Thanks for the reply to a first post.
While I still have a dominant probability that human civilization will be broadly recognizable in 2034, I know that my confidence on that is proportional to my LW karma.
There’s a lot about communicating with kids as a teacher that pushes me towards Simulacra Level 2 or higher. If we’re on something closer to your 2029 timeline, my honest advice to students would be
Get Out of School ASAP and look for something interesting on the Jagged Frontier (use AI in a way you find useful that few others understand) or dedicate time to building craft skills that would have been recognizable 100 years ago.
My estimate is that I could give that advice to 3-5 students before I had to look for another job.
andrew carle
Karma: 100
I’m on the PauseAI discord in part to expose my students to that level of coordinated planning and direct action.
My Simulacra Level 1 perspective is that most students generally benefit from being in school. While some of that benefit comes from way-down-stream consequences (thankfully, I took an EE class in in 1983..:), a vast majority of the positive benefits happen in the immediate-term.
”Keep studying and learning” is a Simulacra Level 2 admonition that helps maintain the benefits I truly believe are there. (Yes, there are lots of problems in lots of schools. I can only ever speak in aggregates here).
Importantly, a significant number of adolescent problems come from antagonistic relationships between children and theri parents/caregivers. If those adults are supportive of a student leaving school , then I would happily hand them a copy of Blake Boles “College Without High School” ( https://www.blakeboles.com/cwhs/ ). If the adults are insistent on normal “go everyday” school, I think the negative consequences from that fight will most often dominate the positive changes.