Raising Geeks by Geeks

Just found this article while screening my tweets and it made me think some.  Mostly on how I can raise my kids to think more like an entrepreneur, aka outside of the box.  I know my children are Three(3) and One(1) but I don’t think it is too early to start.

Now is actually the best time.  Take for example, legos, there is more than one way you can put them together and there is more than one thing you can build with them.  You are stuck within the parameters that they fit together top to bottom, but there is really nothing else preventing you from doing what you want.  So, by letting my children play with legos, it gives them the ability to work not only on their creativity, but essentially they could build something else other than what the instructions provide.

Now don’t misunderstand me, Legos is not the almighty sword that will drive entrepreneurship into my kids but it is a good example.  From this example, I can keep in mind that I should give my kids options and let them come up with solutions on their own.  As they get older, I can allow them to come up with ways to make money, whether it is from my wife and I or from a business idea they have.  It all comes down to the foundation I can start to build for them now.

Other than the options I can provide for them, there is the knowledge that I can share with them.  Children in this age will be more computer savvy than in my age (I didn’t get my first computer till I was in High School).  And I can remember my Calculus Professor saying he didn’t take Calculus till graduate school, and now high school students are taking it.  I can supplement their education with information they are not getting, like how to run a business or the stock market.

In the end, having the options and extended knowledge will show my children to think outside of the box and become entrepreneur minded thinkers.

When you look around in Japan, you see three different people usually.  One is reading some book, one is playing some handheld game, and the other is usually pounding away on their cellphone.  Today, when I was at a hamburger joint, there was this group of high school students sitting at a table.  They were not eating anymore, and were playing on their PSPs.  I am not sure what game they were playing but I knew from their reactions that they were all in the same game.  I wanted to take a photo to post here but I didn’t have a camera on me, it was an interesting site.

For the book readers, you will probably never know what they are reading unless you are standing next to them and get a glance at the title on the top of the page.  Most books, when bought in Japan, are wrapped to cover up the outside of the book.  By looking at the size of the book, you can usually tell if it is a Manga (comic book) or any other book.  The manga’s here are all printed at the same place maybe.  They are all the same size and thickness usually.  There are some special cases but most of the time, they are the same.

Finally, Japanese love their cellphones.  The network in Japan is always one step faster than in the USA and the coverage is usually pretty good….no dead spots unless you are way in the middle of no where…..up some hiking trail maybe (unless you are walking towards a cell tower).  Web applications are huge here, most if not all of the companies will have their websites published for the mobile phones.  And it is no easy feat!  There is no strict standard on what browsers and limitations the phones have.  So when a website is developed for the phones, they need to be very dynamic and forgiving.

Anyway, I figured a small summary about geeks in Japan would be interesting.  I think with all of the technology out there, it is hard to not be a geek of some degree.