[hardware2win]

>will the world still be habitable in 20 years' time

I dont know anyone that is seriously worried about this in such a way

And dont get me wrong - we arent climate change deniers, just... pick your battles

Why waste your life worrying about something you have tiny impact on?

[withinboredom]

Before having a child, it was something I thought about and my wife and I would occasionally discuss. Now my son asks, "How can you do this to me? You've screwed up our planet and there is nothing I can do for at least ten years," (direct quote after coming home from school yesterday -- he's 9).

Our kids are worried about it, more so than our generation, that's for sure.

[revelio]

That's clearly ideological brainwashing and you should take it up with the head teacher. It's not only factual nonsense to believe what your son is saying, but also dangerous. You definitely don't want him to be added to the ranks of the "i killed myself to save the planet" brigade.

[withinboredom]

> you should take it up with the head teacher.

I don't want to teach my son that him misunderstanding something is someone else's fault. Obviously, this wasn't taught in class. He was taught lots of things and was a conclusion he came to on his own. Like nobody ever told me that a McDonald's hamburger will cost around $50 when I retire, I simply did some math based on the average inflation. Will it actually? no idea. But I know that I should probably have that much more in my retirement account.

[revelio]

And what were these "lots of things" that led to him concluding the world is now ruined by you, his parent? Cuz I definitely don't recall anything like that being on the curriculum when I was a kid.

No, pretty sure he concluded exactly what his teachers wanted him to conclude. Nine year olds are not famous for their critical thinking and deep research skills.

[withinboredom]

> Nine year olds are not famous for their critical thinking and deep research skills.

See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35975422

> No, pretty sure he concluded exactly what his teachers wanted him to conclude.

Do you know us IRL or something?

[revelio]

The whole thing hangs on (2) which he isn't in any position to critically evaluate. No kid would be.

[david38]

If your son is talking like that, it’s a strong signal you haven’t properly put things in perspective for him. The world has always been horrible in one way or another. Go ahead. Pick a time.

This is a 100% attitude and filtering issue.

[ChatGTP]

Man this must be hard on everyone. You and your son included.

[anjc]

Are you going to raise this with the school? It seems highly inappropriate on their part

[withinboredom]

Why would I bring my son’s opinions up with the school? Because they learned about global warming? Nah, we had a sit down talk about it and how it isn’t “any one specific person’s” fault.

[AnimalMuppet]

Because from the description, one of two things probably happened: Either the school taught a secular version of a "put the fear of God into them" lesson, and your kid came home in feeling like he literally should not have been born, or another kid talked to him with the same result. That's a really unfair message to hand a 9-year-old.

[withinboredom]

It seems like a natural conclusion:

1. Teach: humanity has done X to the environment

2. Teach: if we don’t do something Y will happen

3. Conclude: I was not alive to do X

4. Ergo: the adults in my life did X

5. Ergo: the adults in my life will continue to do X which will cause Y because I can’t affect meaningful change

I don’t automatically assume they start at step 5 at school. I’ve seen his math homework. Is that a normal way of thinking though?

To automatically assume that with my son would teach him (likely, inadvertently) that what he learns at school may not be right (which isn’t true, for the most part). Rather I want to teach him that he takes ownership of the words that come out of his mouth. That his opinions are his own and he has to defend them, and further learn what is an opinion and what is a fact.

[balfirevic]

> what he learns at school may not be right

Wait, you don't teach him that?

[anjc]

Maybe I misunderstood but it seemed that he learned it was your fault, rather than this being an opinion he formed.

[withinboredom]

I mean it slightly is. I leave lights on, take long showers, drive a car, and lots of other things.

[Aeolos]

A lot of people in the 18-35 demographic I am talking to are keenly aware of the environmental issues, and have taken steps to change their lifestyle to match. No cars, becoming vegetarian, buying second-hand, reducing travel, reducing consumption.

Yes, I may be seeing a bubble - but that is across three different countries, and clearly reflected in car-ownership statistics (down dramatically in younger generations) and in voting preferences.

[hardware2win]

We werent talking about consumption reduction and similar. Decision to not have kids because earth may be not livable is infinitly more drastic

[crooked-v]

It's anecdotal, of course, but I've definitely seen a number of posts online that amount to 'my spouse and I have decided not to have children, because we don't want to inflict them with the terrible state of the planet in 30 or 40 or 50 years'.

[hardware2win]

Ive seen crazy stuff on the internet too!

But until I or you manage to meet at least one person with such approach, then I do recommend to do not take it seriously

[generic92034]

I have met several people with that idea in "real life". And now?

[bitlax]

You're just someone on the internet.

[generic92034]

Same as the poster I was replying to. ;)

[r00fus]

> I dont know anyone that is seriously worried about this in such a way

Do you happen to remember the global wildfires/rivers drying up/massive heat waves in 2020? About a few billion people worldwide / 100m Americans sure do. A larger and larger portion of them are starting to understanding what the cause to that is and are acting accordingly.

Every year, we keep hearing how even the most aggressive estimates for climate change were underestimated. That's terrifying and existential to a lot of people including me.

[chx]

> I dont know anyone that is seriously worried about this in such a way

there's an entire Voluntary Human Extinction Movement...

[mschuster91]

> I dont know anyone that is seriously worried about this in such a way

In 20 years not, but it's reasonable to believe for anyone outside America and Central Europe that wide swaths of the planet - particularly the entirety of Africa and lots of Asia - will be unable to support human life.

Hell, we're already seeing issues with water supply even in Central Europe, with France restricting water consumptions because of drought [2], and Germany's water reserves are dwindling as well. India is suffering from a massive heat wave [1], and last year's devastation in Australia should still be in living memory.

Anyone who is not worried about the future of the planet is either ridiculously ignorant to reality or completely incompetent. And the worst thing is, politicians in power play down climate change, act like future technology (anything from nuclear fusion to desalination plants) will save us, or deny it entirely - and wide swaths to outright majorities of people believe that.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/17/weather-...

[2] https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/05/10/southern-france-re...

[hardware2win]

>Anyone who is not worried about the future of the planet is either ridiculously ignorant to reality or completely incompetent.

Worrying here was reflected by drastic actions. Not worrying didnt mean not worrying at all.