Interesting Links for 22-11-2023

[andrewducker]

1. One in three Brits miss work while waiting for healthcare

(tags:uk nhs doom work )

2. Paternity leave alters the brain — suggesting daddies are made, not born

(tags:parenting fatherhood brain )

3. Giant batteries drain economics of gas power plants

(tags:gas batteries electricity economics business )

4. No evidence screen time is negative for children's cognitive development and well-being

(tags:Technology tv computers children development )

5. Solving climate change will have side effects. Get over it

(tags:globalwarming Doom technology thefuture )

Comments

[cmcmck]

4. They said the same about TV screen time (and radio listening before that) and also how awful these newfangled 'books' were and they were also wrong about all of those!

“Don’t hold with schools,” said Granny Weatherwax. “They gets in the way of education. All them books. Books? What good are they? There’s too much reading these days. We never had time to read when we was young. I know that.”

“We were too busy makin’ our own entertainment.”

Terry Pratchett

[andrewducker]

I read a book once.

Nothing good came of it.

[movingfinger]

The anxiety over children's screen usage I'm aware of is focused on children much younger than the study's 9-12 age group. Parents are handing screen devices (or not) to children as young as a few months, who are much more plastic and who are going through much more developmentally crucial stages.

Moreover, I don't think a one-of self-reported questionnaire session on the 9-12s is going to tell us very much without a long-term study and more objective assessment. It's a preliminary finding. It would be nice if there were studies from pre-screen-era cognitive development work to use as a baseline.

[andrewducker]

I can't remember when the kids started using tablets. I *think* it was around 2 1/2. Probably younger for him, as he'll have

So far as I can tell they use it for fun things when nothing more exciting is going on, or they're tired. Certainly, as soon as something actually fun is going on they're delighted to be involved in that instead.

That may change when they can read/write, of course.

[armiphlage]

To be blunt, these new-fangled tablets make it too easy to write, and are too forgiving of mistakes. The medium is the message. If writing requires little effort, and if errors can be wiped out and corrected with the swipe of a stylus, then children won't learn to organize their thoughts and take a moment to actually consider the value of their words. The first draft should be reviewed in your head, and mistakes (in logic, in grammar, and in spelling) corrected before the letters take physical form.

Students should learn the proper way, forming good habits with stone and chisel, before taking the lazy path with split reeds and clay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_tablet

[andrewducker]

Absolutely!

[emceeaich]

Storing excess base load is such a game changer!

ETA: Need an Agatha icon for these sorts of replies.

[andrewducker]

It is! If we can lower the price of batteries significantly more then we can just depend on them and renewables entirely!