War is strange. It is often where the most amazing and beautiful and spectacular and pure aspects of humanity can be witnessed- juxtaposed against the cold pragmatism of survival, the brutality and the worst aspects of the human race and even the humans involved. War is waste- but... it’s also sometimes necessary when to not fight, or to lose, would mean the end of your way of life or the end of your people (or on behalf of another’s people or way of life.)

The weapons of modern war are often impersonal. Bombs and mortars, mines and missiles- even infantry shooting across the field often won’t really see the human they are killing. A human shaped figure that is trying to kill you and your friends. That’s relatively easy to live with. It’s hard to kill a person you’ve looked in the eyes- if you know their name, their spouses name, that they just want to go home and work on their farm and that they do t hate you or your people- they just want to live their life and the war just got in the way.

So the current system is broken in many ways. We need to refine the balance- come up with a smarter, better system- but the IDEA that we should increase the load on kids as they age is sound- currently kids going from high school to college are often lost or overwhelmed- and the same when they go from college to “life.” Simply piling on arbitrary work isn’t the right way to do that- but creating an environment that at least simulates the idea of the real world- and taking that from a general concept and basic structure when very young, to more and more realistic mirroring as kids age is an idea with merit.

College is a source of many experiences and troubles that arise largely from young adults having their own say for the first time. The legendary “freshman” weight gain is largely a symptom of having to plan, prepare and procure ones own meals coupled with the stresses of increased work and new things. The legendary college drinking and partying and other things are also by products of being a “kid in a candy store.” You are for most intents an adult- who can decide to skip classes or work, to eat a whole birthday cake, to party every night or to have over “company” without parental intervention (if you’re living away from home especially- or the other person is).

Again- not saying it is right- it all depends right? The truth is that so much about work is self discipline. Many jobs you don’t have someone baby sitting you- especially when and if you work from home- so you have to know how to manage time and priority and get your tasks done. By the time you get to college- YOU pick the classes, YOU are the one who has say on when your first class is, when your last is. You an take classes all morning, have 2,4 hours off in the day, and take classes at night. You can start at 7am or 9am or noon. You can do a couple classes a semester and spend a decade on your degree.

And if we look at it another way- I don’t know about every school on earth- but I know in my areas school is 6 hours with a 30 minute lunch and 2 15 minute breaks. So 5 hours of “work.” The average work day is 8 hours- for some that includes a paid hour lunch- but many jobs- they schedule you 9 hours of you get an hour lunch- so there are still 8 work hours. 6 hours of school plus 2 hours of homework is 8 hours- the supposed standard work day.

So I’m not saying it is RIGHT kids would have to do 2 hours or more of homework, and I’m not saying that it HEALTHY or that we should lay that on kids- especially if those homework hours aren’t used efficiently and with good purpose- but I am saying that there are TONS of jobs where the work doesn’t stop just because the clock hits end of shift, or just because you are at home. The average salary worker in the US does not work an average of 8 hours a day. In my circle of friends the gamut tends to run from 50-120 hours a week any given week.

In my earlier days of my career I had a manager I was very good friends with. We even lived together for awhile. We were an overworked but critical department and my manager had to spend most of the work day doing tasks that a manager usually has employees for. So things like reports and strategy, spreadsheets, budgets, planning- they’d have to do those at home.

I’ve worked rough neck jobs in my youth- where you were done when the job was done. You literally couldn’t take work home with you- but you’d stay at work. I spent a whole week once sleeping in a company vehicle on a loading dock with the engine running so I could run the heater on those winter nights. I’ve driven my can into the work floor after working until 3,5am from 5am-with a sign on the window for the first shift to wake me up at 5am so I could move the car and go back to work. So even less “fancy” jobs aren’t immune- but as my role advanced and changed over my career life- there was more work that had to come home. There were more calls when something went wrong “after hours” and more major projects with tight deadlines that you worked on constantly.

As for the work from home part.... I don’t know about that. My partner works for a “fluffy friendly new age” style company- with their “one on ones” and “sit downs” and relaxed attitudes and efforts for “work life balance” and things like free in office massages and micro brews on tap you can drink while on the job. She leaves the house often around when I do between 5-6am for work, and often gets off work around 8,10pm. We are both working from home for Corona virus “lockdown” and there’s been maybe one day where she didn’t have at least a couple extra hours of work.

Yeah. That math curriculum sounds terrible. Like I said in the open- loading kids down until they can’t breath is not good. I guess whoever designed that program wasn’t a fan of “work smarter not harder.” It takes effort to figure out an efficient system that does t just try to use repetition as the primary means of teaching, but that said learning and remembering most things will usually require some degree of repetition.

Or perhaps more relatable to many- the same that very old lawn furniture or car upholstery- if not protected from the sun- loses its color and patterns over time. You may never have seen an all white lawn chair or Toyota Tercel interior- but you also haven’t likely seen one that was left in the elements for thousands of years. A decade or two can often be more than enough to make many colors turn almost white.

As far As we can tell from modern testing methods- it was common practice based on residue and traces found on many ancient statues- that yes! Many were in fact painted. Periods, cultures etc. vary- some were bright and somewhat fanciful, others seem to be colored in what we believe are more “realistic” color pallets. The “sterile/clean/simple white” we associate with these classic works- isn’t likely what most looked like new. Just as if an alien landed at the Apollo site on the moon- they wouldn’t find an American flag in red, white, and blue- but would find a white flag which radiation (such as from the sun) and other factors over time had made white!

Blah blah. All theories. Why do we do it? We love or like a woman. Why would we be mean to her? I don’t know. We can be pretty mean with our platonic friends too- in fact the closer a friend the meaner we often are. I don’t really know why. Is it some reaction to the traditional gender roles of men in society- or what that is. But man... it sure is fun.

By that token- when a man does something like this to “get a reaction” he has now created a social debt. The woman was wronged by him. It creates an excuse to lavish affection or attention and places her in a position of power as she must forgive him or not. She has the decision making power. His actions of course assert his power- that he COULD do certain things but also that she is safe from him ACTUALLY doing such things.

But the opposite can be true too! There are power dynamics in all relationships. With women- it is often (especially classically) important for the generally perceived as, or actually more so- physically imposing male, to put the female at ease by participating in a flow of power. Many social activities between men and women follow this pattern- where things are done in a way to at least give some power to the woman.

but now the effort of the clerk (the more they have to do to get the item or the price the more obligation most feel) and the effect on the line etc- along with perceptions of strangers blah blah- build obligation.

There are theories about how it is a subconscious “test” of the persons nature and if they are a “good sport” or not- theories about elevated excitement levels or passion or giving reasons for a man to have further interactions even if those are to “apologize.” One such theory is that it is a form of social debt. Most men aren’t consciously aware of this- but similar techniques exist in sales etc. somewhat like the old social engineering tip that to get a person to like you- you ask them for favors. Many aspects of social behavior are transactional- even if we do t realize it. Often we subconsciously or emotionally “keep score” and it’s a two way street. We can build obligation- that is make most people feel pressured to do certain things- by giving them time or effort “I can’t say no now...” like buying something you don’t want at the register, or people who get price checks and then buy an item they wouldn’t have picked up if the price was on the shelf-

I don’t understand it. Google and many books are full of information. There are all sorts of valid theories on WHY although few get to a very deep level of WHY men often “tease” and do things to get a reaction from women they like. We do though. I am guilty too- and even KNOWING I sometimes do this... I can’t tell you WHY.

Lol. Nah. Just working a bunch. Hope you’re well?

Just like our weight lifter- you can’t give kids a 20lb weight for 17 years and then when they turn 18 drop 500lbs on them. You have to increase expectations on them, consequences, and of course their independence so that they can transition into adulthood as smoothly as possible. So there are some very compelling reasons why it makes perfect sense one cannot sleep in class but must work at home- remember- in the “real world” it isn’t like public school. You aren’t guaranteed a spot- and if you won’t do something, someone else will. In school you’re mostly competing against yourself- in the world you’re competing against everyone else who wants what you want or what you have. But kids need time to grow as individuals and to not just “be kids” but to relax and for their mental health too. Increase the load as they age.

The balancing point is that when a kid turns 18- they aren’t a kid. Suddenly if they do t do their taxes, register for the draft, show up for jury duty, pay their debts, etc- it isn’t a game anymore. The consequences become real. As many young folks say- the period from “high school kid” to “young legal adult..” of the later teens and 20’s can be overwhelming, confusing, and very difficult.

Where it gets complex- is that kids are... kids. If we are training and building them up to be able to handle adult life- we still have to remember they aren’t adults right? Most any successful training program is incremental- that is to say- a weight lifter who can lift 500lbs- at some point could only lift 5lbs. Over time, and steadily increasing the weight as they went- they became able to lift all 500lbs. If you had given them 500lbs- or even half of that 10 years ago before they had trained- they couldn’t lift it- and likely would have been injured- their progress would actually be slowed by adding too much too soon.