What advice would I give my great grandchildren?
Actually, I have written two little books of advice for my grandchildren. “Advice for My Grandchildren” is part of the titles. I hereby include my great grandchildren. The books are for sale on Amazon:
Investing Advice for My Grandchildren
by Leland Walker
And
Health Advice for My Grandchildren
by Leland Walker.
I will add to that some education advice. I have written this before in earlier stories, but here it is again. I believe it very important to get a liberal education. A Liberal Arts background gives you a taste of all the things that matter if you want to pursue a full, interesting life.
You will be a better citizen. When it comes time to vote you will call on your background in History to think realistically and critically about the candidates. You will already know what you think about certain issues and you won’t be sucked in by emotional rhetoric. You won’t be attracted to the talking heads. You will think rationally about the issues and current events. You will vote conservative or you will vote liberal, but you will have arrived at your opinion intelligently.
You will be a better friend. By having been exposed to a foreign language and Eastern thought and diverse philosophies you will be more tolerant of other people. You will welcome opportunities to get to know people who are very different from you. You will not be afraid of people because of their color or the way they talk. And you will even be more accepting of people with the same social background as you, yet are richer, poorer, from a different part of the country, or have a different religious belief. It has been my experience that when I encounter a bigot, he or she has a very limited education.
You will be a better teacher to your children. You can’t know what your child will want to do as an adult, but it won’t matter. You will see to it that he or she is ready for anything, because you are going to guide him or her in the direction of Liberal Arts. People that do not have a Liberal Arts degree don’t know what they are missing. Hell, they don’t even know they are missing anything. You will know what they’re missing. If your child wants to be a welder they will make a good living and never be out of work. But, they will be a better welder with a Liberal Arts degree. Welders have to vote, make friends, pick a mate, raise kids.
You will be prepared to enter any field of endeavor. When you graduate from college it’s called commencement. The intent is that you are now ready to commence a field of study or commence a career. That career will almost certainly require additional study if not a graduate degree. Even welding requires going to welding school. Truck drivers have to go to truck driver’s school. The bug spray man has to go to bug spray school. The Liberal Arts education just about takes off all the limits on types of schools available to you.
You will be more fun at cocktail parties. Having a broad base of knowledge frees you to talk to anyone on any subject, even subjects about which you know nothing. Here’s how that works. Since you are confident in the degree of completeness of your knowledge base, you feel fine saying: “I never heard of that. Tell me about it.” What fun you will be at a party! You will be easy to talk to anytime, not just at parties.
You will be more selective in choosing your life partner. People select their prospective mates by narrowing the field in steps. Much of this is done without them being consciously aware that they are doing it.
First the field contains all of the preferred sex within a certain proximity. Perhaps that proximity is everyone they can see, hear, or contact via social media.
Second, the field is reduced to only those that are physically attractive. They have to at least see a picture. In deciding how physically attractive the prospect needs to be they consider their own physical attractiveness and make a judgement about self worth. This is a critical point in the selection process. The person’s assessment of their self worth is a combination of their good looks and their character (intelligence, knowledge, education, credentials, sense of humor, manners, kindness, money, class). The higher the person’s physical attractiveness the more selective he is about physical attractiveness. The more educated person will also look for signs of intelligence and education. The more educated person is less likely to miss out on a great potential mate just because they didn’t look like a super model.
Third, the field is reduced by actually interacting and getting to know the person. At the same time the field is reducing itself by the same process. You, the person with the more liberal attitude, has a much more diverse field from which to choose. Also, there are more prospects that still have you, the educated person, in their field.
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