[https://unherd.com/2024/01/how-safetyism-killed-playtime/] (Safetyism is killing playtime0)
At the heart of this issue is whether children are free to exercise their instincts. Dutch cultural theorist Johan Huizinga saw play as primal: just like any other young animal, children have an intrinsic drive to play, and don’t need to be taught how to do it. Huizinga defines play as an act of self-directed freedom. It can only really happen when children are left to their own devices, which requires parents to ignore them.
True play also teaches kids how to deal with uncertainty. So argued the French sociologist Roger Caillois, who built on Huizinga’s theory, emphasising that play isn’t predetermined, but animated by chaos. Hence why play necessarily comes with risk. Now, children are far more likely to engage in a sort of pseudo-play, either in the form of online games, which are pipelines of reliable and predictable dopamine hits, or educational games, which are led by the parent or teacher rather than by children themselves, and where the goals are geared towards real-world pedagogical gain. Whereas Huizinga argued that play happens outside of ordinary life — and is therefore a kind of anarchy — pseudo-play conforms entirely to conventional structures, whether it’s the gaming-industrial complex or the lifestyle capitalism promoting Important Experiences.
Play, then, is an essential part of growing up — and, later, of life. For Huizinga, play was a sign of the “mind breaking down the determinism of the cosmos”, of a person forging their own path. Hence why play is getting harder: the techno-capitalist society we currently inhabit militates against autonomy; if people are to be interchangeable units of labour in a bigger machine, they have to do as they’re told. And so it sets out clear performance indicators for us, a tick-list of achievements in our roles as children, parents, workers and social beings, from which deviation feels like failure.
At work, we care deeply about three things: First, we want opportunities for both professional and personal growth. We desire to learn new skills, explore our passions, and explore fulfilling opportunities that align with our goals and value systems. An effective leader needs to create an environment of care, learning, and flexibility, and convince us that you have our best interests in mind. Second, we strive to do things that put us in a state of flow. We crave opportunities that are challenging, yet achievable. We’re tinkerers at heart. We want to fix things, experiment, and tackle meaty issues. Give us interesting problems to solve that are difficult—but not impossible—and we’ll find an impactful solution. And third, we value independence, freedom, and autonomy. Provide us with goals, some direction, and guide us when we get stuck, but do not micromanage us. We need to know that you trust us and can provide the space for us to do things by ourselves. Steer, don’t drive!” —Andrew Yeung, tech leader and community builder, Andrew’s Mixers
Fast women and slow horses will ruin you life - Shelby family
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” —Albert Einstein
Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.— Josh Billings
I was making a list of qualities which I should pass on to my son. These are qualities my parents possessed and something I copied from them. Here is that list:
Solving a problem.
Learning fast
Adapting to a new situation
Getting things done
Self organized
Mission oriented
Listening to the people around me
Not afraid to try
Admit mistakes
Make things right
Don’t get me wrong. I am not in a German folk lore where the witch locks me up and feeds me until it’s time to me eat me.
What we lost in the fire, we will find in the ashes.
https://flip.it/26DXQc 13 stretches for lower back pain
After installing and uninstalling apps on MacOS Ventura, the background items are not getting removed. To reset the list the command is, sfltool resetbtm
Everyday provides its own gifts - Marcus Auerelius
I still cannot refer to my mom in the past tense. In fact I cannot even continue a conversation with someone about her. That’s is much more difficult if it is with family members.
My son started doing math by himself. Including adding zero. Scary and happy I think.
ఒక్కొక్క జ్ఞాపకానికి వందేళ్ల ఆయువుందిగా
ఇంకెన్ని ముందు వేచెనో అవన్నీ వెతుకుతూ పదా..
You lie down with the dogs, you wake up with fleas.
Think of Others
As you prepare your breakfast, think of others
(do not forget the pigeon's food).
As you conduct your wars, think of others
(do not forget those who seek peace).
As you pay your water bill, think of others
(those who are nursed by clouds)
As you return home to your home, think of others
(do not forget the people of the camps).
As you sleep and count the stars, think of others
(those who have nowhere to sleep).
As you liberate yourself in metaphor, think of others
(those who have lost the right to speak).
As you think of others far away, think of yourself
(say: "If only I were a candle in the dark).
Mahmoud Darwish translated by Mohammed Shanter
Eye contact: how souls catch fire.” — Yahia Lababidi
I realized most people are desperate to tell their version/story. They just need permission to say it. Sometimes someone needs to emotionally manipulate them to open up and speak. Its the sad reality of our society. Once they cross that bridge, you will find a wonderful human being to live or work.
If you want to make a splash, part the Red Sea!
Usage over demos! Impact over features.
I just realized I did not post an entire month but I was creating a lot of notes. I will post them soon.
Out of curiosity, how did you come up with this solution? - zxmth
I am having a lot of remodeling work going on in the house that I can barely think. I am just finishing up work, take care of the family and then finish packing and moving stuff for the works. Phew, tired but looking forward to the new look.
Is it just me or does anyone else have this issue with earphones? Apple AirPods are causing a lot of itchiness in my ears. I need to frequently remove and clean them. They are causing a lot of dampness in my ears.
I updated my homepage. Now I need to update my work and publications pages so that they are all separate from the blog. That will require some non zero amount of work
Did a lot of research between a heat pump and regular heating cooling solutions. These extreme weather days are very punishing.
My favorite past time is making personal home pages. Not blogs. Just a single page for people who want to create an identity on the internet. When I bought my domain I did not have a clear idea on how to setup my website and thus started this side project of creating webpages. Over the years I have created many versions of my personal home page and will continue to do so.
Some of the guys I meet now a days have a trustworthy shady face :D
After learning how to typecast variables in Rust, I was able to fix quite a number of bugs in my code today.
Note to self: download dead cell and samurai Jack on Apple Arcade. Such fun games.
I think I should start side loading emulators into my Apple TV.
Learning Rust is such a nice mental exercize. Reminds me of days when I was learning C but with less mental load.
My throat is hurting like hell. I am also feeling sluggish and warm. Maybe its the weather. The rains are not at all helping. The storm and wind are just making me shiver. Some really warm tea would help. Chai would be fantastic.
Is a mac mini still a good investment or should I need to switch to a laptop? I like the portability of a laptop especially lying in bed and writing code sometimes. But I still like the mac mini. It is powerful if configured correctly. I have a 12 core 64G RAM machine at home. Maybe utilize it more? Just a thought.
Your brain is for having ideas not to hold them - David Allen
Many beautiful things start out messy & ugly, and become wonderful slowly and iteratively. Do not quit.
I found Omar's list of principles very inspiring. https://omarshehata.me/principles
Looks like this can easily replace my existing blog. I am so happy I found thoughts page. Next step is to setup my custom domain.
Hmm...putting down my first thought here. Should I think more just to post?
Thinking out loud. Forgive my rants. Appreciate my ideas.
