Thank You, Capitalism. It Could Be Worse…

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My readers know all too well that I’m no fan of capitalism. Throughout the past years I’ve attacked^ several attributes of this economic system (consumerism^, the stock market^, income inequality^). This year, I’m about to step it up a notch, going into how capitalism has facilitated the slow and insidious rotting of most democratic countries. I intend to write about how a broken economic system can drag down education and create immeasurable suffering on a planetary scale, most of which is hidden from sight by the mainstream media so that the machine can keep marching.

But this doesn’t mean that I lack appreciation towards the enormous benefits that have burst from the minds of countless entrepreneurs who, thanks to a free market, succeeded in advancing our culture and civilization. After all, I write these words using capitalist products!

Evolution

Capitalism is just another system that evolved from others before it. Perhaps it’s not the fairest, but it’s definitely more efficient than some that existed before. The gradual development of economic systems that has given birth to capitalism also implies that capitalism will not be the last economic system. And that’s precisely why I’m writing about its flaws. It’s not because I hate it, it’s because there are things that I believe can be improved.

Capitalism will eventually give way to another, better economic system. It’s inevitable. The question, however, is if that system will be better for humans and our ecosystem. It is entirely possible that capitalism will evolve into a system that is even more efficient at squeezing the life out of this planet and transforming it into objects, technological advances (for its own sake) and gargantuan projects.

I believe one such gargantuan project is the development of artificial “intelligence”, in quotes because it’s not really intelligent^. It lacks and will continue to lack sentience, which I consider a prime ingredient of intelligence, for at least until such a time when we have achieved major advances in quantum computing. I went through some of the dangers posed by this sort of artificial non-intelligence in the linked article, or here^, on the more concrete topic of stock markets.

Better life through technology

One of the main long-term goals of capitalistic entities is to discover tools and technologies that allow them to produce more. These discoveries eventually trickle down through all social layers and can improve quality of life. It doesn’t always happen so, but it’s not usually a problem with capitalism per-se, but with the human element (corruption, greed^).

Capitalism has brought a number of major advances in all sorts of fields: manufacturing, delivery, recycling, retail & customer experience, product diversity, the list can go on and on. I honestly believe we’d be far less advanced without the explosion of knowledge that resulted from setting human intellectual capital free to associate in whatever form.

Less is more

Because our civilization is still at a stage where the survival instinct is dominating^ our choices and policies, we can’t expect any economic system to reach a sort of moral high-ground. Communism used to look good on paper. History tells a different story about its implementation. It’s a case of “change yourself before you change others”.

In other words: we have to fix our way of thinking and how we go about daily life before we can even expect a highly efficient and in the same time ethical economic system to emerge. Capitalism is, simply put, the best that some societies are capable of. They wouldn’t tolerate it otherwise.

Capitalism embodies our instinctual thirst^ for more. The problem is that “more”, in this case, is usually not something that contributes to human happiness, but rather provides tangible results (objects, technologies). Even though life in most (truly) capitalistic countries has improved from a material standpoint, psychological health has declined. People feel disconnected and disengaged. A culture of extreme individualism is being promoted, probably because it produces better consumers.

Would less production and less consumption be anti-capitalistic? Perhaps from a purely financial standpoint. But a situation where capitalism “eases down” might actually be the smartest investment ever made: an investment in nurturing human capital. Healthier, happier humans can not only produce more, but will also invent more.

Diversity is beautiful

One of the things I’m most thankful about with capitalism is the fascinating product diversity it led to. But too much of a good thing is not a good thing at all anymore. And while I appreciate the diversity, I also recognize that in the past decades it has started to resemble the behavior of cancer. Too much diversity is a tumor that feeds on our ecosystem, running amok with almost no planetary governmental oversight. Even so, I do believe that with capitalism we’re closer to the ideal product diversity state than with, say, communism.

Economy influences our society and, not only by extent, our way of government. Politics, economy and culture are all intertwined with other pillars of human development to form what we call civilization. As a prime ingredient of civilization, economy shapes not only how we trade, but our attitudes as well.

For example, in capitalism, it’s not profitable to reject minorities of any kind (sexual, racial, religious). This, slowly but surely, trickles into society. True capitalistic societies are more tolerant towards minorities, partly as a consequence of this being the most profitable behavior.

My first 7 years of life happened before the fall of communist Romania, during one of its worst periods (which was still way better than places in less developed parts of the world). I then witnessed the gradual implementation of capitalism, during a slow, painful process during which a number of sly Romanians became rich overnight through various forms of abuse. 20 years later I moved to Sweden, a country renowned for its socialism, but which has become increasingly capitalistic during the turn of the millennium and even more so under my very eyes in the past decade. All these varied economic landscapes have shaped me in all sorts of ways.

I am thankful to the diversity that capitalism has exposed me to. I’m thankful for its contribution to the civilization that I enjoy being a part of. I couldn’t imagine myself happy in a system that would restrict my freedom of speech (even though censorship is definitely on the rise everywhere in the world, including the proud Western democratic block).

I’m even thankful for capitalism’s flaws, for without flaws, there is nothing to improve. I’m one of those humans with a pull towards perpetual improvement. My work on this website is not only about improving the society I belong to, but also about improving myself. Throughout this process, it is vital for me to emphasize that despite my criticism, I am not blind to the luxury I am granted simply by having a roof over my head and warm, clean water at the tap. Oh, and fancy gizmos to play with.

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Smoke and Water, Environmental Downs and Ups

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When looking at the bigger picture, it sure seems like there are more “environmental downs” than “ups” at the moment (2019). Sure, there have been several small victories recently, but overall, our hyper-consumerist^ ways are still driving us on a highway to hell.

Smoke

Nine years after such information was widely available, I finally got to understand just how insanely terrible sea shipping is for our planet. Consider that a single massive cargo ship puts out more cancer and asthma-causing pollutants than 50 million cars:

https://newatlas.com/shipping-pollution/11526/^

This is because these ships use a very dirty type of fuel. And there are a lot^ of cargo ships on Earth. Not all of them may be as massive as the monstrous OOCL Hong Kong^, but consider that even back in 2009, just 16 of the world’s biggest ships emitted more pollution than all of the cars on the planet combined^. And while vehicle pollution has started to improve thanks to more efficient engines and electrical cars, cargo ship pollution is almost completely unregulated and still running amok.

I remember being surprised to hear how much fuel^ an airplane uses. Then again, turns out airplanes are actually pretty efficient^ compared to a car transporting less than 3 people. In any case, all my surprise regarding airplane fuel has now been completely snuffed out by the sea of jaw-drop I’m drowning in after getting the facts on cargo ships.

And here we are thinking buying a Tesla will save the world. No. Nothing short of fully-committed activism will prevent the disastrous ecosystem changes that might will put future generations at great risk.

Big Waves

Surf’s up (pun not intended)! A 23.8 meters high wave was recorded in the Southern hemisphere. For reference, that’s about as high as a 6-stories building. And it wasn’t from a tsunami. Just good ol’ mother Earth reacting to global warming:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-44078255^

And all this nicely leads to…

Ocean Heat Buildup

This is a phenomenon which has long shadowed the true extent of global warming, because the planetary ocean gives our world a certain amount of thermal inertia.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/10/31/startling-new-research-finds-large-buildup-heat-oceans-suggesting-faster-rate-global-warming/??noredirect=on^

As pointed in the article above, the research has seen a few corrections. Even so, there are several other studies that ocean heat buildup is a major problem, one that is seriously underestimated:

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-ocean-heat-content^

That solar panel problem few people talk about

“In November 2016, the Environment Ministry of Japan warned that the country will produce 800,000 tons of solar waste by 2040, and it can’t yet handle those volumes. That same year, the International Renewable Energy Agency estimated that there were already 250,000 metric tons of solar panel waste worldwide and that this number would grow to 78 million by 2050.”

Ugh…

https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2018/10/25/18018820/solar-panel-waste-chemicals-energy-environment-recycling^

How about cleaning the atmosphere?

Is global warming worrying you? Do you think we’ve run out of time? Well, here’s some good news. If we, as a species, would for once work together, we could actually achieve negative carbon emissions. This would require a massive economic shift, but it is already within our technological reach:

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/energy-and-environment/2018/10/24/18001538/climate-change-co2-removal-negative-emissions-cdr-carbon-dioxide^

The conclusion?

We can switch technologies all we want, but unless we don’t switch (off) our way of (consumerist^) life, the ecosystem will suffer some catastrophic changes in the next decades.

Here’s a soundtrack for all that…

Skeler – Falling Apart^

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Scratching the Surface of Solar Power

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Among all the different ways we currently can produce electricity, harnessing the power of the sun is the cleanest. The efficiency of solar panels^ has increased during the past decade, following solid research investments in renewable energy sources. Even though the installation of solar panels can take up vast amounts of space, this can be done in areas where there is not so much life to disturb, such as deserts.

Did you know that by covering less than 2% of the Great Saharan Desert with solar panels we can meet the energy consumptions needs of the entire planet? Here’s an excellent article^ that presents the calculations behind the mind-blowing fact. Interfering with the ecosystem in that 2% of desert would save countless other ecosystems from the damage done by the extraction, pollution and storage of fossil and nuclear fuels.

But the world’s energy needs will continue to increase. In the same time, we’re witnessing worsening global catastrophes due to global warming, a situation we’ve brought upon ourselves. We need to think big. Thanks to advances in mass manufacturing, we can think big. And that’s exactly what I invite you to do.

The purpose of any post in the Futurology^ category is to launch a wild, boundless speculation regarding what the future holds regarding a certain concept. To get things going, here are some of the things I imagine can happen as we begin on our journey of tapping into the power of the sun. Feel free to submit your own ideas in the comments below. With your approval I may integrate these in the article, giving proper credit.

  • Our species’ solar power capabilities are a product of two main factors: the efficiency of solar panels and the covered surface. While scientists are dutifully tinkering away at increasing efficiency, engineers have to devise new ways to deploy solar energy collectors. And, thanks to transparent solar panels^, we just have earned a significant increase in the potentially covered surface. In a couple of decades, most window panes in the world might be able to collect a little bit of solar energy. The efficiency of transparent panels is, of course, not that great (currently at around 5%, compared to around 20% for opaque panels). However, what they lack for in efficiency, they can more than make up for in surface.
  • It is not only buildings that can benefit from transparent solar panels. Let’s feed two birds with the same seed bag: protect freeways from rain and cities from noise by covering major arteries with a solar-collecting glass roof. The same layer could then feed energy to electrical vehicles traveling on the freeway.
  • One of the most important issues to solve when it comes to the installation of solar panels in as many places as possible is their ergonomics (bulky forms) and the lack of infrastructure needed to accommodate them. Quite a bit of wiring and rebuilding is required. Not only will solar panels have to become lighter and easier to install, but governments will also have to start treating this as a public service offered to citizens willing to turn their property into mini-powerplants. This is already happening, to some extent. In many countries, installing solar panels is heavily subsidized by the government (Sweden, for example, has a 30% subsidy).
  • The adoption of building standards favoring solar energy collection is also greatly needed. Buildings should come with all the wiring required to become solar collectors and to feed electricity into the local grid. Governments should incentivize building environmentally sustainable buildings through tax breaks.
  • With the advent of nanomaterials and robotics, solar panel installations will become even cheaper in the years to come. Of particular interest are certain “super-materials” such as graphene^. There is a lot of enthusiasm^ surrounding graphene and solar panels, but unfortunately not that many tangible results as of yet. In any case, solar installations are bound to become easier and more affordable in the near future.
  • Many houses have already started using their roof surface to lower their electricity bills. But wait until entire cities become covered in light-absorbing surfaces. We could use walls, windows and eventually even streets and sidewalks to gain energy from absorbed sunlight.
  • It’s important to note that the improper use of solar power can increase global warming. That’s because what mass solar power adoption would actually do is to decrease the albedo^ of the Earth. In other words: we’d absorb more heat from the Sun. It is true that the atmosphere would be cleaner and therefore the greenhouse effect^ would be reduced, but that won’t happen overnight. So, what is the right way to use solar power?
  • I’m glad I asked. How about using solar power to tackle one of the most dangerous threats we as a species have brought upon the planetary ecosystem? Solar power can not only slow global warming, but it might actually be able to reverse it. The method is simple and the technology is already in mass production. It’s called a heat inverter or “reverse cycle heat pump”^. What these babies do is to use electricity in order to extract heat from the atmosphere and transport it somewhere else (such as somebody’s home or a factory). But there’s an even better heat source than the atmosphere available: the ocean (water is better than air (0.6 vs 0.02) at conducting heat).
  • One of the main victims of global warming is the planetary ocean^ (and pretty much any other body of water). Turns out the oceans are very good heat reservoirs. Turns out we also might soon be facing coastal destruction due to rising sea levels^. The oceans are warming rapidly^. How can solar power fix this? A geo-engineering project^ could consist of installing millions of heat inverters on those coasts around the world where there are warm water currents. This would contribute to cooling off the ocean while in the same time providing district heating to cities. The energy (motors & pumps) required to relocate the heat from the ocean would come from the sun.
  • Actually, the solar panels for such a system could be installed on the ocean itself. The surface of the planetary ocean is quite a bit larger than that of the Sahara Desert, which I mentioned in the beginning of the article. Another advantage of having a system of solar barges, covered in panels, is that there’s less particle pollution on the ocean, so they would require less cleaning (and there’s plenty of water around to easily clean them). Keep in mind, however, that geoengineering can be an arrogant species’ last steps on a slippery slope^.
  • Solar arctic installations could also help avert global warming. However, panels installed there would require a great degree of adaptability to extreme weather conditions, including an automated snow cleanup system.
  • To think even bigger, how about space solar panels? In the future, these could be constructed directly in orbit, or perhaps on the Moon. Their energy could be beamed to Earth using microwaves. Even better, what if this can be combined with a public and freight transport system such as zeppelins? Huge, solar-capture zeppelins could circle the world while the space solar collector beams the energy at shorter distance, directly onto the zeppelin, which in turn is connected via a cable to a vehicle traveling on a freeway below. With the advent of advanced auto-pilot systems, such logistical tricks could soon become easy to setup and optimize.
  • A space solar collector could also be used to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching certain areas of the planet. Even a 5% drop in sunlight would do miracles for countries suffering from heatwaves. Such geoengineering ideas^ aren’t new, but most of them are outrageously expensive – at least until robotic space manufacturing becomes a thing.
  • A warning about space solar collection: such systems could potentially be turned into weapons. Cyberwarfare is very real^ and very dangerous. We cannot embark onto such an adventure until we, as a species, take some important steps forward when it comes to mutual trust.

The Futurology Disclaimer: I do not claim that my ideas are original. I’m sure these suggestions are just scratching the surface of what can be achieved, but hopefully they’ve scratched enough to get somebody inspired to come up with more. I’m also sure many of these ideas are already being worked on by several organizations. If any of the ideas listed by anybody on this page are original and will benefit any organization, I expect credit to be given where it’s due.

Version history:

2018-06-05 – 1.0 – Written.

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Three Years and Counting (and Throttling Down)

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A week ago, Mentatul celebrated its third birthday. I’m happy with what I’ve achieved so far with this website. A collection of meaningful articles is beginning to coalesce into a greater work, which is still far from completion.

I hardly put any effort into advertising this website. As a matter of fact, I quite enjoy maintaining a low profile. I know that most of what I write is not exactly mainstream. Sometimes, it’s not even easily readable.

I made mistakes, I learned and will continue to learn… albeit at a slower pace. I’m taking a break from intensive writing on Mentatul, since I have other writing and family duties that absorb a lot of my time. Of course, should my millions of readers think otherwise, please feel free to donate and change my mind :D.

This change is meant to give me more energy to focus on the most important things I wish to have here, which are the bi-monthly analysis articles.

Planned changes:

  • No more satire, futurology or travel log articles (unless something really important hits me).
  • Recommendation articles to be bundled into a monthly article.
  • Weekly Song entries to be removed from the main page (and the tag soup), but not from Archives or Categories. The reviews will be accessible via the Weekly Song category or the new main (top) menu entry with the same name.

What will stay the same:

  • Heavy, bi-monthly analysis articles (this is the main purpose of the website and will not be altered in any way).
  • The weekly song (although the reviews will sometimes be slightly shorter).

Duration of the break: at least three years (2019-2021), but possibly longer, depending on how my life will look in 2022. Of course, miracles do happen so stay tuned for other announcements.

See you on the other side!

Namaste!

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About the Flat-Earth Movement

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Disclaimer: I respect any and all opinions. I don’t judge people based on their scientific or spiritual beliefs. However, I would find it risky to get in the same car with a person that thinks the red light means “go”.

Yes, there are people out there who think the Earth is flat. And they’re having conventions:

https://qz.com/1268605/what-its-like-to-attend-a-flat-earth-convention/^

Besides the absolutely dumb idea of a flat Earth and the dismissal of pretty much everything produced by the space program of a dozen countries, there’s something really interesting going on here. The flat Earther community is a really interesting case study^ when it comes to challenging the idea that “the Internet will make us smarter”.

It also shows a worrying connection between populism and disbelief in science. I’m all for free speech, but to demolish science in such a way brings thoughts of dystopia to my mind.

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Ethical Economy

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If one would be to chronicle the history of illegal or unfair use of economic practices, one would probably need to fill ten tomes of at least a thousand pages each. From rich to poor, almost everybody has, at least once, suffered due to our misshapen financial system.

There are many reasons for this, such as perfectly healthy and natural human greed^. The problem is that greed and other evolutionary adaptations have been allowed to spiral out of control by a broken educational system^. Insufficient education allows profit-seeking entities to exploit evolutionary weaknesses. They profit by making individuals invest into items and activities of no real value (no increase in happiness and no profit for the individuals or their families).

This social weakness has brought with it the perpetuation and success of a class of dangerous individuals^. People of otherwise great potential, but who are successful because of a dangerous disconnection from the society they should (as skilled individuals and leaders) be taking care of. These people only behave this way because it’s possible. They can (still) get away with it.

Fake money

At the very core of economic unfairness lies the manufacture of money out of thin air. Or, more precisely out of paper and ink. Actually, in the Information Age^, money is made out of electricity (lots of it^). Cryptocurrencies, for all their rebellious hopefulness, epitomize the ridiculous of the times we live in: billions are created based on something as fickle as public opinion, unsubstantiated ideas and charismatic individuals (Musk, anyone?^).

The fact that money is fake has never been more evident than it is today. We’ve also never had more debt than today. Most money in the world is, actually, debt. It is an instrument of distraction that has been used masterfully for thousands (yes, thousands) of years. But that’s history and we shouldn’t let ourselves condemned by it. Let history be history and look towards the future. Besides, back when money was invented, we didn’t have the technology we have today.

Ethical everything

We are fortunate to have evolved to a state of awareness that allows us to make some significant leaps forward when it comes to knowing right from wrong^. Economic structures that were inconceivable decades ago are now gaining traction. We have concepts such as ethical consumerism^ and ethical banking^.

Technology today, in fact, allows us to very accurately measure each individual’s contribution to society. And ethics today allow us to discern meaningful contributions from wasteful or even toxic contributions.

What I advocate is ethical everything. The implementation of such a system concerns the fusion between an ever-evolving ethical framework and a super-fragmented decentralized financial system. Let’s see what these terms mean.

The ever-evolving ethical framework

Society usually adapts to new ethical principles on a generational level. But ethics can change from one minute to the next. One of the catalysts of prosperity is a society’s ability to quickly adapt to changes in the way humans relate with each other. A social life with reduced friction ensures that individuals can channel more energy into constructive ventures.

The implementation of ethics into law is sometimes very sluggish. The economic system of the future, however, has to be able to adapt, sometimes in a matter of hours, to people who might exploit it. Think about how an antivirus company works. Once the company is aware of a dangerous application, they release a software update that allows their product to protect users from that application. The same can be done with all sorts of harmful social behaviors.

It is therefore imperative for our future financial institutions to continuously adapt and climb to a high moral ground. Having “Financial institutions” and “moral high ground” in the same sentence is almost laughable in this day and age; but things will change. The alternative is to continue living in a state of perpetual financial seizure where an ever-increasing number of people suffer during economic downturns.

The super-fragmented decentralized financial system

Through the use of cryptocurrencies, we can create a highly adaptable financial system. This would consist of a world-wide currency that would then split itself into regional (state-level) denominations, then city-state level denominations and then further down to villages, families and even per-individual currencies. The purpose of this fragmentation would be to drill down to where actual value is created: the individual.

All currencies would feed back into the planetary currency, a sum yielding the total value generated by the entire species. How such a hierarchical cryptocurrency system could be implemented is homework for those that are experts in this field.

Econoethics

The fusion of economy and ethics can be called econoethics. This could be achieved, for example, through the implementation of an ethical layer within the global cryptocurrency we discussed earlier. Such a construction can bring the concept of dollar voting^ into the foreground of our economic lives.

This ethical cryptocurrency would be both hierarchical, fragmented and subject to localized ethics transformations. This means that for a social structure located in a certain area, the currency’s development will be influenced (transformed) by the ethical principles valid in that area. Indeed, ethics should be culture and region-specific.

What this means, in practice, is that a manufacturer that produces a good that is considered undesired in a certain society will not make that much profit off of it. Or, citizens that have an important contribution to their surrounding society will enjoy better pay. In a society governed by different laws, roles might reverse.

Implementing such systems is not easy and would require a lot of testing and brainstorming. But make no mistake, this is already doable with today’s (primitive) technology. All that is required is some good will and the courage to experiment.

I have faith in the thousands of engineers, thinkers and tinkerers around the globe to come up with the foundations for a new financial framework; one that will give us a more transparent, cleaner and healthier economic development during the following centuries.

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On Assisted Dying

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You’re 102 years old. You still want and can work. You have no disease, your mind is sharp and brings joy to those around. However, the industrialized healthcare system and society has other plans. You’re costly to keep under permanent supervision, as if you even want to be constantly watched. So, whether you like it or not, you must accept round-the-clock care or move to a nursing home. This happened to David Goodall. Thanks to Swiss laws, however, he could die on his own accord:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-43957874^

Euthanasia^ is a heavily debated topic. Many people have sought the right to end their life. Check what Terry Pratchett (suffering from Alzheimer’s^) had to say^ about it. Pro-life associations rushed to condemn BBC^ for broadcasting Pratchett’s statement, accusing BBC of imbalanced reporting.

These are the same people that have no problem with all the other violent and trivial garbage being broadcasted most of the time. These are the people who like to censor other opinions simply because they’re not theirs. These are the people who think they have the right to decide what others should do with their lives.

I guess my opinion on assisted suicide is pretty clear by now. People should mind their own business. If somebody wants to help a friend or family member die, then they should, by law, be allowed to do so, provided that they have ratified the decision in a forum consisting of at least two witnesses, in front of a local official.

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The (Virtual) Fourth Dimension

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Light has been observed to move in the fourth dimension. So, does that mean that scientists have observed the dimension of time? Nope. Like many of these exotic mathematical discoveries, it’s a virtual fourth dimension. Isn’t it lovely how humans know to over-complicate things?

http://www.ibtimes.com/4d-world-light-moving-fourth-dimension-observed-during-quantum-hall-experiment-2638484^

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My Wife Became a Mother in Sweden

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Important: this is both a story and a practical list. Practical elements will be usually highlighted in such paragraphs. Although certain conclusions we drew from our experiences may seem like advice, these should not be interpreted as such. These are our experiences and our learnings that we entrust you with, so that you may enrich your knowledge based on this and many other sources of information. May our journey entertain and serve you.

Ever since Rune was born, I knew that one day I’m going to write this story. The only unknown was when and how to do it. Finally, I have arrived at the right time and, along with it, also came the vision of how I should go about writing this.

I would like to entertain you while in the same time share with you some of the things we’ve learned about one of the best places in the world when it comes to childbirth. Sweden has one of the lowest infant mortality rates^, but that’s a meaningless statistic compared to what I’m about to tell you. Here’s a little spoiler: Sweden may be great when it comes to childbirth, but things may get complicated soon after the child is born.

It is my hope that throughout the following pages, you will find not only pleasant times and good vibes, but also useful information and powerful inspiration.

Part 1 – Withbaby^

Part 2 – Birthplan^

Part 3 – Birth^

Part 4 – Hotel^

Part 5 – Babyhood^

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How Children Learn

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About one of the most revolutionary books in pedagogy and parenting alike:

“Schools try to teach children skills and knowledge that may benefit them at some unknown time in the future. But children are interested in the now, not the future. They want to do real things now. By doing what they want to do they also prepare themselves wonderfully for the future, but that is a side effect.  This, I think, is the main insight of the book; most of the other ideas are more or less corollaries.”

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/freedom-learn/201712/the-joy-and-sorrow-rereading-holt-s-how-children-learn^

“Children learn best when they are not pressured to learn in a way that is of no interest to them.”

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