Lies We Tell Kids

Re:Lies We Tell Kids by byrneseyeview on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @10:58AM (#188590)

You think his lack of kids would bias him when observing parents? Isn't this more or less the opposite of what courts argue -- that e.g. a judge who owns Microsoft stock should not be ruling on a Microsoft antitrust case, even if he is the only one who really knows what it would feel like for the shareholders were they walloped with a giant fine?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lies We Tell Kids by sanj on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:20AM (#188621)

That's a very interesting point! But it seems like you'd want a judge who had at least been a stockholder, though not one in this particular company. Would either side consider a judge that stored his life savings in his mattress and disagreed with the right of corporations to be valid?

The different (and I'll admit I'm on thin ice here) is that kids have a visceral component that is difficult to ignore.

If I drop a brick on my bare foot and yell loudly, would it be more appropriate for someone else, who has never dropped such a brick, to judge whether or not I should have yelled?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lies We Tell Kids by llimllib on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @11:59AM (#188679)

> The different (and I'll admit I'm on thin ice here) is that kids have a visceral component that is difficult to ignore.

Exactly - and thus there is value in having a neutral(ish) observer of the parenting process.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lies We Tell Kids by sanj on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @12:04PM (#188691)

By that argument, all OBGYNs should be men. Or women who've not been pregnant.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lies We Tell Kids by llimllib on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @12:13PM (#188708)

negative, ghostrider. Suggesting that a male obgyn may have a different and valuable perspective from a female obgyn is not the same as suggesting that all OBGYNs should be men.

To be explicit, I don't claim that all articles about parenthood should be written by non-parents, just that there's a particular type of value in ones that are, since they may more successfully divorce themselves from the visceral feelings of attachment that parents have towards their children.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lies We Tell Kids by sanj on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @12:27PM (#188730)

You're right.

So the question then becomes:

"Does a male obgyn may have a different and valuable perspective from a female obgyn?"

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lies We Tell Kids by Xichekolas on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @01:38PM (#188816)

How subjective is gynecology? How much room is there for 'perspective'?

I think the metaphor has been taken too far to be useful here.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Lies We Tell Kids by iloveyouocean on Tuesday May 13, 2008 @10:11PM (#189204)

I would rather have a judge that impartially followed the law and was not swayed by his personal life circumstances or beliefs.

[ Parent | on HN ]