The Hard Truth
Let's face it, we are old. And we have no fucking idea what our kids are going to be confronted with, or are confronted with, and how to cope with that.
This reminds me of an interaction I had with my mother about 20 years ago. While we were already pros, using logic to produce music, editing videos, etc, she was a half year in, in using computers at work. She made a big announcement at the dinner table. It went something like this:
Mom: "Tomorrow, I'm going to do it!"
We: "What are you going to do?"
Mom: "I've been meaning to do it for over a month now, but tomorrow I will do it."
We: staring at her with big expectations
Mom: "I am going to create a folder on Windows."
The simple task was such an unbearable thing to do that she put it off for a month. We laughed and had fun about that at the time.
The uncomfortable realization
Unfortunately, I will be the guy that is trying to create that folder. The folder, being all the new social media sites, streaming, Web3, and all of that.
Don't get me wrong, I am decent in all of this. I know how crypto works what an NFT is, have a YouTube channel and instagram account (that I don't use, really) and all that stuff but still, I have to work hard to push my boundaries and understand all the new stuff that comes up.
Our kids don't have this problem they learn this from the start and it is crazy how easy they adapt all of this.
Here is the problem:
How should I be a even decent guide or somewhat good at accompanying my kids with something I don't have any idea how it works and why it is cool to them?
This problem existed before. Every generation has to deal with that but the difference IMO is that the speed of development it's so fast that the difference in knowledge and technology and necessary experiences is too big to apply with the old Waze.
Or put differently: if we don't find a way to formulate and adapt our experiences in a way that it is beneficial or understandable for our kids, then it is, how do they say it nowadays, ...moot.
It is hard enough to get your kids to listen to you by itself. But when they know that our help is useless to begin with, they won't even bother thinking about asking for it. And they know very well when you are clueless about something they deal with on a daily basis.
We need to know when how and where to apply our experiences in this new environment in which our kids live.
What we want
Is that our kids are prepared, protected and equipped to thrive in this new world. But again we fucking have no idea what this world is going to look like. And all we can do is to be there when they need us. And be prepared to be able help them when they need it.
By the way I think the future is bright and awesome and it brings a lot of possibilities. That bring the humanity forward with every technology there is drawbacks, challenges and outright bad shit happening.
There are countless ways for bad actors to game the system, and use any technology in a bad way. I still have a positive outlook on everything because I choose to.
But I'm also not ignoring things that are already working against our kids and our selves. The best we can do is to prepare our kids and educate ourselves too. Know the negatives and then realize the full positive potential of these new technologies.
It is our job to be educated enough to be able to help them. The occasions they ask for our help is getting less and less anyway.
Thank you for being here and I would love to have you on my side on this wonderful and exciting journey.
Stay nonfungible.
Gunnar (Lazerdad)