Sarah Fitz-Claridge

Listen, by Patty Wipfler: the missing connection takingchildrenseriously.com/listen-by-patt…

Have you read Listen: Five simple tools to meet your everyday parenting challenges, by Patty Wipfler and Tosha Schore (2013)? Some thoughts. ⬇️

Legitimising hurting Jews is not new. This book (published in 1656) has 126 pages of antisemitism. The King's coronation mentioned is that of King Richard I, on 3rd September 1189. Later there is a lengthy antisemitic quotation from the year 681.

Pessimistic parents consider it immoral to behave in ways that have not been tried many times before, because they are blind to the possibility that the benefits of doing so might offset the risks. So they are intolerant and conformist. And yet some (a few) children grow up vibrantly optimistic anyway. People are so creative!

"A pessimistic civilization considers it immoral to behave in ways that have not been tried many times before, because it is blind to the possibility that the benefits of doing so might offset the risks. So it is intolerant and conformist." @DavidDeutschOxf

@sciencegirl coercion

In your opinion what is the biggest threat to humanity

Does she want help solving the problem, or does she want you to listen only? If the latter, do that. If the former, and the first solution you suggest does not solve the problem for her, why should she try that idea that does not seem to solve the problem to her? A solution is an idea that does not seem problematic, not one that does seem problematic. That was just the first idea. There are plenty more where that one came from. What is her reason for not liking idea 1? That could be a clue to idea 2. Keep playing with possibilities until you find one that really seems like a solution.

@lavigi She could at least attempt the one I suggested.

Wife: <problem> Me: <solution>? Wife: I don’t want <solution>! How do you get past this dynamic?

When what some might see as a problem sparks spectacular creativity. 🤸‍♀️🎨🖌️🧠💖 ✨Problems are soluble.✨

@remedi You are welcome.

@FitzClaridge Thank you for the very kind response. Your suggestion will likely work, and I will try it today.

Kids aren’t “lazy.” They’re exhausted. From waking up at 6 AM, sitting still for 7 hours, and grinding homework until bedtime. If adults lived like this, we’d call it abuse.

When a child is upset about something like this, there is a problem to solve, and there will be a reason for her strange upset, and if you remain curious about and explore what that underlying reason is, you may well discover that the problem is actually easy to solve, and she may be all smiles in a moment. Often, parents’ dark theories about what is happening bear no relationship to reality. What is this precious child upset about, exactly? How is she interpreting the other child no longer being forced to go to school? What does that mean for her own life? Why is she not happy for him? What is it about that that feels as if it adversely affects her? WHY does it feel that way? Why exactly is she upset about this change? What is the reason? Is there another reason under that reason? If you assume that there is something that will be understandable and resolvable and (to the extent she is open to it) explore with curiosity and optimism that even this problem is soluble, it will often turn out to be so much easier to solve than one imagined.

I have been persuaded by the two of you, MS & DD. When my son asked to leave public high school, I immediately said yes, we will make it work. But my daughter has now refused to talk to me for 3 wks so far. Children must be able to make their own choices, but the system even inside the home doesn’t let go of them easily. If possible, can one of you talk to my daughter and explain the Taking Children Seriously point of view 😆

@DavidDeutschOxf @VividProwess She appears rather excited by the whole thing, so maybe she is not going down that dark path but is actually happily exploring an exciting avenue of knowledge creation. ?

@VividProwess The fallibility of authorities is systematically concealed from children. They are trained to the mental habit of deference. Only the rebels come to understand it but too often the consequence is either nihilism or, as in this case, submission to a new and worse authority.

A British girl converted to Islam for rewards in the afterlife. She says she is not brainwashed. Any word for her?

Sarah Fitz-Claridge: Taking Children Seriously and freedom youtu.be/Qf6O-tJ8Cfc?fe…

@TCSparents takingchildrenseriously.com/reflections-on…

“‘Promote coping and competence’ seems to mean training children to expect little and demand less. Competence is not promoted by coercion. And coping is about a problem being stuck instead of being in the process of being solved.” - Sarah Fitz-Claridge

I was alluding to fallibility and knowledge being conjectural. When a thought feels absolutely TRUE/RIGHT, sometimes one can forget that it is a conjecture that might be mistaken, and thereby potentially deprive oneself of a better idea.

Take ideas seriously, not thoughts.

Apologies, everyone. Dealing with a recent sudden death of a youngish father in our family. Life is (still) short. Sometimes so much shorter than you think. Live now. Love now.

The latest censorship law “for the children”. Police diligently arresting people saying anything a government official or terrorist (excuse the redundancy) deems offensive. No time to deal with serious crime. Petition: Repeal the Online Safety Act petition.parliament.uk/petitions/7229…

@Sover3ign1 @arjunkhemani @DavidDeutschOxf @NautilusMag I still have a few remaining signed first impression first edition copies of The Beginning of Infinity (and The Fabric of Reality). DMs open.

@arjunkhemani @DavidDeutschOxf @NautilusMag Even decent first editions are hard to come by. Also, still looking for a BoI signed first edition 😀

Auction by @NautilusMag : zeffy.com/en-US/ticketin…

@DavidDeutschOxf @DanielJHannan Notice the equivocation bringing to mind the good idea of cosy consent-based families etc, as an argument for coercive, creativity-destroying, innovator-hating, life-ruining communism.

@DanielJHannan Those who perpetrated the Terror in the French Revolution were primitive, bloodthirsty savages. Nevertheless they did not have it in for factory owners. They didn't find communism intuitive. It hadn't been invented yet.

@velmeryn Yes.

@ToKTeacher daughter of Sarah fitz claridge?

The classroom is a distraction from technology. Brief preview of the next episode of ToKCast, with guest Liberty Fitz-Claridge where we discuss the value of voluntary ignorance.

@_Anasuddin Apologies. I seem not to get notifications about DMs. I have now replied.

@FitzClaridge Hello Sarah, I'd like to chat with you about a certain probelm I'm dealing with, after I started implementing your philosophy "Taking Children Seriously". Could you look at your Dms?