tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post6597787319648240558..comments2023-10-14T09:40:06.690-05:00Comments on Jean Kazez: The Philosophical Parent: Wanting an X KidJean Kazezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00592593002719828153noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-68790480374606421422009-08-15T07:17:28.000-05:002009-08-15T07:17:28.000-05:00Acquired Taste, Your examples are great. They are...Acquired Taste, Your examples are great. They are forcing me to think again...<br /><br />I will dig in my heels and say warning lights should be going off for someone whose initial "baby urge" is directed at having a brilliant (great genes) child, or an Irish child (ethnic identity), or even a decent child...<br /><br />It seems as if such qualified desires don't reflect a really Jean Kazezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00592593002719828153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-7730352423014517432009-08-14T16:55:40.709-05:002009-08-14T16:55:40.709-05:00At first I was in complete agreement with Jean, an...At first I was in complete agreement with Jean, and I still am for the traits you describe, but I wonder if there aren't some exceptions.<br /><br />First, previously you'd suggested that there might be an obligation to pass on fabulous genes. I doubt there is, but if so, then one wouldn't just want a baby but a baby with fabulous genes. Something similar would go child who'd Acquired Tastehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752686075443198199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-59248678036949970372009-08-14T08:02:36.096-05:002009-08-14T08:02:36.096-05:00Faust: I'm not a Rousseau fan myself. I ag...Faust: I'm not a Rousseau fan myself. I agree that there's not a natural core to each being, waiting to express itself. What most people call freedom is to opt for one or another desire that one has internalized from society or one's parents or the media. I agree that not everyone can opt between piano lessons or tennis classes, but poor people, at least those above the s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-68424398792210492002009-08-13T22:15:10.591-05:002009-08-13T22:15:10.591-05:00Well I think that it can be seen as a delicate bal...Well I think that it can be seen as a delicate balancing act with it being better to err on the side of allowing the child freedom rather than being overbearing. <br /><br />But I have deep suspicions about how "free" people are in general and that includes the little people too. I think this Rouseauian notion that deep inside people there is a natural core that just needs to be let outFaustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-26627658093242674602009-08-13T21:22:45.260-05:002009-08-13T21:22:45.260-05:00Faust: Let me play the devil's advocate. I...Faust: Let me play the devil's advocate. Isn't it better that a child learn for himself what he wants, even if a parent, being older, can see that what the child thinks that he wants isn't what he ultimately will want? Obviously, in terms of success and future income, it's better that a parent point a child towards areas where he can flourish, especially when a child s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-24311163425307053032009-08-13T20:18:28.895-05:002009-08-13T20:18:28.895-05:00Maybe he was responding to Tiger's abilities, ...Maybe he was responding to Tiger's abilities, but from what I've read he was harcore from day one. Really hardcore. Obviously there was fortuitous synergy there. <br /><br />My larger point is that the synergy itself is mysterious. My father was driven by his father to become an academic. He resents that a bit and he wanted me to be free to be whatever I want. As it happens I think I Faustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-2219861557930484592009-08-13T17:52:18.564-05:002009-08-13T17:52:18.564-05:00Maybe TW's father was responding to abilities ...Maybe TW's father was responding to abilities that he saw in little Tiger. If so, maybe that's fine.<br /><br />It's another thing to want a certain kind of kid, before you've even conceived. If you want an athlete at that point, you're setting yourself up to find the kid you wind up with a disappointment...because these things just aren't predictable.<br /><br />Of Jean Kazezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00592593002719828153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-91743059267233933672009-08-13T16:08:01.304-05:002009-08-13T16:08:01.304-05:00Faust: I don't know anything about Tiger Wood...Faust: I don't know anything about Tiger Woods. There is a difference between forcing a child into a mold and allowing him to develop his talents. Mozart? The late Michael Jackson? Then again, some parents are better at brainwashing their kids than others or at establishing parental hegemony over their children's worldview. I know more cases like the two that follow:<br />1.s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-91670563277067678382009-08-13T12:41:57.207-05:002009-08-13T12:41:57.207-05:00I don't know about this.
I don't have ti...I don't know about this. <br /><br />I don't have time to write up a detailed response, but while I think it very obvious that parents shouldn't become "overly attatched" to a particular outcome that their child needs to live up to, it's not obvious that they shouldn't strongly encourage such and such and so and so. <br /><br />Amos has pointed out that one can treatFaustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-4515012835388493442009-08-13T09:45:21.039-05:002009-08-13T09:45:21.039-05:00I agree. Children aren't narcissistic extens...I agree. Children aren't narcissistic extensions of their parents, and sooner or later, as I said in the other post, are going to take their own road in life. And if they don't take their own road, who are they? What kind of parent would want to be around a child who is his or her clon or who is a kind of robot programmed to have the attitudes and life-style that the parent s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.com