this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
35 points (100.0% liked)
Solarpunk
5513 readers
94 users here now
The space to discuss Solarpunk itself and Solarpunk related stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere.
Join our chat: Movim or XMPP client.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Oh teaching kids once in a while is fine and fun, but providing all the info they want at the pace they need when they need it is another thing. I love teaching things to my kid but there are times when it is dull, there are times when it is hard. It is doable, but being able to open the floodgates of knowledge when there is a demand is a huge boost to what they can learn effortlessly.
Currently we find enough such dedicated people to do that for ~30 kids at a time. Even for a good teacher that's ridiculously inefficient.
As a knowledge-thirsty kid who grew up before the internet, and who spent a lot of time in libraries and bookshops, having to go back to the bottleneck of books and outdated shelves is something I wish to no one.
My kid has the same problem as I did: he has basic questions (is the sun heavier than earth), that quickly lead to advance subjects (oh so black holes are the heaviest objects out there?) then into research subjects (wasn't the big bang densest than black holes? How did it get apart?). Whatever subject you are into, you quickly outgrow your resources if you go deep enough. AIs (today, I dare not imagine in 5-10 years) are able to take an advanced research paper and make an ELI5.
Me? When I was in junior high, like many geeky kids I was into space conquest. I had weird looks from the school librarian when I was asking about a book that could tell me about the harnessable energy sources on other planets. "Just try the encyclopedia". At high school a friend had internet access, I was quickly reading NASA studies from programs that were not even mentioned in a single book at my school.