[edw519]

Love him. Unconditionally. And make sure he always knows it.

Everything else is just details.

With this, things will inevitably fall nicely into place, no matter what tactics you take.

Without it, he will be fucked up no matter what you do and will be coming to hacker news in 2028 posting, "Ask HN: I'm confused and depressed and don't know why."

[araneae]

I'm sorry, I really dislike this answer.

Obviously this guy knows that he should love his kid. He was looking for specific answers on how to introduce the kid to computing. And you gave him this glib, content-less, greeting card answer.

I cannot believe this is the top comment.

[Calamitous]

My takeaway was more along the lines of "Don't worry so much about optimizing his learning path just yet. Love him and care for him and everything will work itself out.

We all want what's best for our children. Unfortunately, this frequently turns into crazy helicopter parenting and a hyperfocus on academics, sports, and activities.

I love my son and I want him to be the best he can be, but I'm more than willing to trade a few of his future IQ points to never ever let him wonder if he's loved for himself, or just his accomplishments.

[signal]

Agreed. Obviously OP loves his kid, he's not asking: "How do I make my child a cyborg?"

Unconditional love is hardly a guideline anyways. Kids need rules, instruction, challenge, inspiration and just generally good examples to follow. That's the tough part. Loving your own child is an achievement akin to dressing yourself.

[Tichy]

Why is it obvious? If it was so obvious, there wouldn't be so many parents failing in it (many perhaps unwillingly).

[pavel_lishin]

And yet, if those parents read that comment, they wouldn't have an overnight change of heart.

[signal]

People fail at obvious all the time. Examples: Belief in god, Smoking, Voting conservative, Racism, Drinking and driving, Eating junk food, etc, etc

[pavel_lishin]

It's not the highest scoring one, by far. How is the algorithm determined?

[codexon]

Age and average comment karma.

[pavel_lishin]

Also, be sure to feed him and provide him with all the water and oxygen he needs.

[awzum]

I slightly disagree. Obviously love him, but don't smother and coddle him. Spend as much time as possible interacting with him as well as teaching independence and to think on his own. Interaction is the key.

[KoZeN]

With all due respect, this much is blatantly obvious but not necessarily the key to giving him a head start.

My father loved me unconditionally and I can't think of a single moment of my childhood where I ever questioned his love for me but with that said, my childhood was a mess. I sincerely struggled at school, I lacked any decent social skills and I was incredibly naïve when it came to how the world worked.

Whilst I'm happy that I've overcome these obstacles, I can think of plenty my father could have done to counter-act them in the first place.

Like every other father (and mother) that participates in this community, I would move mountains for my boy. I would happily lay my own life on the line to protect him and the question I initially asked was based on the assumption that the basic fundamentals of being a good parent were a given.

Now that those bases are covered, what can I do to ensure that he is at least one step ahead of the average kid growing up in a world where technology develops at an incredible rate and those who embrace this change storm ahead of the mean?

[9ec4c12949a4f3]

I grew up confused and depressed, meanwhile, my parents did their best to show me every day they loved me and still do, but I feel entirely distant from them. I'm over 20 years old.

GG logic, gg.

[antareus]

This may sound extreme but one way to choose to view the confusion and depression is that it is a necessary part of growth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_disintegration

Mind you, even Dabrowski (who created the theory) differentiates between depression that instigates changes vs. depression that leaves you spinning your wheels. I'd venture that anyone who has been seriously depressed has experience with both types.

[Oxryly]

Tragically, it's necessary but not sufficient.

[Tichy]

Any idea why?

[9ec4c12949a4f3]

Could be anything from my wildly different views on the world (theism vs atheism; government's place, opinions of other people, etc...), to being the middle child. My two sisters seem to get along fine with them.

[albertcardona]

Meta: interesting that you think HN will exist in a recognizable form by 2028. 18 years ago, the web looked very different. I wonder what will we call "web" in 2028.

[pavel_lishin]

How do you mean? People still used browsers to make requests over http, didn't they?

Actually, I guess there was a lot of text-based interaction going on, come to think of it. Telnet, etc. Hm.

[9ec4c12949a4f3]

I still telnet. So much fun!

Wish gopher's were still around. I was thinking of using a gopher to do a blog with.

[Tichy]

I've heard it is still around. Never knew how to use it myself.

[eru]

Try: telnet nethack.alt.org