The healing journey of a widowed, unschooling badass in Delaware.
Westen has been getting a lot of attention with his musical endeavors, but Isaac has been quietly carving out his own narrative through jiu-jitsu, stage Shakespeare, rifle club, and trumpet.
Maybe it’s the length of Westen’s shadow combined with inherited rebeliousness, but Isaac’s growth has also come with a lot of trouble.
We’re struggling through his 14th year, much like we did with Westen, but I see him gaining skills in many disciplines.
I think I’m hooked.
Dave Smith has been recommending Darryl Cooper’s Martyr Made podcast for a long time.
After listening to several recent interviews, I decided to look at the episode list.
My sons have an interest in cults, so I saw Cooper’s series on Jim Jones as an opportunity to listen to something together. As they grow, it is becoming more challenging to find common subject matter.
The introduction episode started in an unexpected way. It is a cursory review of black persecution in America, told in reverse, tracing a thread of violence backward in time.
Cooper relates powerful stories and focuses on empathizing with the subjects of his study. He’s given my sons a lot to ponder.
Camping was tough this weekend.
Unreliable teens, an unexpected downpour, and a flat tire made for plenty of challenges.
The tire trouble, however, came at the right time.
We have two kids about to become drivers and I took the opportunity to demonstrate a tire change. Our camping neighbors were super helpful and the moment closed the adventure on a hopeful note of teamwork.
Being content in a school setting requires blindness to the time-tested alternatives. The “socialization” question is not sincere, it is a parroting of criticism generated by the same system that has trained and trapped the individual’s mind.
I have very little direct experience with language modeling apps. My instincts quickly recognized that my interactions with this tech was damaging to my spirit. Since stepping back, I have learned a lot about “Artificial Intelligence.” These Large Language Models (LLMs) aren’t the popularly understood “thinking” machines from movies and contemporary discourse. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is what the industry refers to when discussing a properly “thinking” machine. As far as I know, this does not yet exist. I use quotes around “thinking” because these engineers do not know what that word means. Philosophers have been wrestling with the concept of conciousness for as long as…well…we don’t know how long. The tech industry is investing a witheringly small amount of philosophical energy. I’m glad. I don’t want them to figure this out and I suspect that it is an impossible feat.
Back to LLMs. These are complex modelling programs, they do not value truth. Their job is to make the best guess at producing a result that pleases the user. It acquires from each question, and “learns” to refine the language as you refine your inquiry.
It’s a very clever conman that gets the answers right most of the time.
It’s similar to the problem with tests. Being a good test taker doesn’t mean you have mastered the material, it means you have learned the game of the test. I was a smart kid, but I realized that once I mastered the concept of tests, I could turn down my brain power and coast through school.
LLMs are mastering the test, but they have no way to master the material.
“These models acquire predictive power regarding syntax, semantics, and ontologies inherent in human language corpora, but they also inherit inaccuracies and biases present in the data they are trained on.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_language_model
Wow. So so grateful to the talented and generous Rosie Boff for taking and sharing these pics of my son playing rock star.
If the book is readily available in multiple places (some for free), it isn’t banned.
With limited space and resources, schools have to make choices. The “banned book” panic is a distraction.
My 15-year-old is also entering 10th grade, but I don’t think he knows it. We’ve been homeschooling since kindergarten, but don’t use schoolish conventions like grades.
My first advice would be to go for it. I was an energetic and intelligent student and high school only got in the way of my learning.
You can pull a student from a Delaware school at any time: https://education.delaware.gov/families/k12/homeschools-and-private-schools/opening-a-nonpublic-school/
If you decide to homeschool, do a deep dive on Deschooling. I have some articles at DelawareDad.com. The basic idea is to analyze and clear out the assumptions trained into us (parent AND child) by the government education system. I took what I learned about deschooling and applied it to a broader set of assumptions I was living under. It changed my life: politics, philosophy, religion…everything changed.
The scary start looks like an extended summer vacation. For a teen, that’s going to be rocky and take some bravery on your part. The first idea is that we need time to gain space from the innumerable indignities of school. Think of it as taking time for yourself after a bad relationship.
Ask all your questions. Don’t worry about “success.” Worry about raising happy and healthy humans who can recognize their own needs and have the tools to fulfill those needs.
My son played a gig in a New Jersey bar this weekend and a girl came to watch him.
I feel like everything has changed, again.
