From: IN%"frissell@panix.com" "Duncan Frissell" 29-JAN-1996 11:02:03.09
What parents are attempting to do when they restrain their children's access to "sex and drugs and rock and roll" (or Republicanism for that matter) is to mediate their "spiritual" environment to keep them from becoming hardened. They know the kids will grow up, they just want them to grow up in a nice way.
Children who listen to Vera Lynn's singing and Cole Porter's songs will end up quite different from those who favor louder, less vocal music. Note that in spite of what liberals might think, fundamentalist christians are less
From what I've seen, kids are better off when they don't see the world through blinders/rose-colored-glasses. For instance, benign neglect is a lot better for children than overprotectiveness... I wish my parents (as much as I love them) had applied it to me, I'd have turned out a lot better. (I am also getting information from multiple psychiatrists and psychologists, including ones who (unlike me) have raised children). ------------------- likely to divorce, less likely to report spousal beatings, less likely to kill themselves, and more likely to measure high personal satisfaction ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ levels on standard psychological tests than are, say, readers of The Nation. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ------------------- Well, yes, someone with a blind conviction that they're going to someplace nice when they die, confidence that their intolerance is right, and other such ideas tends to have higher personal satisfaction levels. Also, this "personal satisfaction" is overrated... as Jack L. Chalker pointed out, a blade of grass is perfectly happy... even after it's picked. -------------------
The cypherpunks relevance of all this is that it should soon be possible to create completely mediated environments for ourselves and our children. Through the use of implants and real-time VR processing, it will be possible to edit our "interface" with the Real World such that unpleasant aspects are edited out. We will be able to change the attire, hair, facial expressions, voice, and even smell of those around us to conform to our own esthetic desires. Likewise with our physical surroundings. Safety may discourage making a complete transformation in one's surroundings, but one can certainly soften the edges.
Sasha's enhanced reality or whatever it was called, yes. The cypherpunk relevance would appear to be more that there should be methods to get true information to kids (and those under repressive governments, which is about the same thing in most families) despite attempts to stop it. Anyone for posting (anonymously) some image viewers and pornographic site locations to one of the k12 groups? -Allen