chose CEO for my hypothetical child as I imagine this path would impose the least obligation on me. Perhaps this kind of thinking is why such child is hypothetical only!
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@Keev Great question! I'll answer when the poll is done.
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@mlinksva thanks!
Are you asking why the numbers are different between the four options?
Yes, seeking minimum obligation is not often compatible with child-rearing.
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@evan wasn't really my intention to look for an explanation of the poll results (why the numbers are different) but perhaps subconciously I was -- I suppose they embed people's estimations of various life outcomes associated with each of the four paths. This is what I mean by your polls often being thought provoking.