More Basic Concepts for The Dangerous Child

The main purpose of this blog is to lay out my ideas for “The Dangerous Child Method of Education and Child-Raising.” This posting may help to create an early outline of what I hope to present more fully in the future.

First of all, the word “dangerous” should not be taken to mean “violent.” Rather than being a violent child, a Dangerous Child when allowed to go about his business is peaceful in mind and body.

Here are some recent popular books which use the word “dangerous” in ways that overlap with The Dangerous Child concept:

The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden

50 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Child Do by Gever Tully

The idea in the two popular books above is to safely acquaint children with activities that contain at least a modest amount of danger. Both books hit back against the over-protective nature of modern approaches to child-raising that have been adopted by societal institutions. When children are sheltered from all sources of danger, they tend to be unprepared to face the real world. This lack of preparedness places children and youth in much greater danger than if they had been exposed to a wide array of dangers, in a reasonably controlled fashion.

But I would be less than honest if I were to claim that the Al Fin Dangerous Child Method of Education and Child-Raising is on the same level of political correctness and societal acceptability as the listed books above. Dangerous Children, as envisioned by the Al Fin approach, will be truly dangerous to individuals and institutions which mean to do harm to them or theirs.

Ideally, Dangerous Child training commences before conception, continues through gestation, and begins in earnest in the neonatal period. But not every child is planned, and not every parent is expert in The Dangerous Child Method at the time of a child’s birth.

A child will be able to enter into The Dangerous Child Method at any age, including any point in adulthood. The training will be more effective, however, the earlier it is begun.

The main reason that earlier training is better, is due to the many “critical periods,” or “developmental windows” which young minds pass through between the uterus and the end of adolescence. The mind is more trainable at certain ages, for particular skills.

The Dangerous Child Method incorporates training in language, music, mathematics, science, art, thinking skills, interpersonal skills including people-reading and situational awareness, basic economics and trade, and a range of physical skills including methods of self-defense and many means of sustaining the human body in a wide range of environments.

Some of the early ideas on The Dangerous Child can be found at: The Dangerous Child Category in Alfin2101

and at “Survival” also at Alfin2101

A number of other articles at Alfin2101.blogspot.com also contain material reflecting The Dangerous Child philosophy.

It must be stressed that The Dangerous Child follows a broad and flexible philosophy, rather than an ideology. Ideologies tend to be mass movements with dogmas that are devised, interpreted, and revised by inner circles. These ideological dogmas tend to be unfalsifiable tautologies, not subject to outside challenge or argument.

A Dangerous Child will be the opposite of a typical indoctrinated university student, eco-fascist, or other brainwashed ideologue. A Dangerous Child will be educated in the best way possible: he will be self-educated, teaching himself as he climbs from each hard-earned learning plateau to a higher one. The wider universe will be his classroom, library, and playground combined.

Dangerous Children are acutely aware of the limitations of the human sensory and cognitive toolkits, and will learn to work within those limitations while exploring ways of transcending them.

And to close on a high note, Dangerous Children will be able to support themselves financially at least three different ways by the time they are 18 years old.

Can there possibly be enough time in a short childhood to make a child truly dangerous? There had better be. The alternative — the way western societies are drifting into decayed dysfunction — simply will not do.

Republished from Al Fin Next Level

Dangerous Child FAQs

What is a Dangerous Child, anyway?

A dangerous child is someone who has discovered how to plot his own course in life, and who has acquired the life skills he needs to move steadily toward his goals.

Why do you call them “Dangerous Children?”

Dangerous Children learn skills considered dangerous by most educators and child specialists. They learn these dangerous skills at a considerably earlier age than is typically recommended by conventional child psychologists and psychiatrists.

Can you give some examples of these “dangerous skills?”

Of course. Dangerous children will learn to use power tools, machine shop tools, welding equipment, and construction equipment — including earth-moving equipment, hoists, cranes, and systems of concrete placing. They will learn to operate and navigate in a wide range of transportation vehicles for travel on land, water, and in the air. They will become competent in most of these skills by age 12 and virtually all of them by age 18. There are other types of dangerous skills that students will learn, as well.

Sounds like fun for a lot of boys. Do you expect girls to learn the same dangerous skills as boys?

For the most part. The level of proficiency in each skill will vary according to the interest and aptitude of individual students. Some students will master particular skills, while other students may merely achieve a basic competency. Most team projects in the real world involve various types of hierarchy, with hierarchies of skill levels involved.

What other types of dangerous skills will Dangerous Children learn?

Dangerous children will learn to defend themselves against a wide range of threats — physical, emotional, economic, and institutional. Defence against physical threats will require competency in situational awareness, escape and evasion, and methods of both individual and group defence against superior numbers.

Are there any other reasons why you call them “Dangerous Children?”

Yes. Even more dangerous than their physical skills are their thinking skills. Trained to see through the logical fallacies, the appeals to cognitive biases — and other targeted strategies of government, media, educational, and other types of propaganda — Dangerous Children cannot be led to support cultish political figures, or counter-productive popular causes. They are trained to strike back — physically, philosophically, and in most other ways, when necessary — for maximum impact.

Are you trying to breed some kind of “superman” to take over the world?

The concept of “taking over the world” is alien to the Dangerous Child philosophy, for many reasons. The main purpose of Dangerous Child training is to create solid nuclei of competent individuals and groups around which a more competent and moral society can emerge.

What is the attitude of Dangerous Children toward governments?

Dangerous Children may well come to work for various governments from time to time. But in general, Dangerous Children will tend to minimise contact with government agencies as far as possible. The ideal would be for groups of Dangerous Children to be capable of independence if necessary, but to be generally interdependent with other groups of Dangerous Children or similarly competent and moral groups.

What do you mean by the word “moral?”

The basic moral code of The Dangerous Child philosophy will resemble the ideas laid out in Henry Hazlitt’s “Foundations of Morality.” It is a secular morality which is compatible with a wide range of religions as well as secular philosophies. The core idea is to avoid closed ideologies and tautological belief systems, but to maintain a workable ethical system for interpersonal behaviours at different scales.

Do you intend to try to convert large numbers of educators, psychologists, intellectuals, and government policy-makers to your point of view, or will you “work from the shadows?”

We will be keeping a relatively low profile for the present.

The general approach will be to “hide in plain sight” when laying out the basic framework, as well as when sketching general strategies and tactics. Specific projects for particular locations are likely to remain relatively confidential, from the standpoint of the Foundation.

I expect that a lot of people will feel that you are full of shit. How do you feel about that?

We’re counting on it. In the early stages of development, only a relatively small number of interested persons will be needed. The early approach will necessarily be theoretical and somewhat abstract. As the ideas grow more practical, workable, and proven, more competent persons who share many of our concerns will find their way to the electronic workshop.

This article will be expanded as more questions are posed.

Republished from Al Fin Next Level