Comments by "Tony L" (@tlangdon12) on "Isn’t it rational to be anxious in a world that’s failing us all?" video.

  1. I have long thought that children need to meet adults other than their teachers and parents. They need to learn to interact with adults in all sorts of roles. But fundamentally the parents are too scared to let them. What has scared them? The world has; which brings us back to Richard's point! The high-functioning adults need to change things so that everyone can be happier.
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  2.  @dna9838  You are right. By 'high-functioning adults' I meant any adult that can act with a purpose.
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  3. We have a national education service in the UK. The question is whether the service is fit for purpose, if it is scaring children.
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  4. The problem is that education lags behind in the real world. The pace of change has increased and no one is quite sure what the impact of AI will be. So what should our schools be teaching to equip children to thrive in the world they will inhabit? Is it how to light a fire? Or how to interact with a sentient machine?
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  5. It's a feature of the rampant individualism promoted in the USA. Donald Trump is the arch-narcisist.
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  6. I think Richard's analysis is correct. It's not the inequality that scares adults and children, but the effects of the inequality. Can we reverse the effects without creating a completely equal society? Of course! You only have to look at the examples in the Nordic countries to see that their societies have inequality, but less than we do in the UK, and much less than in the USA.
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  7.  @george11419  But where does the tax go? It's not going to pay for new stuff, it's generally going to pay the higher prices of the services that we have always had. Inflation is killing us. If we don't reduce inflation to the same rate that tax income is increasing, we are not going to be able to spend any tax on new initiatives without reducing the payments for existing services.
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  8. I disagree about the shared spiritual outlook. One of my parents is spiritual, the other is not, and I am not. I don't need spirituality to spend plenty of time with others - I volunteer with two organisations, I care for my parents, my adult children and my partner. Spirituality is very personal, and I don't agree with indoctrinating children before they have the critical thinking skills to judge whether they want to be spiritual or not. If it does do anythign for social cohesion, is does it in a malign way.
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  9.  @george11419  I think there is something to be said for teaching children in stages that are adjusted to their ability to cope what they are taught. The problem is that the adults are worried. I'm not worried that oil will run out, it won't (unless we can carry on burning most it), but I am worried about climate change and what work will look like when machines can learn more efficiently than a human. I think we have to accept that adult insecurities are feeding the insecurities of our children and that we need to change our societies to make everyone feel safer.
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  10. That's the nub of the argument! What is fair? And is it fair to give some money to people who need it, but haven't 'earned' it? Perhaps it isn't fair to give money to people who need it, but haven't or can't earn it, but perhaps we should do it anyway so that they have a good life and can contribute to society, rather than having to remain locked away, unsee and unheard.
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  11. In many ways, you are not wrong. But harsh realism is just likely to scare them more than they are already scared. I would argue that they need to be exposed to the real world in a kindly manner. They need to be drip-fed the harsh realities at a rate that they can cope with. I didn't have to go to work at 15 years of age like my dad, and I'm very grateful for that. I was allowed (by virtue of my parents and my society's wealth) to put off having to work for a living until I graduated at 23.
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