What is, in your opinion, the most damaging advice people can give to children?

“Follow your passion” or the similar “Follow your dreams.” I’ve seen this advice lead people into paths in which they could not have productive lives or support themselves or families.

With this advice, many kids will choose to become professional athletes, and then fail. My daughter (Elizabeth Muller) once wanted to become a professional dancer. I think she is very glad now that she instead went to UC San Diego, majored in math and literature, and got a masters degree in international management. (She is now the CEO of our non-profit BerkeleyEarth.org.) One of her friends, in contrast, decided to become a professional bicycle racer (encouraged by her parents) and she now supports herself by selling and repairing bicycles. Nothing wrong with that, but I don’t think it was what she envisioned when she took this career path.

I suggest to children that before they set out on a career path, they consider what will happen if they are the 1000th best in the field. If your field is boxing, you will either be completely out of work, be a sparring partner, or (if you are lucky) be running your own gym. (Or, maybe, you’ll be an enforcer for some mob.) If you are a ballet dancer, it is unlikely that you will be performing; you will probably be teaching children how to dance ballet. If your field is physics or math, you will have very good income, have the respect of your neighbors (maybe they’ll think you are a genius), and a good diverse and productive life.

I suggest instead that you teach children to try to plan their future lives, to design their futures. They should approach it as they would a challenging homework problem. Learn more about possible careers, and what they are like. Don’t choose too early, since many careers (running Berkeley Earth?) are not obvious to a youngster. Get a broad education, and do a good job at it. Study hard and learn. Get familiar with the world. Beware of childhood passions; they are based on a limited experience, and may not be a good choice for a career.

Source: https://www.quora.com/What-is-in-your-opinion-the-most-damaging-advice-people-can-give-to-children


Perfect Money/Payeer/Epay/Neteller: www..com.ng

i will always advise my kids to follow their PASSION/DREAM (a life without passion is worthless), as they are the one who will live with the consequences of their actions.

IMHO, the worst advice a parent can give a child is to tell them that they CANT do what that child desire to do for themself (if it isnt anything criminal or against the law) just because that parent is against it. so many people are miserable doing what their parents want them to do, going in life HATING what they are doing.

@BizLifeE
sadly, people like you who think that a CEO is more happy (have fulfilling life) than a dancer, would never understand life, and would always value life in monetary term. so sad!

“Sometimes I hire people to help me. I have never once asked for a degree. Or a GPA.

I want to know what SKILLS someone had that could help me. And then what real experience do they have that proves they can use those skills.”

“Doesn't College teach skills?

I majored in Computer Science at college. I programmed every day. I went to graduate school for computer science. I programmed every day.

My first job: I was a computer programmer at HBO.

I was so bad that they had to send me to REMEDIAL school for two months to learn enough about computer programming to be as good as their WORST programmer.

Why didn't college, after all that money spent, teach me how to be program correctly? I'll never know.”


"People who go to college get higher incomes over their lifetimes?

This statistic is true if you went to college in the 1970s. When tuitions were much lower and debt was much lower.

Now employers know you are desperate. Trust me on this. I worked with a billion revenue staffing company. They know that college graduates are desperate to pay debt.”

“We're graduating a generation of little children that have more debt than any generation before them.

Because it has never happened before we can only guess if the outcome is good or bad.

They will have to take jobs rather than be innovators or artists…

Our children will become puppets of the machine rather than the future creators of the machines to come.’

“Maybe the thing about college is that a child is not yet ready to be an adult.

It's the last time they will ever hang out with people their own age. My closest friends are not my age. In college though, they were.

It's scary to be an adult. To survive. It's a jungle. College is still a walled safe city for kids just like you.

I would pay a lot to be a child again. To not make the mistakes of adulthood. To not have those fears.

So maybe that's what the college tuition is. The cost to extend childhood.

And the cost of childhood is going up.”

Excerpts by James Altucher