On Ease

And the population collapse

This will be short.

For two generations, parents worked to prevent their children from having to experience the same hardship and stress that they did. And those kids went to school. And, almost, invariably asked, “Why do I have to do/learn/study/practice this anyway?”

It’s a reasonable question. Why study calculus? Why study the classification system of biology? Why study what happened in 1,000 BC Sumeria? What the hell does any of this matter?

And I always answered the same way: “Studying hard and getting good grades will open doors for you. It will make your life easier. You won’t have to suffer- like I did.”

And when we tell our children this, maybe we’re sending the wrong message. Think about it. Your parents tell you again and again, “Study hard, so you won’t have a hard life.”

Then those kids grow up and they realize working sucks. And dating is hard enough, forget about marriage. Better just to live life for myself. My parents worked hard to free me from a hard life. A life free of attachment is what they worked for.

But maybe we shouldn’t be saying, study hard and earn an easier life. Maybe what we should be saying, is “Life is always hard. But knowledge is good on its own merit.”