Then and Now

Same, except I am a legal tech and professional artist.

I love that I can make my money in a dark, air-conditioned room and just read about all the cool shit we're learning about dinosaurs.

I really wanted to be an archaeologist. I still love archaeology and take a keen amateur interest in it.

But my knees would never have survived it.

Same, kinda. I had literally decided by the advanced age of 5 that I would be a paleontologist. Then at some point I lost interest. I'm not sure if it was a lack of support or something else. Now I wish I was a paleontologist again. Instead I pretend to be a dinosaur on the internet.

Are there paleontology jobs which are primarily indoors? I'm thinking of tasks like removing the matrix from fossils which have already been dug up, but need to be prepared for preservation.

Yes some parents would say, "Paleontologist?! Do you want to live on food stamps the rest of your life??"

Lower than average and above parenting doesn't matter nearly as much as people think it does. We are learning year after year that nature is much stronger than nurture.

https://melindawmoyer.substack.com/p/does-parenting-really-not-matter

I'm even linking a version where the person bashes the concept but constantly cites things that go against their argument lol.

I will link my usual nature vs nurture citation too if needed. My profile should have it for the lazy though.

E:

tl;dr: Separated identical twin studies have shown over and over that so much of who you are, the small quirks, the larger life goals, all of it is something that you will be naturally inclined to. Being raised healthily only serves to dampen or enhance much of what's already there.

Mass murder, a careless disregard for human life and liberty, inflicting pain both emotional and physical onto others. Most of these are essentially switches some people simply aren't born with. People can learn or mask all they want, it doesn't mean you're not playing with a shit hand.

All people are not created equal. Many people have a significant harder time going through life because they rolled snake eyes on the genetic lottery. Our robust mountain of scientific evidence and understanding of the human brain points to nearly all of it being rooted in Scumbag Brain / Body.

Sauce:

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/11/1193176710/helicopter-or-hands-off-parenting-the-choice-wont-impact-a-kid-as-much-as-you-th

General Heritability of both IQ, Beauty, mental disorders:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability_of_IQ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatric_genetics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_mental_disorders#Biological_factors

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_attractiveness

Aggression specifically:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetics_of_aggression

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539471/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539471/

Brain structure determining who you are studies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_gender_incongruence#General

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia#Causes

Nurture doesn't matter as much as nature:

Helicopter or hands-off parenting? The choice won't impact a kid as much as you think

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_versus_nurture#Early_to_mid-20th_century

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome-wide_complex_trait_analysis#Robust_heritability

You mean it'll fossilize?

That's a great resource, but good god I can't imagine a worse environment for me to work in than one where I'm constantly being questioned by children.