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I feel like I should read Impro again (for the fourth time.) It truly is a great book, even if you never expect to do one second of acting.

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Ian Welsh

@iwelsh

Jan 17, 2019

In "Impro" a book written by the greatest improvisational theater teacher in history (probably), he said that when he taught classes he would start by saying "If you fail it is my fault. I am the teacher. If you don't learn I have failed." twitter.com/gucci___gangel…

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I often think of the passage where he talks about the assertion that children have a short attention span, and observes that it is BORED children who have a short attention span; interested children can devote hours to a task that that might bore an adult.

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My 7 month old could spend hours playing with a plastic colander and be perfectly content. The freaky thing is how much screens distract him aready, tapping into his lizard brain for response when they light up. 🤔

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yeah. I'm uncertain about this. But I remember the article on how a lot of silicon valley luminaries won't let their kids near computers/phones, etc...

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there's some interesting research on the different types of brains that develop from reading and from computers. Computer brains of ppl who didn't develop reading brains are bad at narrative and certain types of empathy, as I recall.

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(obviously more to eat than reading/computers. The luminaries tended to like very traditionally crafty schools.)

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The upshoot is we let her near devices only with great reluctance, when there is something that needs doing and no other way to get her to shut up. I can imagine this option comes easier for parents who lack means (or forethought, or a conscience), too. It's very effective.

8:36 PM · Jan 17, 2019Twitter Web Client