Topics to discuss/think about with humans of different ages

For children aged 0-3 it is more appropriate to use toys or direct sensory experience instead of 'talking' about these topics.

In general the used models should build on top of or complement each other. To make sure there is a learning effect, one should

Number General topic Age 3-6 Age 6-12 Age 12-18 Age 18+
1 Inside your mind The senses, feelings and thoughts Meditation and observing oneself, change vs acceptance, pleasure vs happiness Guiding emotional behaviour, self control, thinking patterns, self image, fear of failure, The world model, being stuck in a simulation of your brain
2 Economy What is money? What is value? (bottle of water in the desert) Logistics and capitalism, meaning of "work" = helping others, trade World economy and poverty, BWL Mathematical theories and economics of the topics in this list
3 Engineering Crafts: magnets, paper, material properties, taking things apart Building simple machines and learn about rokets/robots and other amazing things Foundations of thinking like an engineer, system understanding and design Automation, cybernetics and challenges
4 Special World records, what is special about X? Self reference and recursion, Phase transitions, Paying attention and choice (making something special) What does "special" mean? Special humans and events. Exceptions to the rule. Take any advanced topics in this list and look at the special cases and the fringes
5 Universe/space Sun, moon, stars, planets, asteroids Galaxies, exoplanets, planetarium Origin of the elements, space exploration black holes, big bang theory
6 Language People's names, Animals and Plants, Show letters/numbers, language based games (start/end letter) Grammar: rules and exceptions, curse words, foreign languages Origins of language, rhetoric, purpose of communication Model and resonance theory of language, linguistics
7 (Human) history Things are changing: there were no computers 100 years ago. Neanderthals, Egypt, Romans and Chinese civilisations Archeology, recent and medival history Evolution and human origins Future of humanity
8 Mathematics Shapes (2d and 3d), numbers Euclid, applications of geometry (table has to have at least three legs), what is mathematics? Fractals and geodesics, high dimensional geometry, knot theory, Inifinitesimals Dimension theory, non-eucledian geometry, distributions, algebraic geometry
9 Structure and randomness What is randomness? What does structure/order mean and why it is helpful. Domino, action => effect Self-assembly and self creating patterns, computer programming Chaos theory, three body problem and predictability, entropy, levels of abstraction, predicting the future What is computation? Quantum computers, Production of things as "computation"/manipulation.
10 Evaluations Is it OK to do X? What is right and wrong? Good and bad, important/unimportant? Lying and stability, Morality, Use quantitative scale from 1-10. Fairness and expectations What does "right"/"wrong" mean? What is "good"? Ethics: punishment, rules vs optimization -> what is the 'right' thing to do? Evolutionary origins of cooperation
11 Imagination Fairy tales and real world vs stories, "fun/crazy" ideas and property combinations Exploring the variation of properties, what if? Drawing and fotography, image generation What is art? Imagining new worlds in your mind. Enumeration/completeness as antidote to limited attention Foundations/abtract theory of creativity. How to escape the submanifold and true innovation
12 Philosophy True and False, Reality and fiction, categories, what is a cake/chair? Thinking about thinking, logic puzzles, things we cannot see: evidence How do we know: epistomology, scientific method, rationality How to even start thinking about consciousness and similar hard topics?
13 Psychology, behavior and emotions Basic emotions, acting, jokes Empathy and different character styles, comedy, social media Social pressure and group dynamics, biases and thinking hacks Mental illness, complex emotions
14 Chemistry Different materials, gas/liquid/solid, fire/rust, solutions Atoms and molecules, basic rules Material composition, metals, plastics, practical knowledge (cooking, cleaning) Nanotechnology, biochemistry
15 Food What do you like to eat? Why? Flavours, herbs, baking. Acquired taste, healthy diet and different types of food in different cultures. Cooking. Science of cooking and biology of eating The future of food and biotechnology.
16 Music Patterns and sounds, dancing, instruments Musical notation (exploratory -> which dimensions?), melody/rhythm, singing History of music, explore the variety, theory of harmony, mathematical basics Improvisation, emotional foundations and personal preferences, music as art
17 Thinking/research Finding abstract patterns (what have a door and a book cover in common?), Puzzle games. Klassification of things into categories/by property. Thinking like a scientist/engineer, problem solving. Experimentation, doubting and finding causes, causal models The associative machine, biases and ways of thinking (axiomatic, depth vs breadth). Doing research together, data collection, how to do surveys well. Thinking in groups, with tools, limits of thinking. Probability as logic, optimal learning from data, perfect experiment setup
18 Games Play some board/language/video games together, basic game concepts Following rules and pretending, Creating your own games. Why do we play? Sport games, strategy. How to analyse deterministic stochastic games. Examples of game types in society and other social "games". Escape games. Game theory and mechanism design. Games as models of the real world.
19 Natural phenomena Thunderstorm, earthquakes, volcano, tornado, meteorites, ... Erosion, plate tectonics and formation of stars and planets The world in motion and climate and weather models Terraforming other worlds
20 Beauty, simplicity and symmetry Beautiful patterns in nature and around us, symmetry What is beauty? Universal vs human/temporary ideals. Why is simplicity important? Architecture and interier design Beauty in any other topic
21 IT knowledge/technology WhatsApp, YouTube, simple programming: tell the computer to do something How the internet and a browser works (show code and developer tools), virtual reality Security and good internet habits, RSA and key exchange How AI (especially neural networks) works at its core
22 Geography Cities, countries, local street names and creating simple maps People around the world Historic and future perspectives Travel and personal experiences
23 Human body and coordinated movement Organs, skeleton, swimming, dancing. What do we need to do to be healthy? Digestion, circulatorz system, acrobatics/coordination games Brain, sports Neuroscience, immune system, anatomy
24 Biology/farming Different types of animals and plants (mammals, birds, dinosaurs, worms etc), visit zoo/aquarium/farm Cells/bacteria, basic evolution, basic patterns (cycle of resources, photosynthesis) Ecosystems, genetics ("Selfish gene"), definition of life, sexuality Artificial organisms, stable patterns (game of life), molecular machines
25 Scale/complexity How many X are there? X = Continents, Planets, Humans, ... How large/old is the universe? Powers of 10. Intuition for complexity of the world Butterfly effect: One decision changes your live, Combinatorics of genetics and potential futures of (human) civilization, scaling production/distributing great ideas Vastness of biological, mental and physical space. The number of possible mental states/organisms/systems is vastly larger than the existing ones -> implicatios for animal extinction, technological potential, etc
26 Making decisions, autonomy Allow to experience consequences of own decisions How to choose between options you don't like? Routines and self control, organisation, teaching independence Goals vs principles, mental ways of dealing with stress and ambiguitiy, evaluating risk Formal decision systems (weighted linear matrices) and dangers of "smart" contracts
27 Literature, Movies and Games Read books together. What is your favourite book/movie? Good books/movies/games make you think. What can we learn from them? Writing and explaining: how to do it well (show, don't tell) Advanced writing and reading skills, games as an art form
28 Optimisation and doing things right How can we improve things?, Holding the pen/spoon correctly, cleaning up after yourself What does "better/right" mean? Perfection and optimisation tradeoffs. Finding optimal moves in a game, appliying optimisation to your life Unintended consequences, limiting factors, avoiding problems and simple life hacks How to make an impact in the world? Prioritisation. Observing things as they are and how they could be (on a global scale)
29 Outside Appreciation for nature, experience different parts of it, spending time with humans (cinema, eating out) Survival skills in the wilderness, observation of stars/animals Preservation and taking care of our umwelt Travel and the complexity/breath of life/universe
30 Expertise/deep understanding It is fun learning new things. Experience "getting better" by practise, socratic method Deliberate practice. How to dive deep into a subject and break it down (Polya and beyond) Building good mental models. How to read mathematics and listen to others, how to explain things 1 on 1 conversations on a walk, deep thinking together, how to teach. apply to other topics
31 Physics Ball dynamics (spin), change, flying/swimming Center of gravity and stability, forces, atoms Imagining with Feynman, elementary particles Quantum mechanics and relativity
32 Relationsships Making sure the child is feeling loved. What is a friend? How can we get along with each other? Family tree, how to treat pets What is love? When to trust others, reciprocity, paying it forward. How to be a good host? How to create value for a group? Taking care of others. Sex, different types of love/needs and how to fulfil them. Close relationships are hard, collaboration in teams (diversity of thought). Love as a shared utility function, aufopferung vs apathy for human problems. Politics and how to stear human society. Animal rights
33 Fabrication and Crafts Where do things come from? Gardening, building a house, basteln 3d printing, assembly lines, decorative art Material science, Chemical synthesis, DIY movement Biological synthesis, self replicating machines (Neil Gershenfeld)
34 Purpose/why? Helping others, enjoying life (how to do it well) Choosing a profession. How to live a life of positive value? Genes, ideas and material changes (do all three if possible) What do we want to preserve going into the very dynamic future? Happiness pill, fundamental values, meaning of life
35 Conflict and defense How to be safe, what situations are dangerous Pick pockets, misdirection and bad arguments, wars and human conflict Defence against the dark arts (emotional manipulation, advertising, online safety), self defense, cutting your losses Take any bad/negative side of advanced topics in this list
36 Model and mathematical thinking Simulate things, strategy games, 2x2/relation matrices Model thinking course, axioms and deduction My homepage, limits/misuse of models, reductionism: properties and parts Take any advanced topics in this list and talk about the fundamental underlying models
37 Getting to know each other Who are you? What do you like/dislike? Self knowledge and outer perspective Asymetry of age/professional interactions, give feedback and ask for feedback What goals/dreams do you have? What would you do if ... and why?
38 Combinations and comparisons Association games, comparing things to each other, seeing the invisible (pointing out things that are the same but could be different) What is "context"? Show the complexity of simple ideas, function diagrams, causality Going meta and back, "Colored" graphs and higher dimensional relations Take the intersection or two topics in this list and explore several of these pairs
39 Errors Observing imperfections in things, human error and forgiveness Sickness (Tollwut), Repairing things, computer bugs, waste vs resource How errors happen and how to avoid them. Death. Acceptance of things we cannot change What can go wrong in some other topic in this list?
40 Management, Leadership and Parenting Being a role model, planning, managing your day, ambition and goal setting Leading a small group, taking responsibility, hierarchy vs individual autonomy, army, habit formation and implicit structures How to raise kids, how to not abuse power What does a good manager do (and more importantly, what not)
41 Dynamics What stays the same and what is changing and how fast? Food decay, getting older Different types of change: linear, exponential, waves, etc Dynamical systems Dynamics of any other topic (change over time)
42 Duality Negation, opposites and other examples of duality Implicit vs explicit: Things not said (advertising), choices not given, things not known (ignorance) Attention and what you could be doing instead, FOMO (fear of missing out) Duality in any other topic
43 Meta/abtraction Abstraction game: Chicken -> bird -> animal -> living thing -> thing Superhuman structures (Organizations, states), thinking about yourself as a third person abstract thinking: category theory, levels ob abstraction Abstraction/Meta level in any other topic, how to create this list.
44 Random topic of interest Look around you and see whether there is anything interesting, noticing small details Ask for hobbies and interests, observational skills Talk about random wikipedia article Current world events
45 Culture Seasonal and traditional patterns, tolerance and learning to embrace difference Religions and culture Purpose and value in our society. Sports, TV/Books, Marriage, unemployment Modern tabu topics: Eugenics, 'Romanticism': Making stupid ideas desirable