[ExI] Artificial Battles was Natasha's brand new doctorate

[Mike Dougherty]

On Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 1:27 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> Oy, you understate your case Mike.  My son is now 6, the youngest of the
> grandchildren, and the only grandchild for three of the six grandparents (my
>
> rooted which equates work with reward.  I can't quite convince myself that
> the economics of scarcity is a completely outdated notion, so I am training
> my son to work at things in exchange for rewards, but it is difficult to
> reward him.  He has too much stuff already to the point he has no room for
> more.  So what now?

My own childhood's scarcity taught me conservation.  I'm sure you've
already made your son aware (to the degree a 6 year old can be) that
energy is still a finite resource - even while material goods seem
unlimited.  The other reward I remember (and appreciated) from my
childhood was responsibility.  Earning trust and proving
responsibility is still difficult even in a post-scarcity environment.
 If your son learns how to do so at a young age, it'll make him more
successful in pretty much every context where success is measurable.
Of course, my opinion comes only from having been a child not from
having any of my own.  :)


> Ja me too.  I can't say I am horrified really.  I am old enough to remember
> when Americans were involved in actual warfare, the kind which required the
> physical presence of large numbers of involuntary participants.  This is
> something which can justifiably cause us to be horrified.  Marketing?  Not
> so much.  Mind control compelling proles to buy stuff they don't need?
> Hmmm, I would use the adjective concerned rather than horrified.

fair enough.  I have been fortunate to be shielded from true horrors
of war & warfare.  I was imagining the dystopian future when the trend
of insidious memeplexes dictate mass behavior.  Wait, maybe that's
not-so-future.  dunno.  Horrified may be too much hyperbole compared
with actual warfare atrocities but I definitely wanted a word stronger
than concerned.  Let's call it "doubleplusconcerned" with the
intention that a reference to newspeak conveys the right tone,
especialy wrt Proles.