Four-fingered children

What sets us apart from the animals? Probably our propensity for idealistic violence, but another thing is our advanced ability with tools.

I think a large part of our mental advancement has been driven by our physical abilities with tools. When we have a problem, we create a tool to fix it and then that tool is used in various other unintended ways that cause more problems that in turn inspire new tools. We essentially advance ourselves by creating problems for ourselves to solve.

But out tool making capability has advanced so far that we are now starting to degrade the mental capabilities. We keep producing items that replace core functions of our mental abilities and allow the brain to become lazy before it has even had a chance to develop.

I think that the body has one purpose, and that is to physically move. The brain has one purpose too, to mentally move. Together however, the purpose is defined by what the mind and body decide to do with their coordinated movements.

But we are running into a problem, we are becoming increasingly sedentary in our actions and arguably perhaps, in our minds. I say arguably because we are more technologically advanced than ever before and many see this as an indicator of our increasing intelligence.

I see it as a symptom of our increasing desire to move further and further away from a core part of what makes us human, our tool creating and using ability. An opposable thumb is for more than typing on a smart phone or a controller and our legs are for much more than propping a tablet up in bed.

The use of these things are what has driven our practical evolution for a few million years but within a generation or two, we have decided that entertainment and comfort is paramount and the more we have of each, the more advanced we are becoming.

I strongly disagree with this attitude. When I grew up in Australia, there was one boy that was a little overweight. The current statistics indicate over 25% are overweight and 10% are classified as obese. These are 5-17 years old children. In the US, it is 1 in 3 are overweight or obese.

That is within one generation. Does this indicate advancement or is that the most extreme and decentralised evolutionary step ever witnessed in any life form on our planet?

I do no think that what we are calling technological advancement is necessarily synonymous with human evolutionary advancement. To me, it seems that the brain has become quite confused in its purpose of thought movement.

So many kindergarten teachers are reporting that children need to be instructed in how to play as they no longer lack the childlike curiosity and vigour to create games themselves.

No wonder as since their birth, they have been pushed to be consumers of entertainment, television, mobile apps, console games and on-demand shows. We have filled their lives and minds with all of our fun creations and monetized their childhood. The time when they build the foundational skills to connect the movement of the mind and body to form purposeful movement.

Instead of using their evolutionary gifts to create more advanced problems to solve, we have hindered their growth into becoming mindless zombies hellbent on eating their own brains through inactivity.

Many adults scold children for inactivity, they say things like 'when I was a boy..' but it is not their fault. We have sold them this idea since their birth and we must take the blame for celebrating entertainment as something worthy.

And we do celebrate it. We love entertainment. We watch it, read about it, talk about it, cry and laugh about it. We consume it in every form possible at any chance we can and we continually demand more of it to be created and served to us ever faster.

The most highly paid individuals in this world are those that deal in entertainment of all kinds. The actors and directors, the retailers, the product makers and of course, the game developers who continually are looking for the next killer app and social media giants who disseminate them.

How many of the highest selling apps are not entertainment or game based? Developers, coders and engineers are among the smartest people we have, technical experts who thrive on gather information and pushing it globally. And what do they do, enslave children to a life of low skilled consumption by pushing entertainment.

When is enough, enough? When is there too much entertainment consumption, too little skill development? The companies will never kill the worlds largest cash cow, and that is what we are becoming, cows fattened on consumption and milked dry.

In my limited opinion, the child obesity and creativity problem is not just because children don't move enough or eat the wrong foods, it is because they haven't got the mental connection with their body to realise the importance of it. They do not understand that one drives the other and vice versa.

I am hoping but feeling pessimistic, that this situation is going to change soon. Even though there are small movements back towards mind/body connection, they are far and few between and could be too little too late for the majority of children already born and the draw of the attractive inactive is very strong.

I am going to try to get my daughter to understand that her body is meant to move, as is her mind, and both benefit from trial and error. She will likely fall sometimes and scrape a knee, say stupid things and learn what it feels like to be wrong. She will also hopefully discover her talents and push the boundaries of her mind well past where her limited father could have imagined.

We'll see what the future holds for her, but the present is where it always is.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]

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