artificial deprivation

We're meant to be running after animals, or running from them, or otherwise doing lots of physically stressful things. In the modern day, when most of our economic productivity comes from sitting still, we need artificial physical exertion — walking and running in circles, lifting weights.

Similarly, our kids can pretty much get every single thing they want. They could have slurpees and gum and multiple gadgets of every sort — but we limit them, often explicitly saying "you need to have the experience of not getting what you want."

If you chose a superstar football team consisting of only people from teams with career undefeated records, then you'd have a terrible team, because not a single person would have ever had the experience of losing even once.

I hope our girls lose, and are unpopular, and don't get everything they want — it's the way to make them the adults we want them to be.