2009.12.23 19:00 - Children Play

The Guardian for this meeting was stevenaia Michinaga. The comments are by stevenaia Michinaga.

stevenaia Michinaga: hello and thanks :)
stevenaia Michinaga: for taking my Sunday slot
Calvino Rabeni: Hello and YVW
stevenaia Michinaga: if you need any assistance with your guardian-ness, just let me know
stevenaia Michinaga: posting logs can be a trial sometimes
Calvino Rabeni: Ok, I think I know the drill (although I feel challenged to host some visitors)
Calvino Rabeni: NP with the logs
Calvino Rabeni: I was just thinking "i learned much in youth" :)
stevenaia Michinaga: I often think, when will youth end
--BELL--
Calvino Rabeni: It is never too late to have a happy childhood
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
stevenaia Michinaga: do you see much of your childhood in your everyday life? the spirit of your youth
Calvino Rabeni: hmmm
stevenaia Michinaga: perhaps I refer to "Play", something you are supposed to loose as you "grow up"
Calvino Rabeni: do you have children
Calvino Rabeni: ?
stevenaia Michinaga: yes
Calvino Rabeni: No
Calvino Rabeni: Not that I am aware of
Calvino Rabeni: Returning to your question, I've observed many of my early friends losing the Play
stevenaia Michinaga: I have seen many of my son's parents, much younger, appearing more "adult" in life than I
stevenaia Michinaga: son's friends parents, rather
Calvino Rabeni: And sometimes I ask them, do you think that adults become set in their ways, crystallized, unable to learn and be creative
Calvino Rabeni: And there are rationales presented for that point of view
Calvino Rabeni: The evidence is inconclusive
Calvino Rabeni: Some children act like adults at an early age
Calvino Rabeni: It may depend on size of family
stevenaia Michinaga: it is interesting what is lost when you tell someone to "grow up"
Calvino Rabeni: Or be part of character
Calvino Rabeni: Or be a response to the resources available in media
Calvino Rabeni: People do develop, but not from being told to do it
--BELL--
stevenaia Michinaga: children become, not what the parent wants, but usually what the parent is
stevenaia Michinaga: easier to see in others
Calvino Rabeni: there have been some studies - I can't cite - on the view that parents are not as influential as they hope or fear in how their children become what they do
Calvino Rabeni: The best of parents have children who get into big trouble, for instance
stevenaia Michinaga: well there is intended influence and unintended influence
Calvino Rabeni: and influence from factors not within parents' control
Calvino Rabeni: and built-in ...
stevenaia Michinaga: of course
Calvino Rabeni: Some friends have wonderful children, others extremely difficult
Calvino Rabeni: And it seems independent of the care and effort they made
stevenaia Michinaga: perplexing isn't it
Calvino Rabeni: :)
Calvino Rabeni: bold measures are sometimes necessary
Calvino Rabeni: It is surprising, sad too, that parents feel they must make the moral choices without help, on their own resources
stevenaia Michinaga: well it has been done for centuries that way
stevenaia Michinaga: ask Gengis Kahn's parents
Calvino Rabeni: I didn't know them - but surely western individualism and freedom have isolated the parents more than in traditional cultures
Calvino Rabeni: as in the saying "it takes a village" to raise a child
Calvino Rabeni: my mother speaks of when the social fabric was thicker
stevenaia Michinaga: yes
Calvino Rabeni: children roamed more, had more friends, more freedom, less programmed lives
Calvino Rabeni: felt safer
Calvino Rabeni: made their own entertainment through inventive play
Calvino Rabeni: That sounds a bit like a "modern times" rant I suppose.
stevenaia Michinaga: free play happens less and less these days
Calvino Rabeni: Yes I agree
stevenaia Michinaga: it;s a very creative process
stevenaia Michinaga: boxes become space ships
stevenaia Michinaga: dirt becomes a city
Calvino Rabeni: now pixels become a city
Calvino Rabeni: In a way, access to pre-made information may not be good for the imaginative faculties
Calvino Rabeni: I admit to ignorance of what it is like in video-game culture
stevenaia Michinaga: I see it quite a bit
--BELL--
Calvino Rabeni: It's hard to speculate about the future of cultures
Calvino Rabeni: but I suppose it does some good
stevenaia Michinaga: it works for the weatherman
stevenaia Michinaga: and we know often they miss
stevenaia Michinaga: but they persist
Calvino Rabeni: I think the weatherman's future successes are not based on being wrong
Calvino Rabeni: but that is often true for cultural thinking
Calvino Rabeni: What intellectual horizons do you watch, Stevenaia?
stevenaia Michinaga: watch?
Calvino Rabeni: Yes, as in, attend to or have an interest in
stevenaia Michinaga: my work is most engaging, ever changing, adaptable, playful
stevenaia Michinaga: creative
Calvino Rabeni: is it focused, or does it have a wide purview?
Calvino Rabeni: Disciplines vary
stevenaia Michinaga: and for my mind/body I am learning tai CHi
Calvino Rabeni: Remember "geography"?
stevenaia Michinaga: it is focused on a wide purview :)
stevenaia Michinaga: but the focus is like a meditation,
stevenaia Michinaga: reminds me of PaB
Calvino Rabeni: tai chi and jazz have a lot in common
Calvino Rabeni: with PaB and phenomenology
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, all new yet familiar to me
Calvino Rabeni: There's a pretty good tai chi literature
Calvino Rabeni: but it doesn't make any sense unless one practices
stevenaia Michinaga: interesting thing about it there are many variations
stevenaia Michinaga: so the teacher keeps you returning
Calvino Rabeni: I've been asking people - where in their lives do they have a skill that involves improvisation
Calvino Rabeni: Tai Chi is preparation for that
stevenaia Michinaga: I suspect it will take years to get to that point, like jazz
Calvino Rabeni: No, it is best to do it immediately. However, mastery takes years
Calvino Rabeni: The jazz musicians study chords, theory
Calvino Rabeni: but also get "in the zone"
stevenaia Michinaga: yes, a nice place to be
--BELL--
Calvino Rabeni: I don't know your tai chi goals
stevenaia Michinaga: goals? it's only been a year, feels I just started
Calvino Rabeni: but in my experience, it is very worthwhile to pursue martial tai chi
stevenaia Michinaga: It shouldn't but that aspet makes me uncomfortable
Calvino Rabeni: that is a common feeling
Calvino Rabeni: but it is worth it
stevenaia Michinaga: unfortunately, I must go, looking forward to seeing you sunday
stevenaia Michinaga: thanks again
Calvino Rabeni: ah, sounds good stevenaia
Calvino Rabeni: bye for now merry holiday