[dohboi]

I would love to hear people's thoughts or experiences with communicating some of the gloom and doom we see here to younger generations, whether your own, or nieces/nephews, or acquaintances, or students...

How truthful are you? Do you think it's alright to be? Or not to be?

What kinds of responses have you gotten?

What do you think our responsibility is as far as what we communicate to the coming generations?

Is there some information that is most important for them to have, even if one doesn't choose to share everything you know?

...

Thanks ahead of time for any insights, experiences, etc.

(And please leave denialist crap...and meat recipes ... out of this thread!)

[jedrider]

We fucked up! Now, go out and have a great time.

They ALREADY know this. They actually learn it in school. We don't have to tell them this.

However, they do want to know what to do with their lives, but that's an individual matter.

No way, am I going to tell them to work hard and then everything will be rosy for them. But, they should work hard anyway.

(Every kid has had a science class. However, they are asked to fit into society. I always look at is as they are making their own place to fit into. Some things never change.)

[dohboi]

jed, thanks for your thoughts.

"Every kid has had a science class"

I'm not sure why you included this, but in my experience (actually my daughter's and her friends'), much science education at the k-12 level is pretty abysmal.

[Cog]

If you expect them to visit you in the old folks home, don't be going on about doom all the time. They will think you are off your rocker and no one wants to visit crazy people. If you believe in doom of the miserable kind, keep it to yourself and just be happy they are visiting you at all.

[Tanada]

Look them right in the eye, tell them you did the best you could and challenge them to do even better. Don't go all Guy MacPherson on them, that road leads to hopelessness and accomplishes nothing.

[Apneaman]

Give them a smart phone and an ipad and hope they don't notice?

Parenting 21st century style

Here son, happy 8th birthday - here's your new ipad. Now go to your room and watch gonzo porn, ISIS executions and every other horrific thing that apes have done to each other that has been visually recorded. Oh and if you have any questions about your homework or puberty or any of life's problems in general - google it.

For those that have the courage, I would start with not lying when they ask questions, but depending on their age I would not give specific answers unless it is regarding the science. For example if they ask if they are going to die, I would say we all are someday, but there is no way to know when that day is. I would let them know that there will be changes coming in lifestyle and that there will be lots of angry confused people, but we are going to keep our cool. Kids are more aware than they are being given credit for and they are also very resilient if need be. They are also naturally curious in spite of being raised in a society that is hell bent on oppressing it. Every parent or grandparent will have to decide how much to tell on an individual bases. I'm guessing that many already know as much or more than their parents since they are online, talk to each other and have not yet been fully poisoned with the neo liberal doctrine. Maybe the kids should have a talk with the adult society that is hiding and denying. Part of collapse is cultural collapse so don't expect the greater society to have an honest conversation anytime soon.

[GregT]

My wife and myself decided it best to not say anything. Our son figured it out on his own at around 17, and our daughter figured it out at about 23, but is still in and out of denial. When the subject is brought up by either one of them, we let them tell us what they know, and we try to keep the conversation as upbeat as possible. They are both very positive, highly motivated individuals, and are doing quite well at 23 and 31. Our son understands the reasons that we have moved away from the city, and that we are doing our part to leave a legacy for them. Our daughter is very driven, and career oriented. We believe that she understands our motivation as well, but we haven't discussed it with her.

They both know that we love them, and that we are here for them. Kids nowadays understand more than you may think. They are bombarded with information, and this stuff isn't exactly a secret.

[GregT]

Actually, I should have said that the first time that they brought this up with us was at 17 and 23. I'm sure that they both understood long before that. I don't see any point in starting the conversation, unless the child is identified as being troubled by all of this.

[jupiters_release]

Look them right in the eye, tell them you did the best you could and challenge them to do even better. Don't go all Guy MacPherson on them, that road leads to hopelessness and accomplishes nothing.

McPherson's preaching life of excellence regardless when extinction comes. He's more hopeful than delusional cornucos.

[onlooker]

Me and my wife do not have kids, but my idea of what legacy to leave the younger generation is one of altruism. Regardless of what happens in the future, let them know that we are and should see each other as one family meaning the human family. I know this is not directly dealing with the really bad stuff but it is a way for all the younger people to unite so maybe just maybe their is an acceptable way out of this mess and by uniting they stand a better chance. That is what I personally hope we the older generations leave for the younger ones.

[Cid_Yama]

In the STNG episode 'The Inner Light", Picard finds himself living the life of Kalin, a man on a planet that is dying, a terminally warming world. His daughter, who has grown up with him conducting science, knows as well as him that the microbes in the soil, necessary to life, are dead or dying, and she broaches the subject.
He tells her he should not have raised her with science but should have filled her head with frivolities. She replies, "you don't mean that, father," to which he responds, "No, but I hate to see you burdened with this knowledge." To which she replies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvOYMgk2_HE

[PeterEV]

Picture a "never-ending" hot shower on a really cold day, a warm house, with hot bacon and eggs on the table, a side of toast and a hot cup of coffee almost too hot to drink. Food safely stored in a cold refrigerator. A few steps and you can retrieve a carton of milk.

Picture your arms not sticking to a desk or table when the dew point reaches 70 degrees F. Being a able to sleep in a cool room on a hot muggy night. We were selfish but enjoyed the hell out of it. We thought we earned that right because we all had worked "together" in some degree to help each other out. The amenities of our civilizations were our reward.

In that time, we learned how to fly, talk and see one another in any place in the world, see instant replays of anything captured on film or electronic device. We grew amazing amounts of food, clothed ourselves with any thing from BVDs to Parkas, boots and skis (for both water and snow).

We also developed cures for small pox, yellow fever, ebola, polio, typhoid fever, various forms of hepetitis, and were working on ways of fighting cancer. One method was to fight brain tumors with a modified polio virus. We were able to see into the human body without invading it. We were able to transplant major human body organs. Operations were done "painlessly" and there were drugs to deadened or aleviate post operative pain.

We've put men on the moon and sent probes to all the various planets. We have closeups of Mercury to Pluto and asteroids and comets. We even have landed probes on comets. There were many orbiting observatories with peta- to exo-bytes of data stored for analysis.

Our military could send a missile down the smokestack of any McDonalds in the world from any part of the world +/- a few centimeters (back in the day we used inches). Our tanks could shoot accurately while on the move and we had aircraft that could send troops or missiles to any spot we wanted.

Now it's your turn to take what you have and work with it. We sent you to school, you have a brain between your ears, use it. You also have a heart. Some of us, when the world was collapsing ran off. Others babbled about things that just did not occur and some got it partially right. No one got it completely right. Some stayed and tried to keep things together while others worked on trying to solve our current problems. A few headed to parts unknown and some came back home cause they overlooked something, ran out of something, or could not cope.

At the time of the collapse, we were working on converting sunlight to electricity more efficiently, developing better batteries to store that electricity and very efficient lighting, modifications to our homes for heating, bricks that don't need to be fired in a kiln, electric powered trucks and trains to keep some form of commerce going cause there weren't enough horses. Even electric airplanes were in development and were flown. We saw the electron as our friend as we were using up that natural gas for hot showers. It a way, it was so "hot", it was melting the polar ice or so we were told.

Take your pick of today's problems and let's see what we can do to solve them. If you sit on your butt and babble, you're not going to get anything done. Learn to ask good questions, listen carefully, and try to discern good information from the bad and especially from the dangerous.

There was a lot of money out there. Some of it was frivolously wasted away but there were others who were asking good questions, putting up money for those who might be able to answer those questions. With that we saw Jonas Salk working on a polio vaccine -- successfully, Gordon Moore working on developing integrated circuits that became computers, and Ginger Dosier in Raleigh who wondered how clams could create a brick hard shell in ambient water. Her site was biomason.com

We left you with a lot of the scraps and knowledge of what we once were. We started to come to our senses after a place called Fukushima. We encapsulated our nuclear waste and stored it deep underground with warnings that future miners would hit first. Maybe somebody will learn how to "burn it up" so it no longer poses a hazard. We still have left a lot of detritus left in our middens; some of it dangerous and lethal.

Downstairs in the basement is a can of Folgers and a microwave that grandpa put aside. If we are lucky, you and I could have a cup of hot coffee on a winter's day. The kid could partly experience what grandpa had available. If you have a mind to, we can try to figure out what to do next. What problems do we see? What do you think you want to work on? At that time and listening to the kid, we would be thinking about resources that kid could use and where we might be able to find some help and/or resources.

Life will go on as it always has. There will be challenges as they see them and there will be good people trying to cope with them while keeping the bad guys at bay. I hope they are successful.

[ennui2]

In the STNG episode 'The Inner Light", Picard finds himself living the life of Kalin, a man on a planet that is dying, a terminally warming world. His daughter, who has grown up with him conducting science, knows as well as him that the microbes in the soil, necessary to life, are dead or dying, and she broaches the subject.
He tells her he should not have raised her with science but should have filled her head with frivolities. She replies, "you don't mean that, father," to which he responds, "No, but I hate to see you burdened with this knowledge." To which she replies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvOYMgk2_HE

I don't remember any reference to global warming in that episode. That's not what the episode was about.

[SeaGypsy]

I have a 4 year old & 6 year old daughters. The eldest is incredibly bright, particularly with languages. She is way ahead of her age in English, getting bored with Filipino & learning Japanese & Cantonese at school. The younger is a charmer, parroting & arguing with her sister, both of them drill me about 'what is death?' 'How did god make everything?' Knowing I will give them an answer they won't get from mum or church or school. Funny though they keep asking, really interesting the way they think.

My 6 year old knows eventually probably everyone will ride bikes & walk a lot more because petrol will get too expensive. She doesn't seem worried about any of that stuff, just full on into languages & gardening & planning to travel to the many countries of her schoolmates, - even if that means sailing & fighting off pirates coz there ain't no kerosene for flyin'.

I don't stress about stuff enough to get my kids stressing about it. They stress about adults being assholes to each other more than anything, so I try not to be an asshole.

[efarmer]

You gather them all together and you tell them you have a surprise for them.
You call Grandma in so she care catch the wave of excitement and anticipation,
then you tell them: "We're all going out for ice cream right now and Grandma is
buying!"

This works like a charm.

[Hawkcreek]

Picture a "never-ending" hot shower on a really cold day, a warm house, with hot bacon and eggs on the table, a side of toast and a hot cup of coffee almost too hot to drink. Food safely stored in a cold refrigerator. A few steps and you can retrieve a carton of milk.
---------------------------------
Picture your arms not sticking to a desk or table when the dew point reaches 70 degrees F. Being a able to sleep in a cool room on a hot muggy night. We were selfish but enjoyed the hell out of it. We thought we earned that right because we all had worked "together" in some degree to help each other out. The amenities of our civilizations were our reward.
--------------------------------
Take your pick of today's problems and let's see what we can do to solve them. If you sit on your butt and babble, you're not going to get anything done. Learn to ask good questions, listen carefully, and try to discern good information from the bad and especially from the dangerous.

Good post - even if I am one of those who ran away to the woods.

[GregT]

"Take your pick of today's problems and let's see what we can do to solve them."

Problems have solutions, predicaments do not.

[Subjectivist]

In the STNG episode 'The Inner Light", Picard finds himself living the life of Kalin, a man on a planet that is dying, a terminally warming world. His daughter, who has grown up with him conducting science, knows as well as him that the microbes in the soil, necessary to life, are dead or dying, and she broaches the subject.
He tells her he should not have raised her with science but should have filled her head with frivolities. She replies, "you don't mean that, father," to which he responds, "No, but I hate to see you burdened with this knowledge." To which she replies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvOYMgk2_HE

I don't remember any reference to global warming in that episode. That's not what the episode was about.

The sun was becoming unstable and would go Nova in a few decades so the planet was warming, but not from anything the natives had done.

[eugene]

What a bunch of air heads. With climate change, which I assume most, if not all, of you think is BS, the kids don't have any future. From the comments, it's extremely obvious that fact still hasn't dented the ignorance.

But, all in all, you all sound like typical Americans. Actually, for many decades we've been telling them, with our behavior, screw you kids.