Category Archives: parenting

Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids by Bryan Caplan (Review)

Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids was recommended by a friend. I was interested in the major thesis–that nature is more influential in a child’s life than nurture, and that we worry too much about our kids for no reason, since they’ll mostly tend to turn out just like us. Caplan even quotes Steve Sailer on page 3! (I’m assuming it’s the same Sailer dude who helps the loons navigate the world of HBD.)

Posted in Knowledge, parenting | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Stages of Love and Marriage

Going off of the discussion on what to do on a first date in the other thread, let me just say that I personally think it’s good to wait as long as possible before discussing religion and politics (and this is just me :) ) . I think it’s best to show your best self early in the relationship, and by “your best self,” I mean it’s good to do what you can to have a good time. There will be lots of time to argue political and religious points later.

Posted in parenting | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Fatherhood and Testosterone

I always wondered why PUA/HBD types seem so aggressive and Rice Daddies always seem so calm. Blogging on this site and RiceDaddies always seems like night and day. It’s because of the testosterone, man! It’s all about the hormones. Check it out here: Fatherhood Leads to Drop in Testosterone.

Testosterone, that most male of hormones, takes a dive after a man becomes a parent. And the more he gets involved in caring for his children — changing diapers, jiggling the kid on his knee, reading “Goodnight Moon” for the umpteenth time — the lower his testosterone drops.

Posted in Knowledge, parenting | Tagged | 12 Comments

The Jews and the Chinese and the Humanities (Podcast)

A Chinese guy who isn't me; a Jewish guy who isn't Hertsel

This is a podcast that I’d been hoping to do for a while. On this podcast, my good friend Hertsel and I discuss the Jews, the Chinese, and the humanities. It’s about fifty minutes, and it’s 46.2 MBs. Download it here, or listen to it here:

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Posted in Asian American, Education, parenting, Podcasts | Tagged , , | 109 Comments

Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life by Annette Lareau (Review)

Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life by Annette Lareau is one of those must-read books that describes society while focusing on only one aspect of society: parenting among different social classes.  Lareau’s book focuses on parenting and how social class affects parenting philosophies and parenting styles.  I got the recommendation from commenter Cassie J.

Posted in books, parenting, Reviews | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Asian Tiger Parenting vs. Jewish Parenting

Michael Roth, President of Wesleyan

(I don’t know if Michael Roth is Jewish. I assume he is, but even if he isn’t, it’s not relevant, since I’m mostly working off Steven Silbiger’s book.)

There was an excellent article on CNN.com today: Why Liberal Arts Matter.  It’s written by Michael Roth.  In the article, Roth makes an argument for the liberal arts.  He writes:

Many seem to think that by narrowing our focus to just science and engineering, we will become more competitive. This is a serious mistake.

Posted in Asian American, Features, Knowledge, parenting | Tagged , , , | 48 Comments

Podcast with ChineseMom on American culture, education, and raising kids

After six months of no podcasts, we finally put one together.  I had the opportunity to speak with ChineseMom last night.  ChineseMom is a graduate of Beijing University (北大) undergrad and UCLA grad school, and we had the opportunity to discuss immigration, culture, education, and raising kids.  It’s a 52 minute podcast at 24 megs.  Download it here, or listen to it here:

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Posted in Asian American, Education, parenting, Podcasts | Tagged , , | 23 Comments

Blue Collar vs. White Collar Values

The Alpha has a post here about entitlement, and how he would like his daughter to be able to articulate her needs to adults.  Alpha references Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, where he reports that Gladwell says that middle class kids have an advantage over working class kids because they know to speak up.  Alpha quotes Gladwell:

“Even in fourth grade, middle class children appeared to be acting on their own behalf to gain advantage. They made special requests of teachers and doctors to adjust procedures to accommodate their desires.”

Posted in Activism, Asian American, Knowledge, parenting | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Who Loves More, Parents or Children?

I caught an interesting dialogue on parental love at Daddy Dialectic and Hugo Schwyzer. In the original post, Jeff at Daddy Dialectic writes about Sam McBratney’s  children’s book “Guess How Much I Love You,” where an adult rabbit and child rabbit frolic and take turns making statements about how much they love the other. Whenever the child makes a comparison, the adult makes a bigger comparison. So for example, in the original book McBratney writes:

“I love you as high as I can reach,” said Little Nutbrown Hare.

I love you as high as I can reach,” said Big Nutbrown Hare.

Posted in Asian American, Knowledge, parenting | Tagged | 3 Comments

Battle Hymn of the Kitten Daughter

[Most of the AA Blogosphere has been angry and incensed at Amy Chua's article about Chinese-style parenting.  I got hold of someone with a different take on the whole debate.  Printed with permission; read it below, and feel free to comment. --B]

Initially I was incensed at the audacity of Professor Chua’s article, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” and what seemed to be the proposition: exercise totalitarianism over your children if you want them to become high-achieving good Samaritans; use negative reinforcement as the primary instrument in aforesaid method of parenting. Because that in a nutshell was my childhood and adolescence, an aspect of my past that brings up less than idyllic memories, and reminds me of the parental governance I viciously defied. In fact, Chua’s article brought up stories of trauma I don’t even remember.

Posted in Asian American, parenting | Tagged , | 34 Comments