Good morning, digital neighbors! Happy Friday! How about another visit to The Little Book of Lost Words? Today’s little gem is one of those fun windows on the wonders of the human mind conflicting with reality when you aren’t part of a severely risk-averse society. 2020 turned us into one of the most stupidly risk-averse people to ever exist. “If it can save one life” was a feel-good mantra that was all about conformity and not common sense. (A rant for another post.)

Cool and stupid are parked next to one another in our minds, especially when we are young and especially if you are a boy! I would often tell our eighth graders preparing for Confirmation that their parents are very worried they will try something very dangerous in their teen years—because it’s cool if it works out and very stupid or regrettable if it doesn’t. I would tell them they aren’t ramp jumping bikes anymore. In the 90s that was still a thing, but as we cruised into the 2000s, it seemed like the era of going outside for fun was replaced with more and more computer time and then the ever-invasive smartphones.

Akrasia is not just for kids, but it was often less dangerous and costly when we were making decisions about how high to make the ramp or if a tree limb could support four people. Happy Friday, my friends!

Akrasia Noun | uh-krey-zhee-uh | Ancient Greek

THE ACT OF KNOWING YOU SHOULDN’T BE DOING SOMETHING, BUT DOING IT ANYWAY. DELIBERATELY ACTING AGAINST GOOD JUDGMENT.

https://flashbak.com/snapshots-of-kids-bike-jumping-in-the-1970s-476580/