Motivation

[blue_shadows9]

I've been thinking about this subject a lot since I recently stumbled upon several Youtube videos about unschooling.

Now, it's not as if I wasn't already familiar with the idea.  The philosophy of unschooling is the reason Mom started homeschooling me and my siblings to begin with.  The idea is that children learn things best when they are ready to

Comments

[nicwhite86]

Never been a big fan of TED. It's too futurist and wanky in all the wrong ways.

[blue_shadows9]

It's fucking awesome, is what it is.

[nicwhite86]

Actually it doesn't surprise me that you feel that way :P

[beatle2102]

Agree with this totally. Wanky is the perfect word to describe TED.

Also, I'd much rather read someone's treatise instead of watching it. I can read words much faster than they can be said (like most people), so I find watching people talk boring and kind of a waste of my time.

It's how I feel about most speeches: BORING! Just give me the print-out of your dumb speech and I'll read it in my own time.

[krsnas_favorite]

I LOVE TED talks. I've also had the idea I'd like to give a TED talk but then again I think my talk has already been given. But if they asked me I wouldn't say no!

Sadly I have no ideas about how you can spread freedom. But, er, good luck.

[blue_shadows9]

Which one is the one you would have given?

Well, "freedom" is pretty broadly defined and includes all kinds of economic and human rights as well as political rights. It also includes transparency, and could even include starting a business and growing the economy. So there are about a zillion ways to spread freedom.

[krsnas_favorite]

Most definitely Liz Gilbert's on creativity and genius and there are some others too I'm sure. (I haven't watched all the TED talks so I'm just guessing there are some lying around I wish I'd given.)

I'm glad there are so many options available to spread freedom! =)

[spirit_led]

With regard to the comment on Daniel Pink: I was heavily influenced by a book called "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. It talked about intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation and said much the same things. The problem for a parent in trying to encourage intrinsic motivation is that it is a long-term project and you have to watch your child be bored, frustrated and dissatisfied until they figure out what they want to do. It is much easier on the psyche to simply tell them what to do!

[blue_shadows9]

See, that, I disagree with. Motivation isn't like a switch that gets turned on suddenly after you've been bored long enough. No parent should let their kids stew in boredom, frustration, or dissatisfaction, particularly if that's coming from lack of experience and ignorance of possibilities. It's pretty hard to be motivated about things you don't know about, or wouldn't know how to start doing, or don't care about because you haven't had a lot of experiences that made much of an impression on you. And it's even worse if you, say, can't drive, don't have a lot of money, never see anyone outside your family, and have never really done much on your own. Kids need suggestions, encouragement, and resources to even find interests, much less pursue them. Without that, unschooling is just neglect.