People no longer care.........

[Mega]

We had case after case here in Blighty like this:-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...old-pupil.html

Mostly women, they finished themselves from Teaching 4 ever, very well paid job....WHY????
Mike

[jk]

Re: People no longer care.........

We had case after case here in Blighty like this:-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...old-pupil.html

Mostly women, they finished themselves from Teaching 4 ever, very well paid job....WHY????
Mike

never underestimate the power of hormones and biology. there is no purely rational reason to do anything whatsoever. ultimately, every behavior is driven by some biological process, perhaps transformed or channelled or twisted by culture and learning, but at base biological.

[Mega]

Re: People no longer care.........

Self-control?

[Forrest]

Re: People no longer care.........

never underestimate the power of hormones and biology. there is no purely rational reason to do anything whatsoever. ultimately, every behavior is driven by some biological process, perhaps transformed or channelled or twisted by culture and learning, but at base biological.

Hormones, biology, and culture do not have to run your life, and destroy your future. The difficulty here is not just a culture that appears to, and sometimes does encourage bad behavior...it is a lack of simple reasoning from A to B...that actions have consequences, and therefore one should think before one acts, no matter the provocation.

Obviously that is not taught very much anywhere in the world anymore.

[jk]

Re: People no longer care.........

Hormones, biology, and culture do not have to run your life, and destroy your future. The difficulty here is not just a culture that appears to, and sometimes does encourage bad behavior...it is a lack of simple reasoning from A to B...that actions have consequences, and therefore one should think before one acts, no matter the provocation.

Obviously that is not taught very much anywhere in the world anymore.

impulse control has been measured in very young children - 4 year olds. ["you can have this one cookie now, or if you wait 15 minutes then you can have 2 cookies."]

low delayers, the children who rang the bell quickly, seemed more likely to have behavioral problems, both in school and at home. They got lower S.A.T. scores. They struggled in stressful situations, often had trouble paying attention, and found it difficult to maintain friendships. The child who could wait fifteen minutes had an S.A.T. score that was, on average, two hundred and ten points higher than that of the kid who could wait only thirty seconds.

so the die is cast very early, likely with at least some genetic component.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/18/090518fa_fact_lehrer

[Forrest]

Re: People no longer care.........

Not to mention a good parent or teacher to suggest waiting for the better outcome.

[jiimbergin]

Re: People no longer care.........

impulse control has been measured in very young children - 4 year olds. ["you can have this one cookie now, or if you wait 15 minutes then you can have 2 cookies."]



so the die is cast very early, likely with at least some genetic component.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/18/090518fa_fact_lehrer

I am sure some gentic component is involved, but there was no study about their home environment. Did the parents use discipline and common sense or were they ones who gave in all the time to the child's wishes. I believe this would have a great impact also.

[leegs]

Re: People no longer care.........

I am sure some gentic component is involved, but there was no study about their home environment. Did the parents use discipline and common sense or were they ones who gave in all the time to the child's wishes. I believe this would have a great impact also.

You mention environmental/household factors of discipline vs 'spoiling'. I wonder if it is perhaps more a matter a matter of chaos, unpredictability, and instability in the household that leads to children not developing an ability to sacrifice the present in favor of the future. If the future is always a mess, one might get in the habit of not planning for it.

[BadJuju]

Re: People no longer care.........

If the future is always a mess, one might get in the habit of not planning for it.

Exactly. I can't plan anything. I might be laid off in a month. The economy could collapse in six months. It is impossible to plan for anything. It is impossible to do anything because you never know when the rug might be pulled out from under you. No future.

[leegs]

Re: People no longer care.........

I was speaking to the micro-level situation facing a 2 year old. Not sure that that applies to you . . .

I once read a definition of discipline: empathy for your future self.

I find it to be very useful.

[jk]

Re: People no longer care.........

supposedly by the age of 3-4, a middle class child in an educated family has heard 30 million more [non-unique] words than a child raised in poverty.

[GRG55]

Re: People no longer care.........

Exactly. I can't plan anything. I might be laid off in a month. The economy could collapse in six months. It is impossible to plan for anything. It is impossible to do anything because you never know when the rug might be pulled out from under you. No future.

It has always been like that. The future has never been certain. We look back and with the distortions to our memories that are introduced by the passage of time most of us think that things were so much "better" (more predictable, more stable, more optimistic, more whatever...) in the past.

My parents and in-laws lived through WWII and much other turmoil. My late father-in-law was a Polish tank regiment officer when the Germans invaded his country on September 1, 1939. He ended up first being captured by the Soviets (who invaded on Sept 17), and escaped; and then was captured by the Germans, and escaped again. Made his way overland to Croatia and worked his way to England by sea, where he joined a Polish regiment in the British Army so he could go back and fight again. A bullet in Belgium ended his war.

My 89-year old mother-in-law is from the UK. She still tells stories, with remarkable detail, about the bombs raining down on her city night after night during the Blitz.

My maternal grandfather (whom I went to live with at the age of 10 for two years) was an officer in the British-India Army and served on the NW Frontier during the partition between India and West Pakistan. The wholesale, almost indiscriminate killing between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs that the Army simply could not control scarred him for life.

My life has been comparatively easy measured against that.

I was in the Middle East and experienced the intense security lock-down that happened on the evening (there) of 9/11, as well as the SCUD missle hysteria and subsequent evacuation when the bombing started at the onset of Gulf War 2. And just by accident (bad luck?) I got caught in the middle of the riots and shooting during the 2005 revolution that deposed the President of Kyrgyzstan. Nothing much frightens me any more.

Those of us who call Canada and the USA home are some of the most fortunate people on the face of the earth. The tribalism, the persistent violence, the intolerance, the institutionalized corruption and the dogmatic superstitions that plague so much of the rest of mankind, and hold people back from realizing both their aspirations and their potential, is largely absent in our two countries, by comparison (unless you willingly allow yourself to be sucked into one of those patterns).

In China you need official permission to move to find a new job. In most of Central Asia you need official permission to drive your vehicle outside your home county. In the Middle East you must have a Central Population Registry card in order to rent an apartment, get a telephone or pay your electricity bill.

The NSA spying scandal is telling. Let me finish with one final contrast: During most of the time I was resident in the Persian Gulf all of my telephone calls were monitored, and the Public Security officials knew my whereabouts all the time...because I was the chief executive of a private energy company - highly unusual in a region where the oil business is done almost entirely by state owned companies. The public outrage in the USA and worldwide against the NSA is legitimate and the public pressure should be relentless.
In the Middle East everybody thinks it is "normal" to have the government spying on you...the very idea that government is there to serve the people is considered ridiculous. It's the other way around. And anybody with any ambition or drive or aspirations for the future of their kids is trying to emigrate to Canada or the USA.

BadJuju, you are free and you are mobile. Get on a Greyhound or an Amtrack and "go west young man". You don't even need to leave your own country to find opportunity.

The objective shouldn't be to get rich (unless you are a warped banker). And it shouldn't be to live a predictable, boring life either. Personally, I don't deliberately seek out excitement and I am not nearly as adventurous as some. My goal is not any of these. I simply want to look back and be able to say, legitimately, that I lived an interesting life.

[lektrode]

Re: People no longer care.........

It has always been like that. The future has never been certain...
...
...the very idea that government is there to serve the people is considered ridiculous. It's the other way around. And anybody with any ambition or drive or aspirations for the future of their kids is trying to emigrate to Canada or the USA.

BadJuju, you are free and you are mobile.
Get on a Greyhound or an Amtrack and "go west young man".

You don't even need to leave your own country to find opportunity.

hey - you too can visit the 3rd world/exotica _this_ weekend -
point it to LAX - or HNL - and 'see the world'

and ya dont even need to change yer money...

The objective shouldn't be to get rich (unless you are a warped banker). And it shouldn't be to live a predictable, boring life either. My goal is not either of these. I simply want to look back and be able to say, legitimately, that I lived an interesting life.

whoa, grg - i'd put a +1 on this, but... well....

methinks mr juju needs a vacation to someplace with a longer afternoon - and enjoying several 'its 5'oclock somewheres' on the way over is worth the trip alone.....

[flintlock]

Re: People no longer care.........

It has always been like that. The future has never been certain. We look back and with the distortions to our memories that are introduced by the passage of time most of us think that things were so much "better" (more predictable, more stable, more optimistic, more whatever...) in the past.

My parents and in-laws lived through WWII and much other turmoil. My late father-in-law was a Polish tank regiment officer when the Germans invaded his country on September 1, 1939. He ended up first being captured by the Soviets (who invaded on Sept 17), and escaped; and then was captured by the Germans, and escaped again. Made his way overland to Croatia and worked his way to England by sea, where he joined a Polish regiment in the British Army so he could go back and fight again. A bullet in Belgium ended his war.

My 89-year old mother-in-law is from the UK. She still tells stories, with remarkable detail, about the bombs raining down on her city night after night during the Blitz.

My maternal grandfather (whom I went to live with at the age of 10 for two years) was an officer in the British-India Army and served on the NW Frontier during the partition between India and West Pakistan. The wholesale, almost indiscriminate killing between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs that the Army simply could not control scarred him for life.

My life has been comparatively easy measured against that.

I was in the Middle East and experienced the intense security lock-down that happened on the evening (there) of 9/11, as well as the SCUD missle hysteria and subsequent evacuation when the bombing started at the onset of Gulf War 2. And just by accident (bad luck?) I got caught in the middle of the riots and shooting during the 2005 revolution that deposed the President of Kyrgyzstan. Nothing much frightens me any more.

Those of us who call Canada and the USA home are some of the most fortunate people on the face of the earth. The tribalism, the persistent violence, the intolerance, the institutionalized corruption and the dogmatic superstitions that plague so much of the rest of mankind, and hold people back from realizing both their aspirations and their potential, is largely absent in our two countries, by comparison (unless you willingly allow yourself to be sucked into one of those patterns).

In China you need official permission to move to find a new job. In most of Central Asia you need official permission to drive your vehicle outside your home county. In the Middle East you must have a Central Population Registry card in order to rent an apartment, get a telephone or pay your electricity bill.

The NSA spying scandal is telling. Let me finish with one final contrast: During most of the time I was resident in the Persian Gulf all of my telephone calls were monitored, and the Public Security officials knew my whereabouts all the time...because I was the chief executive of a private energy company - highly unusual in a region where the oil business is done almost entirely by state owned companies. The public outrage in the USA and worldwide against the NSA is legitimate and the public pressure should be relentless.
In the Middle East everybody thinks it is "normal" to have the government spying on you...the very idea that government is there to serve the people is considered ridiculous. It's the other way around. And anybody with any ambition or drive or aspirations for the future of their kids is trying to emigrate to Canada or the USA.

BadJuju, you are free and you are mobile. Get on a Greyhound or an Amtrack and "go west young man". You don't even need to leave your own country to find opportunity.

The objective shouldn't be to get rich (unless you are a warped banker). And it shouldn't be to live a predictable, boring life either. Personally, I don't deliberately seek out excitement and I am not nearly as adventurous as some. My goal is not any of these. I simply want to look back and be able to say, legitimately, that I lived an interesting life.

Great post.

I think people today in general lack a sense of history and certainly lack your perspective on life in other countries. A hobby of mine is reading personal histories. sure I've read all the history books that cover the big stuff, but what I find most interesting is the personal lives of people like your father in law. Really puts things in perspective.

[Forrest]

Re: People no longer care.........

It has always been like that. The future has never been certain. We look back and with the distortions to our memories that are introduced by the passage of time most of us think that things were so much "better" (more predictable, more stable, more optimistic, more whatever...) in the past.

My parents and in-laws lived through WWII and much other turmoil. My late father-in-law was a Polish tank regiment officer when the Germans invaded his country on September 1, 1939. He ended up first being captured by the Soviets (who invaded on Sept 17), and escaped; and then was captured by the Germans, and escaped again. Made his way overland to Croatia and worked his way to England by sea, where he joined a Polish regiment in the British Army so he could go back and fight again. A bullet in Belgium ended his war.

My 89-year old mother-in-law is from the UK. She still tells stories, with remarkable detail, about the bombs raining down on her city night after night during the Blitz.

My maternal grandfather (whom I went to live with at the age of 10 for two years) was an officer in the British-India Army and served on the NW Frontier during the partition between India and West Pakistan. The wholesale, almost indiscriminate killing between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs that the Army simply could not control scarred him for life.

My life has been comparatively easy measured against that.

I was in the Middle East and experienced the intense security lock-down that happened on the evening (there) of 9/11, as well as the SCUD missle hysteria and subsequent evacuation when the bombing started at the onset of Gulf War 2. And just by accident (bad luck?) I got caught in the middle of the riots and shooting during the 2005 revolution that deposed the President of Kyrgyzstan. Nothing much frightens me any more.

Those of us who call Canada and the USA home are some of the most fortunate people on the face of the earth. The tribalism, the persistent violence, the intolerance, the institutionalized corruption and the dogmatic superstitions that plague so much of the rest of mankind, and hold people back from realizing both their aspirations and their potential, is largely absent in our two countries, by comparison (unless you willingly allow yourself to be sucked into one of those patterns).

In China you need official permission to move to find a new job. In most of Central Asia you need official permission to drive your vehicle outside your home county. In the Middle East you must have a Central Population Registry card in order to rent an apartment, get a telephone or pay your electricity bill.

The NSA spying scandal is telling. Let me finish with one final contrast: During most of the time I was resident in the Persian Gulf all of my telephone calls were monitored, and the Public Security officials knew my whereabouts all the time...because I was the chief executive of a private energy company - highly unusual in a region where the oil business is done almost entirely by state owned companies. The public outrage in the USA and worldwide against the NSA is legitimate and the public pressure should be relentless.
In the Middle East everybody thinks it is "normal" to have the government spying on you...the very idea that government is there to serve the people is considered ridiculous. It's the other way around. And anybody with any ambition or drive or aspirations for the future of their kids is trying to emigrate to Canada or the USA.

BadJuju, you are free and you are mobile. Get on a Greyhound or an Amtrack and "go west young man". You don't even need to leave your own country to find opportunity.

The objective shouldn't be to get rich (unless you are a warped banker). And it shouldn't be to live a predictable, boring life either. Personally, I don't deliberately seek out excitement and I am not nearly as adventurous as some. My goal is not any of these. I simply want to look back and be able to say, legitimately, that I lived an interesting life.

Moi aussi...+1.

Your point about it always being this way is well stated. American's just now have the idea that they are supposed to be guaranteed sure knowledge of what is ahead, in an environment of safety, as opposed to sure opportunity to advance in one's own life goals.

The idea of being safe is a dangerous habit people have picked up. Life is not about safety, but negotiating a continuously flowing situation, in which danger happens, and loss, and gain as well. It is much like snow skiing. Moguls exist to be triumphed over, and a new heavy snow brings both soft landings and avalanches, and a chance to carve out a new line down the mountain. There isn't any fun in life without some risk...there is no excitement, and no opportunity.

Yes, we want an economy to be a bit more stable than of late, because we need to know more about where we are supposed to be setting our goals. To get that stability, we need less corruption, and a desire for law abidingness so that we can succeed in reaching our goals without losing so much to the bandits. However, in the economy and corruption we've got, there is a need for shorter term goals for working on just now, and only a really long term investment here or there, like a house, or a business, a bit of savings for a rainy day, and a few ounces of shiny stuff to guard against disaster.

Build a life, not a career.

Choose your path, and then turn off the news...it's mostly lies and spin to keep you too shook up to focus on what is available, so the banksters can get there first. You only need to focus on what you are doing, and what those you bump up against regularly are doing, and only check in now and then at what the big picture is.

The big picture is outside of your control, and only useful for deciding where you want to go and what you want to do tomorrow, to achieve the goals you've set.