William Grobman

1,436 reputation

419

bio	website
	location	Independence, OR
	age	23
visits	member for	1 year, 9 months
	seen	Feb 22 at 6:21
stats	profile views	66

I'm a husband, father, and mechanical engineering student at Oregon State University. I support:

Breast feeding
Cloth diapering
Cosleeping
Vaccination
Home/charter/private schooling
Non-physical dicipline

	1,436 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year, 9 months
419 badges		location	Independence, OR		seen	Feb 22 at 6:21

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72 Comments

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Sep 10	comment	Kids Website, is it a good idea? @TorbenGundtofte-Bruun I see the value of respecting their privacy. I had just never imagined someone posting that personal of an image in public. Thanks for explaining what tangable problems there can be.
Sep 10	comment	Kids Website, is it a good idea? I hear this vague worry about misuse of information often coupled with allusions to pedophiles being sleazy or advertisers poaching the photos. I honestly don't understand any concern with images of a child being online; I can see absolutely no risk to this whatsoever beyond taking your child to public spaces where others may view or photograph them. Could you please explain to me what you're worried might happen and how it would actually harm your child? I ask you because I have a lot of respect for your opinions and I can't simply dismiss this from you as irrational nonsense.
Sep 8	comment	How can I help my 4 yr old adjust to junior kindergarten? Is there a reason he has to start his year? If he's four, young for his age, has sensory processing difficulties, and still needs a nap it may be better to wait before enrolling him.
Sep 5	comment	breaking my rejection of christianity to my parents I don't think it takes courage; just the desire to really be happy. Deluding oneself into thinking one is happy is worse than being unhappy. In neither case do you have true happiness and in one, you have to ignore rational thought, evade, and lie to yourself.
Sep 5	comment	breaking my rejection of christianity to my parents Your overall post is good, but I'm very tempted to -1 for the generalizations of non-believers. I neither want to believe or disbelieve. I've simply seen the evidence and find all religions to be as obviously fictional as Superman, Lord of the Rings, or cargo cults. It's not a matter of rejecting any arguments, it's just critical thinking and evaluating the evidence. Since the false generalizations don't add anything to your answer, I'd remove them.
Sep 5	comment	breaking my rejection of christianity to my parents +1 You have a very good way of looking at things. It's nice to hear a theist's perspective. As an atheist who values independence greatly, I can't image what it must be like for the parents. If my son grows up to be religious, I'd think it's unfortunate for him, but it's his business and I wouldn't care in the least. So it's very nice to hear how you would handle this challenge positively. Your kids are lucky to have such good support.
Sep 2	comment	At what age or developmental milestones is a child capable of critical thinking? I'll change this to my accepted because it specifically answers exactly what I asked. I really look forward to looking into your info more deeply. I suspect that these methods work well, because looking back, I notice that this is basically what my dad did with me and I had developed rather impressive critical thinking skills by about five to six. Any ideas on what sort of practice is good for step four?
Aug 30	comment	How do we discourage our infant from pulling hair? Depending on what you mean by scolding, it may not be possible. I certainly wouldn't advocate yelling or being mean, but a firm "No, we do not pull hair." may be considered scolding by some even though it's likely the right response. What do you consider scolding?
Aug 27	comment	At what age or developmental milestones is a child capable of critical thinking? I agree that it's a complex issue and it may be beyond the scope of a single answer. As it stands though, your question doesn't say how any of the resources you provided are related to what I asked. Your answer may be fantastic, but I have no way of evaluating that.
Aug 25	comment	At what age or developmental milestones is a child capable of critical thinking? +1 Excellent suggestion! I love this idea because it fundamentally challenges how I wanted to achieve this without requiring me to change my educational plans. I believe that this will make determining the transition age easier and likely help to teach my son the skills necessary in the first place. Assuming nothing better comes up, I'll accept this great answer.
Aug 25	comment	At what age or developmental milestones is a child capable of critical thinking? This is an interesting answer. Could you make it a bit more specific though? Including which of Lectica's tests are relevant and a brief summary of how those books pertain to the issue would make the info more useful. As it stands, this just lists somethings you say are topical even if they look promising.
Aug 24	comment	At what age or developmental milestones is a child capable of critical thinking? @DaveClarke I don't think all people reach these milestones; that's mainly why I offered them as an alternative measure to age.
Aug 24	comment	At what age or developmental milestones is a child capable of critical thinking? I do not know those development stages by that name. If they are possible to measure or estimate at home (something you don't need a psychologist for) that would be acceptable. For instance, if it's as complex as IQ, that wouldn't be acceptable, but something like the hierarchy of needs would be. Basically it needs to be useful to me in determining when my child is ready.
Aug 18	comment	How to teach children the difference between pets and vermin? Your premise that she would be overrun with vermin if she wouldn't kill them is unrealistic for most locations. Live traps are certainly an option. That said, you probably can't do better than just explaining that they're dirty. It's factually accurate and is simple enough to be understood.
Feb 4	comment	Bottle warmer with thermostat FYI, it's a really simple thermodynamics and heat-transfer problem to calculate the final temperature of a substance given a known heat flux. Assuming you use the amount and temperature of milk listed in the directions and mix it well afterward, it should be accurate within a few degrees.
Feb 1	comment	Is it okay to let a baby cry at bedtime? @Guillaume I don't know how new it is; my attitude on the subject comes from my mother and maternal grandmother. It's honestly not that much work; the trick is to be smart and try to anticipate their needs. It's easier to just head the problem off rather than trying to end crying fits. The extra work can be exhausting at times, but my wife and I are both very hard working and try to help each other. What's wrong with working hard to raise your children? Not everything in life is easy.
Dec 18	comment	As an atheist, how should I explain theism to my children? @Iterator Not actually devoted, myself, though I agree that many 'objectivists' seem to just hang on Ms. Rand's words like those of a religious figure. I happened to independently come to most of the same conclusions as she and I merely admire her formalization of the logic as well as the consistency of application of base principles to specific ideas. However, she was certainly wrong about homosexuals and I disagree with her lack of respect for romantic fidelity.
Dec 16	comment	Reasoning vs “because I say so” +1 I agree with you completely. I was never offered bribes and 90+% of the time, I had the reason explained to me at the time. I was told in advance that situations may arise where an explanation must wait until later and that if my parent insisted, just trust them and obey with the understanding that it will be explained as soon as it is safe/polite/etc.. My parents didn't abuse the 'tell you later' clause, had good reasons, and as a result, I willingly complied and rarely-to-never needed enforcement.
Dec 13	comment	As an atheist, how should I explain theism to my children? @Martha Sure, languages evolve but once a language is complex and subtle enough to work well, change should be fought to aid understanding across time. English and Greek are advanced enough to be frozen; this is exactly what dictionaries and reference grammars attempt to do. I consider altruism to be a moral imperative to place the good of others above one's own. Finally, I agree this is off topic, if you wish to continue, email may be more appropriate: My gmail is RWilliamGrobman.
Dec 13	comment	As an atheist, how should I explain theism to my children? @Martha Just look at the root of the word and the prefixal modifier; the rules of language, not history, prescribe meaning and even the person who coins a word can be wrong. However, I'm personally glad to be considered immoral and wicked by philosophies that consider faith and altruism virtues. I wouldn't object to applying those labels to myself with full context.