[williamhessian]

Originally Posted by openeyes

To me it's largely an issue of functionality. With the very young, at least you can look forward to watching them gain new abilities, entering the world at large. With the old, you watch them lose abilities.

i agree with this description strongly.

Originally Posted by Mark Lapierre

I think many people grossly misunderstand so called "extreme" sports... These people train extensively for years...

I actually agree with you 100% about this. I think anyone who trains and masters a skill in these areas are very respectable.

Originally Posted by Erki

Why do we need to "waste" energy, teaching kids some stuff anyway? Firstly, they would learn what they need and what they want anyway, without anyone's teaching. This would then be aided even more by the absence of danger of life - they can explore whatever they want, and they would still come out of it alive. And what's that thing with kids "having to" relearn things? Wouldn't we adults then also have to relearn things? Kids have to relearn plenty in today's world too, with all the new tech miracles popping out all the time. In fact, it looks like it's more the older people who have slight trouble getting around the modern life.

It is proven kids in our current school cultures learn what we tell them they need to know, not what they want to know. The only point i make, is that we teach generation after generation the same basic things. Fundamental knowledge.

I do understand and partially agree with your concept of older generations being unable to accept or learn or adapt to new technologies, but that goes back to functionality and decay. As your body and mind begin to deteriorate taking on the task to learn something as compolicated as the internet might seem daunting (although they should do it anyways). But if we find away to keep everyone feeling good physically and mentally, the concept of learning new things will be a very welcome task. We want to put ourselves in a situation where we are hungry for knowledge constantly.

One other note, which is just a personal hypothesis of mine, as a race of human beings the fact we deteriorate and die is in order to building a new generation to have fresh eyes about the world and climate around them. So learning one fact in the 50s would be different than learning that same exact fact in the 80s, due to the world around us. however, it is also designed so each generation is progressing on the previous, once we get to this point where we are on the cusp of major medical and scientific breakthroughs is where we slow down the birth cycle and give respect to what is happening to the world around us. its too easy to be born into a world and not understand the history of the land you walk on, and not realize the changes that are happening around us, because to a new generation it may seem completely normal.

It's time we stop dying.