»What Advice Would You Give Your Kids?«

So by an informal survey I have concluded that GP is about the only regular on IMO who has a child, and his daughter is very young. Yet most of us think at one time or another about having children, and what we would tell them if we could only tell them one thing. So, if you only had one piece of advice that you could tell your kids, what would it be?

For me, I would probably tell them, "Stop and think." I have run across many people in my life who have learned this lesson the hard way; they acted on impulse and ended up in a terrible situation. I have the friend who always drives drunk and ends up wrecking his car and getting his license suspended; the friend who constantly steals things from stores when she cannot afford them and ends up getting arrested; the friend who sleeps with every guy she dates almost immediately because each time she is convinced she has found her true love. I can personally say that nothing I have ever done without thinking has turned out well. There are a lot of romantic notions out there about impulsive behavior, that it is passionate or daring in some way, but the reality is, nearly all impulsive behavior is a mistake and leads only to trouble and unhappiness.

posted by MindSlave

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MindSlave:

For me, I would probably tell them, "Stop and think."

It's interesting that you, as a mentally ill person (= where the thinking went wrong) tells your children to "think". It's like a war-disabled person telling "Go to war".

Probably a much better advice would be the complete opposite:
"Don't stop. Don't let others stop you. Don't think. Look and Do."

posted by knn

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Thanks For the Reminder

knn:

MindSlave:

For me, I would probably tell them, "Stop and think."

It's interesting that you, as a mentally ill person (= where the thinking went wrong) tells your children to "think". It's like a war-disabled person telling "Go to war".

Wow, knn, thanks for reminding me for the ten millionth time that I have a mental illness! You keep bringing it up as though it will embarass me somehow. Now I'll be sure not to forget I'm sick!

But I have to take exception with your characterization of mental illness as being a situation "where the thinking went wrong." Thought is a consequence of neural processes in the brain, which in mental illness are compromised, whether you think "demons" did it (knn) or genes and environment did it (MindSlave.)

So what would you tell your kids, knn?

posted by MindSlave

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posted by a

MindSlave:

Thought is a consequence of neural processes in the brain, which in mental illness are compromised

Completely offtopic. Please bringing up psychiatry/neuobiology everytime someone disagrees with you. Moreover there is absolutely no proof that thinking is caused by the brain.

posted by knn

knn:

Probably a much better advice would be the complete opposite:
"Don't stop. Don't let others stop you. Don't think. Look and Do."

So what about the examples I gave of the mistakes I have observed in people around me? Would you say to someone who refuses to quit driving drunk, "Don't think about it, and don't let anyone stop you, just do it?" Patently ridiculous in the real world. It may work to follow knn's advice if you're a rock star, but that is not the real world.

posted by MindSlave

MindSlave:

"Don't think about it, and don't let anyone stop you, just do it?"

You are blatantly misquoting me by erasing 2 things out of my "advice": "Don't stop yourself" and "Look".
Drinking _IS_ stopping oneself. And drinking _IS_ not-looking.

Moreover I doubt that your example fits TO KIDS.

posted by knn

Not a Quote

knn:

MindSlave:

"Don't think about it, and don't let anyone stop you, just do it?"

You are blatantly misquoting me.

I never quoted you at all knn. I merely applied your advice to a real-world situation to test if it was actually "better" as you claim. To me, a measure of how good advice is would be whether or not it works in the real world, regardless of how good it sounds. You are always posting against communism, but communism sounds like damn good advice when Marx writes about it. It's only when it's applied to the real world in places like the Soviet Union that it becomes clear that it is bad advice.

So, not a quote, but an accurate characterization of what you said as applied to a real-world situation.

posted by MindSlave

MindSlave:

I merely applied your advice to a real-world situation to test if it was actually "better" as you claim.

No did not apply my advice. You applied a crippled advice of mine by taking out 2 important parts.

I don't make a "real world example" by applying your "Stop and think" by crippling it to "Stop".

posted by knn

knn:

MindSlave:

"Don't think about it, and don't let anyone stop you, just do it?"

You are blatantly misquoting me by erasing 2 things out of my "advice": "Don't stop yourself" and "Look".
Drinking _IS_ stopping oneself. And drinking _IS_ not-looking.

What kind of nonsense is this? You're getting all metaphysical on me. I still contend that "Stop and think" is better advice than, "Don't stop. Don't let others stop you. Don't think. Look and Do." White laugh

That would be totally confusing to a kid, and your attempts to twist it around and make it look more presesentable when applied to the real world would be just as confusing.

knn:

Moreover I doubt that your example fits TO KIDS.

LOL, do you think kids don't drive drunk? I've seen it on uncountable occasions with my own eyes. And though I didn't know my drunk-driver friend when he was a kid, I have every reason to think he did it as soon as he got his license, if not before.

posted by MindSlave

MindSlave:

What kind of nonsense is this? You're getting all metaphysical on me. I still contend that "Stop and think" is better advice than, "Don't stop. Don't let others stop you. Don't think. Look and Do."

Of course. Because you take drugs and my advice would forbid you to.

posted by knn

knn:

MindSlave:

I merely applied your advice to a real-world situation to test if it was actually "better" as you claim.

No did not apply my advice. You applied a crippled advice of mine by taking out 2 important parts.

Okay, I stand corrected, the actual application of your advice in a teenager's mind would be "Don't think about it, don't stop yourself from drinking, don't let anyone stop you from drinking, look at the road, and just do it!"

Honest question: isn't what really happened that you didn't stop and think, but rather just pulled your advice out of your ass and are now trying to twist it around and make it sound better?

posted by MindSlave

knn:

MindSlave:

What kind of nonsense is this? You're getting all metaphysical on me. I still contend that "Stop and think" is better advice than, "Don't stop. Don't let others stop you. Don't think. Look and Do."

Of course. Because you take drugs and my advice would forbid you to.

We're not talking about my medication here knn...we're talking about advice to kids; for someone who has called me a "cry-baby" in the past, I must say you argue like a two-year-old does. Kids don't need some long, convoluted four-point plan to apply to all situations (that I am convinced you just came up with a minute ago because it sounded cool.)

posted by MindSlave

MindSlave:

No, it would not be.

You are trying to pervert my advice into a saying like "George W. Bush sucks at everything" and then make it look foolish by stating "So, George W. Bush sucks at sucking?".

"Don't stop yourself" means of course: "Stop drinking immediately because if you continue drinking you will be stopped completely".

"Don't think, instead look and do" means of course "Stop thinking about your problems, instead look at the real situation and do something about it." and "

posted by knn

knn:

MindSlave:

No, it would not be.

"Don't stop yourself" means of course: "Stop drinking immediately because if you continue drinking you will be stopped completely".

Yes, but that would not be clear to most people, which makes it bad advice. Most people would think "don't stop yourself" to mean, "do whatever you want."

knn:

"Don't think, instead look and do" means of course "Stop thinking about your problems, instead look at the real situation and do something about it." and "

Well, I don't remember that "instead" being in your original advice, so there is one point where you have misquoted yourself. I'm not going to waste my time on this trivial point anymore. Thanks for ruining my thread knn.
What? When? Where? Why?

posted by MindSlave

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