This doesn’t reflect how I remember being as a child, nor how most adults seem to think of children in my experience. So much so I almost suspect it is a joke.
Children don’t have sophisticated empathy and understand the consequences of actions only to a limited extent, so they can behave heartlessly sometimes. Other than to this extent, I think you’re wrong.
Yeah, my childhood was moderately lonely (lonely at school but had people that would hang out with me outside of it). I got teased a good bit at school based on some of these things, so that was my impression.
I don’t think this is right. For example, a lot of kids care very much about winning in sports, express admiration for athletes they want to imitate, and are willing to practice to improve. Also, a lot of kids like playing music, have fun, and also try to practice to improve. I’m deliberately picking the most “normie” examples I can think of.
this seem to me like wildly unchecked Typical Mind Fallacy. and needlessly so. my childhood was different. i cared about things, children around me cared about things. maybe not everyone. but i don't feel the need to clam that my experience universal.
Children are naive and egocentric, which provides a quite interestinc mix. I think it's closer to being "Machiavellian" than "Nihilistic". Also children do not "actively abhor love". They do treat it as an opportunity to tease their peers but they treat basically anything as such opportunity. there are a lot of games among children that involve love and relationship themes.
The fact that you feel that this was less applicable to you than to others also feels relatable to me. Are you by chance on the spectrum? This is the explanation in my case.
I typed up something longer, but I bumped something so it got deleted. I'll try to make it short.
This is super relatable and articulates the way I felt growing up quite well. I cared about things as a kid and teenager. However, I tried to hide how much I did because caring about certain things was uncool.
You could be entertained by certain things (e.g. cartoons, but not *little kid* cartoons), but you couldn't be *interested* in those things. The only exceptions I can think of for socially acceptable hobbies were sports and shooter video games (among guys). Maybe it was me just being socially anxious, but it felt that way. I loved Pokemon and Minecraft, but those weren't *cool* hobbies, so I would just hide that to an extent.
Sometimes it wasn't even cool to be entertained by those things as you got older. Like "you play Minecraft?!" was a reasonable thing to laugh at someone for. I quit playing Pokemon around middle school for this reason and played Minecraft (partially) in secret.
Graduating high school was great because now people are either too busy or mature to care what you do for fun.
Similar things for ideas and morality, but not exactly the same. Growing up actively Christian in a culturally Christian area made it different in that people would kind of guiltily acknowledge that you were right about the Bible saying something was wrong but just kind of ignore it.
This resonated a lot. I definitely had a bad time as a kid, precisely because I was an earnest nerd.
This doesn’t reflect how I remember being as a child, nor how most adults seem to think of children in my experience. So much so I almost suspect it is a joke.
Children don’t have sophisticated empathy and understand the consequences of actions only to a limited extent, so they can behave heartlessly sometimes. Other than to this extent, I think you’re wrong.
Interesting.
Wow - you had a lucky experience growing up, then, because Matthew's experience is remarkably relatable.
Well, I don’t know. I had a very lonely childhood. But I wasn’t teased or bullied to any considerable extent.
Yeah, my childhood was moderately lonely (lonely at school but had people that would hang out with me outside of it). I got teased a good bit at school based on some of these things, so that was my impression.
Sorry your childhood was lonely, though.
Idk man. This one seems like a self-report.
I think it was less true of me than is typical
Maybe you had bad experiences of other children?
I cared about things a lot and Matthew's experience is remarkably relatable. I don't know what you're talking about.
If you cared a lot about things as a child, that actually contradicts what he wrote because his whole point was that children don’t care.
I think Solar was saying he cared about things but others didn't. That's sort of how I felt.
Well, presumably they cared about other things.
I don’t think this is right. For example, a lot of kids care very much about winning in sports, express admiration for athletes they want to imitate, and are willing to practice to improve. Also, a lot of kids like playing music, have fun, and also try to practice to improve. I’m deliberately picking the most “normie” examples I can think of.
this seem to me like wildly unchecked Typical Mind Fallacy. and needlessly so. my childhood was different. i cared about things, children around me cared about things. maybe not everyone. but i don't feel the need to clam that my experience universal.
This rings somewhat true, but also somewhat off.
Children are naive and egocentric, which provides a quite interestinc mix. I think it's closer to being "Machiavellian" than "Nihilistic". Also children do not "actively abhor love". They do treat it as an opportunity to tease their peers but they treat basically anything as such opportunity. there are a lot of games among children that involve love and relationship themes.
The fact that you feel that this was less applicable to you than to others also feels relatable to me. Are you by chance on the spectrum? This is the explanation in my case.
I typed up something longer, but I bumped something so it got deleted. I'll try to make it short.
This is super relatable and articulates the way I felt growing up quite well. I cared about things as a kid and teenager. However, I tried to hide how much I did because caring about certain things was uncool.
You could be entertained by certain things (e.g. cartoons, but not *little kid* cartoons), but you couldn't be *interested* in those things. The only exceptions I can think of for socially acceptable hobbies were sports and shooter video games (among guys). Maybe it was me just being socially anxious, but it felt that way. I loved Pokemon and Minecraft, but those weren't *cool* hobbies, so I would just hide that to an extent.
Sometimes it wasn't even cool to be entertained by those things as you got older. Like "you play Minecraft?!" was a reasonable thing to laugh at someone for. I quit playing Pokemon around middle school for this reason and played Minecraft (partially) in secret.
Graduating high school was great because now people are either too busy or mature to care what you do for fun.
Similar things for ideas and morality, but not exactly the same. Growing up actively Christian in a culturally Christian area made it different in that people would kind of guiltily acknowledge that you were right about the Bible saying something was wrong but just kind of ignore it.
it would be far more accurate to describe children as Nietzchean