The Digital Renaissance Kid
How to prepare kids for the economy of the future.
“Entrepreneur's mind. Athlete's body. Artist's soul.” – James Clear
There was a time in history–around the end of the Dark Ages–when people were learning new things at an amazing rate. Yes, the pool of knowledge was smaller back then, and thus easier to become “well-rounded,” but there was something else to it. A time of reconverging after the losses of the dark ages. When a divergent mind takes on extra importance. Artists were also scientists. Sculptors were also philosophers. This was the age of Da Vinci’s genius, which helped bring many areas of thought into one mind.
We’re entering a new Renaissance. A digital one.
When society is static and top-down, kids need to be educated in the public school system. This teaches them to be good employees.
When society is creative, unpredictable, free, and entrepreneurial, kids need to have range. Flow. Flexibility. Play.
50 years ago, billionaires were made from investing in capital. That’s your Warren Buffets of the world. That’s the way it was only 50 years ago.
Today, most new billionaires are made from media. Joe Rogan (150 million dollars yearly from a podcast), Rihanna, and Peter Jackson (both new billionaires). Why? Because our ability to replicate bits of media (text, video, etc.) is endless, and we don’t even need to involve another person. Not only that, but people are HUNGRY for divergent information.
Even scientists, engineers, and thinkers (Lex Friedman and Andrew Huberman) are experts in media.
There are endless possibilities here. And it’s not about finding fame–it’s about finding a niche. Your kid can find an audience anywhere in the world about whatever sparks their interest and find a way to monetize that knowledge base.
One of the most important things to remember is that this is a permissionless economy. They don’t need anyone or any certificate to start doing it. Public school teaches people to wait for permission, but now, a professional future isn't built on compliance -- it's fueled by courage.
To be good with media, you need to integrate and synthesize data. This is not like the skills of employment, where you need to predict your managers' desires and do what you’re told.
Another important thing is that your kid’s future job likely doesn’t exist yet.
How do you set your kid up to thrive without knowing how?
Movement
“If exercise could be packaged in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation.” – Unknown
In a study, three months of exercise improved memory by 30%.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Movement signals to the brain that something important is happening. We evolved on our feet, not in rows of chairs.
Kids don’t need to sit around and memorize information they can Google in two seconds. They need to get on their feet, play, and learn together.
This happens in games, sports, and even lively conversation (not lectures). We need to move.
Flow
“Flow is always there. You’re just in the way.” – Naval Ravikant
In a lot of ways, success depends on how long you can focus on one thing at a time. In a world of people distracted second by second, a huge premium converges around the ability to focus on a task. Flow states are modern gold.
Flow states do not arrive when they’re forced to sit and listen.
Flow states come from the proper balance of challenge and mastery. It differs for each kid.
You can’t get 30 kids in a classroom in flow simultaneously. It’s just not possible.
But kids can find their own path to flow.
They just need the tools to follow their interests, seek mentors, and experience the pride of sustained effort.
Play
“Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesn't taste good” – Lucia Capocchione.
Play is an evolutionary, adaptive process to help kids find their particular flow state. They have the most fun when the challenge perfectly balances their competency. One-year-olds struggle to toddle down the hallway, while fourteen-year-olds practice a kickflip for eight hours straight.
Why would we interrupt this beautiful process?
People who are having fun are the best performers in the world. You can’t outwork them because it doesn’t feel like work to them. You can’t compete with someone who’s having fun.
Let your kid have fun.
Writing
“A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” – Thomas Mann
If you never write down what you think, you never notice the logical gaps in your thinking.
The best way for kids to learn to think critically is for them to write.
We make kids write to get a grade. But, ChatGPT has done away with that completely. Any kid who wants to be able to think, needs to be able to write.
Thinking makes you take the right actions in the world. If you can think, speak, and write, you build a mind that can synthesize vastly different sets of data.
Digital fluency
"Someday, not being proficient with computers will be considered a form of illiteracy." – Naval Ravikant
This is an imprecise measure of being “good with computers.” Not coding–although sometimes it is.
Put glibly, it’s the ability to Google something effectively and sort through the results. “Fluency” will quickly include ChatGPT, too.
This is a real skill. Despite years of education, most software engineers rely on Google to solve problems. Being able to phrase the questions well sets you apart from the competition unlike anything else.
Fluency happens when you are around something long enough that it becomes “second nature.” Language is the obvious parallel. For example, when you’re learning German, it’s very difficult to ask the right questions, much less to tell a joke at a cocktail party.
When you master the language, you can relax and forget about it–allowing creative and off-the-cuff ideas to bubble to the surface.
That’s what you want with computers.
You want to be able to use tech like it’s an extension of yourself.
To review what your kids need to become digital Renaissance kids:
Movement
Flow
Play
Writing
Digital fluency
Some of these seem at odds, but that’s the point of the Renaissance. Imagine if Warren Buffet were buff. Or if Arnie were sculpting marble and not just his body.
The power of the future is the ability to connect divergent information.
The digital revolution is also one of being awake to embodied thought, deep motivation, and play. Handled with optimism, it will be the greatest time in human history.
Give your kids the tools to bring that about.
Thanks for reading,
Taylor + rebelEducator team
P.S.
What we’re looking at:
Quotes we’re pondering:
“If you need a degree to do it, it’s not going to make you wealthy.” — Naval Ravikant
“Colleges have to convince students for the next year that a remote education is worth every bit as much as an in-person one, and then pivot back before students actually start believing it. It’s like only being able to sell your competitor’s product for a year.” — Naval Ravikant
“The ideal school would teach health, wealth, and happiness. It‘d be free, self-paced, and available to all. It‘d show opposing ideas and students would self-verify truth. No grades, no tests, no diplomas - just learning. Actually, you’re already here. Careful who you follow.” — Naval Ravikant
We teach our kids to spot tech-apologetic astro-turfing early on.
We teach our kids to spot tech-apologetic astro-turfing early on.