Can you teach the future and be optimistic? That is what I am going to focus on as I start the LBH project this year. In the past my students talk about global warming, an asteroid hitting the earth, or food shortages in a rising global population. All of these issues are important but I want to create a feeling of optimism as I stress to the kids that they can help solve the world's issue. Any suggestions for how to go about this monumental task?
Parents
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Jason Manning, your question "Can you teach the future and be optimistic?" is very good and important to model before young students. In recent YAMMER exchanges, Steven Pinker's latest book has been mentioned and anticipated by us. I picked up a copy last night. Consider these few soundbites: "...we can only understand where we are if we know how far we've come" (a great application of scale); the world has become a hundred times wealthier since the early 19th century, and prosperity is becoming more evenly distributed across countries and people; two centuries ago, 12% of the world could read and write, but today 85% can; for most of human history, a newborn was expected to live around 30 years, and life expectancy across the work is now 71; more than half the world's population now live in democracies, whereas two centuries ago, just 1% did. Great details that may support hope for our future. With this thread I shared a website I started to promote Pinker's Better Angles book; I'll have to finish the site and add this book to the site. Do these details shape a response to your initial question?
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Jason Manning, your question "Can you teach the future and be optimistic?" is very good and important to model before young students. In recent YAMMER exchanges, Steven Pinker's latest book has been mentioned and anticipated by us. I picked up a copy last night. Consider these few soundbites: "...we can only understand where we are if we know how far we've come" (a great application of scale); the world has become a hundred times wealthier since the early 19th century, and prosperity is becoming more evenly distributed across countries and people; two centuries ago, 12% of the world could read and write, but today 85% can; for most of human history, a newborn was expected to live around 30 years, and life expectancy across the work is now 71; more than half the world's population now live in democracies, whereas two centuries ago, just 1% did. Great details that may support hope for our future. With this thread I shared a website I started to promote Pinker's Better Angles book; I'll have to finish the site and add this book to the site. Do these details shape a response to your initial question?
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