Fallibilism; freedom; fun; optimism; creativity; chesed. Problems are soluble. Playing with ideas. Possibilities abound! Founder of Taking Children Seriously.
Oxford, England
Joined March 2009
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Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
The classroom is a distraction from technology.
Brief preview of the next episode of ToKCast, with guest Liberty Fitz-Claridge where we discuss the value of voluntary ignorance.
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
My hero, Alex Lifeson, arguing for taking children seriously in 1973!
It is a dim view of humanity that parents know what’s best for their children, as if children do not possess an extraordinary range of possibilities and potentials, including the very normal.
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
Chaos—or unpredictability—is inevitable when welcoming a new person into the household, whether a partner or a child. Attempting to suppress this unpredictability amounts to trying to control others. Instead one can learn to live with it, for instance by sharing one’s boundaries.
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
The Internet is far safer without schools. The Internet amplifies the dysfunction and bullying that schools generate.
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
Very nicely done @FitzClaridge and @ReachChristofer.
Thank you. I learned quite a few new things despite thinking I get Popper.
I don't have children, but, since I'm a universal explainer, and I think I can explain this, I'm eagerly sharing.
youtu.be/uAEvL_Wq7Bg?si=xSP1…
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
The greatest parenting site on the internet ✊
“[T]he theory that truth is manifest not only breeds fanatics—men possessed by the conviction that all those who do not see the manifest truth must be possessed by the devil—but it may also lead... to authoritarianism.”
- Karl Popper, 1963, Conjectures and Refutations, Introduction, VI, p. 8
ALT Featured today on taking children seriously dot com: Truth is not obvious 🧠 Read this site critically 👿 “Surely children are not born knowing right and wrong?” 🥶 What to do when your child says “Go away” or “I don’t want to talk about it” ❇️ “Does Taking Children Seriously mean children always getting their own way?” 🤔 “Surely we should communicate our disapproval to our children?” 👩🏻🦰 “Who am I to criticise someone else?” 💔 Unnatural consequences 💭 “What if…?” questions revisited 🤷🏼♀️ “How do you intervene non-coercively when one child is attacking another?” 🌀 “Surely it is exaggerating to say it is always possible to solve problems without coercion?”
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
Just finished watching @arjunkhemani podcast with @FitzClaridge. I was amazed by how captivating and soothing Sarah's voice is.
A few questions for @FitzClaridge
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
“There is a world of difference between doing your best and failing with the person’s full consent, and doing your best and failing on someone who objects to what you are doing.”
Brilliant points from one of @FitzClaridge @TCSparents talks in 1999.
takingchildrenseriously.com/…
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
Often I find parents say no more or less out of habit, but saying yes could lead somewhere interesting!
This is a nice article by @FitzClaridge about children wanting to drive, and how meeting a childs wishes can be quite effortless.
takingchildrenseriously.com/…
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
Don’t try this at home. Potentially very dangerous.
ALT In principle, what prescribed medications could improve debate performance in mild dementia? • Ritalin or amphetamine +/- modafinil for awake alertness fluency with improved cognition and +/- • beta blocker +/- very low dose olanzapine or aripiprazole to calm aggressiveness and stop stuttering. Other combinations could work too. Unfortunately such combinations only work very short term, such as for a speech or debate, not longer. DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME. Potentially very dangerous.
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
When we use our power to stop our kids from doing something they want to do, or make them do something they don't want to do, instead of that trusted guide, we become the adversary. Our kids have to keep one eye open around us.
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
This is a brilliant point from my friend Sarah @FitzClaridge
Treating kids non-coercively is not more work! Entering into an authoritative relationship with our kids is so draining and damaging, it ends up being much harder.
People sometimes suggest that taking children seriously is difficult, as if conventional parenting is easy. To me, that seems delusional. Being a conventional parent is hard work. It’s not just sitting back and happily giving orders and being obeyed. Parents have to work hard all the time to maintain their control. They have to work against the children they love, and they have to work against their own wider values. And because they are engaging coercively instead of consentually, they do not have the benefit of the creative problem-solving power of consent-building processes that could otherwise be making life more delightful for the whole family. They have to keep on wasting time and energy coercively imposing their will and suppressing their beloved children’s potentially dissenting wishes. No matter how brave a face parents put on it, coercively controlling the children you love is stressful.
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
Joining in is the best!
All of the forms of coercion you listed also serve to create significantly problematic relationships with food and the body. We set our kids up for so much struggle down the road.
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
🚨 Published for the first time, David Deutsch’s original 1994 article, The Evolution of Culture, explaining how anti-rational memes sabotage culture, education and the Enlightenment. ✨
takingchildrenseriously.com/…
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
for my libertarian friends, this short essay by zionist libertarian @FitzClaridge
fitz-claridge.com/statism-in…
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
Meet Korban, walked up to a project and asked for a job about 5 years ago.
He was 18, working as a hotel maid. We had a project next door.
He said “I need a man’s job. I saw you guys building and I decided I wanted to do that. So here I am”
Hired on the spot. He’s killin it.
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
10/ Don’t wait for spare time to know what you want to know and to chase what you want to chase
C.S. Lewis: “The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.”
Sarah Fitz-Claridge retweeted
Yes. Not only is polygamy “immature” (the philosophy) it’s objectively wrong. It’s not about novelty but creativity. This ep of “Do Explain” with host @ReachChristofer interviewing @FitzClaridge explains: youtu.be/504s1wYJqss Perhaps some future guest ideas therein for you!?