[Julie Steiner]

Three minutes of practical wisdom. Worth a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y62veCinCvc

[Mark McDonnell]

Very nice. But I did have to remind myself of this after it...

https://youtu.be/b_N9E9dKdr4

[James Brancheau]

I'm surprised she didn't get a superbowl spot. I dunno, I give the edge to one of her contemporaries. It's sincere and I can really feel the emotion.

https://youtu.be/WpTjFhA09kQ

[Julie Steiner]

Interesting. The first is a Stoic, the other two Hedonists (although the waffle aficionado seems ready to try a different philosophy). Which one seems happiest?

[Kevin Rainbow]

Aristoddler

[Allen Tice]

Quite powerful. Once babies are born, each parent is either an Atlas holding up the earth, or something very different.

[Martin Elster]

Yes, the first was cool , the second and third were in a frightful flap . But nobody should actually eat in those establishments, anyway. Homecooking is almost always better. Though the second toddler didn't care for her mom's cooking, apparently.

[James Brancheau]

Yeah, Julie, mine's not so much a philosopher, but uncoached and thoughtful about her obsession. I think most or many know the video, but she seemed eerily mature, cognizant of her addiction. And it made me laugh.

[W T Clark]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment
Philosophers are always imitative

[Julie Steiner]

Originally Posted by Kevin Rainbow

Aristoddler

Good one! How about:

Play-doh
Kiddhartha
Heideggirl

Yes, James, I thought pretty much the same things about the waffle girl, who struck me as very insightful. FWIW, I didn't regard either her weeping or the restaurant connoisseur's weeping as manipulative, even though both kids were clearly conscious of an audience. Each tantrum struck me as more of a "Let me express my sorrow so you'll know what I'm feeling" thing than a "I'm carrying on like this in hopes you'll bribe me to stop" thing. The restaurant kid in particular was participating in a sort of call-and-response ritual with the parent, and both seemed to recognize and enjoy the fact that the whole interaction was being prolonged by repeating the restaurants' names multiple times.

Jim, I occasionally laughed during those lie detector bits by Jimmy Kimmel, too, and also at some of the "I told my kids I ate all their Halloween candy" and "I gave my kid a terrible Christmas present" bits that Kimmel requested from viewers, too. But like you (I think), often I thought that aspects of these crossed the line into troublingly unethical territory. When adults feel entitled to set up, record, and share a child's distress for others' entertainment, without regard to how hurtful the notoriety of that video might be for the child for years afterward, there are certain exploitative parallels with porn production, aren't there? And I'm troubled by the inevitable trust issues that come of having the people children should most be able to rely on for love and protection instead lie to them and make them feel hurt and/or humiliated for laughs.

Cameron [Edited to say: Yes, I know that the following isn't remotely close to the point you were making by sharing your link, probably in response to Jim's comment, which wasn't making this point either--it's just a thought I had after reading both], I don't think anyone would say that Mozart's astonishing talent as a child didn't count because his father taught him several instruments at a young age. By the same token, why can't this kid be impressive even if these concepts, phrases, and gestures had been previously modeled for her by others in some way?