This is so good I feel the need of framing it!
You just described Lord Of The Flies.
Be mindful of fundamental human nature and how it shapes everything we do, including all our social constructs. Few people are, which make mindlessness the dominant modus operandi.
Especially when real life instances of groups of young children being stranded without adult help exist and play out in ways directly opposite of the novel’s central thesis.
For example, Star Trek is Roddenberry's idea of a utopia. A benevolent dictator with his happy ship of comrades all rowing together. (But hey, I enjoyed watching it!)
STTNG amps that up even further. It got so heavy-handed with it I lost interest in it.
What is the fundamental human nature in your opinion?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Mistook_His_Wife_f...
Being dumped by absent parents and having lack of pointers/goals in life is not
> raised to be empowered by creation and creativity, having generous allowances to experiment and not burdened with work or brain rot.
in my book.
Do people need structure to occupy their time or will they provide it themselves?
Does school not count as "generous allowances to experiment"? Why not?
Under your definition, what does? Can you actually point to something that satisfies your definition?
School is closer to a prison than to a place where one can be creative and build things.
There is historical context why schools are designed and operated in this way: it creates factory workers that follow instructions, not critical thinkers.
Of course, there are schools that use more humane pedagogical methods, but they are the exception.
You lock people for decades in the madhouse which leaves only escapism as a coping mechanism and then act surprised when they continue to escape. Make the experiment with a clean slate: a group of children raised to be empowered by creation and creativity, having generous allowances to experiment and not burdened with work or brain rot. Did I just describe rich kids? Anyway.
And what’s “a lot of free time” anyway?