Social Change

Part III of the book is concerned with the social changes required if the educational proposals are to be implemented, and with the economic feasibility of making the recommended reforms. Chapter 10 takes up the first question. Features of contemporary societies pose all sorts of readily recognizable obstacles to educational progress. Teachers are often seriously underpaid. Schools are often dilapidated and dangerous. Children often live in poverty—and many have no stable homes to leave in the morning and to return to in the afternoon. Parental resources vary widely. Social and economic conditions force students to compete for scarce opportunities. That competition intensifies as they grow older. Stereotypes and biases are everywhere. The solutions proposed culminate in a blueprint for a very different society—the Deweyan society—characterized by seven major features. Arriving at a precise description of this society permits focused consideration of whether it could be economically sustained.

The Smart Money is in Cash? Financial Literacy and Liquid Savings Among U.S. Families

Most financial advisors recommend storing three to six months of expenses in liquid assets in case of an emergency. Yet we estimate that more than half of U.S. families do not have at least three months of their non-discretionary expenses in liquid savings. We find that financial literacy is strongly predictive of having three months of liquid savings, controlling for income, income variability, and even parental resources. We also find that financial literacy predicts liquid savings across the income distribution. These results indicate that accumulation of an emergency fund is not simply a function of income. Finally, financial literacy is predictive of liquid savings even among high illiquid wealth households. This suggests that the phenomenon of "wealthy hand-to-mouth" families may reflect financial mistakes rather than portfolio optimization. Our paper highlights the importance of financial knowledge in explaining families' preparedness to deal with unexpected expenses or disruption in their income.

Can Parents Manage Their Children’s Future Happiness?—: A Retrospective Inquiry

The article addresses a novel concept: Parental Happiness Management (PHM)—which refers to parents’ educational or decisions aimed to improve their children’s well-being in adulthood. We ran a survey among 1,110 adults and asked them to retrospectively assess four types of parental decisions: discipline, autonomy, pro-social preferences, and parental acceptance. The results confirm the association between retrospective assessments of PHM and adults’ subjective well-being as measured by global life evaluation, positive, and negative feelings, and a sense of meaning in life. We report a positive association between discipline and meaning in life, but also between discipline and negative feelings. Education for pro-social preferences was found to be positively associated with all components of subjective well-being. The child’s autonomy was found to be positively associated with global life evaluation. We view parents as managers, who allocate their limited parental resources so as to maximize their children’s well-being in adulthood.

Contrasting ecological niches lead to great postzygotic ecological isolation: a case of hybridization between carnivorous and herbivorous cyprinid fishes

Background Postzygote isolation is an important part of species isolation, especially for fish, and it can be divided into two aspects: genetic isolation and ecological isolation. With the increase in parental genetic distance, the intensity of genetic isolation between them also increases. Will the increase in parental ecological niche differences also lead to the increase in ecological isolation intensity between them? This question is difficult to answer based on the current literature due to the lack of hybridization cases of contrasting ecological niche parents. Results Cyprinid fish parents (Schizothorax wangchiachii and Percocypris pingi) with contrasting ecological niches (herbivorous and carnivorous) and their F1 hybrids were used as research objects. Fish and periphytic algae were selected as food corresponding to different parental resources. The foraging-related traits of these hybrids are generally the same between parents; however, the intermediate foraging traits of hybrids did not result in intermediate foraging performance for parental resources, and these hybrids could hardly forage for parental resources. The poor foraging performance of these hybrids for parental resources was caused not only by the decline in the foraging ability of these hybrids but, more importantly, by the decrease in foraging activity. Interestingly, these hybrids initially showed a high interest in foraging small fishes; however, after the first successful capture, these hybrids had difficulty ingesting fish and spit them out, which led to the subsequent decrease in foraging activity. We designed a series of experiments to explore the mechanism of the fish spitting of these hybrids, excluding the taste and the size of prey, and found that the decrease in their pharyngeal tooth puncture ability may be the reason. Conclusions This study was the first to demonstrate that these parents with contrasting ecological niches will produce great postzygotic ecological isolation for parental resources. The poor foraging performance of these hybrids for parental resources is mainly due to the decrease in foraging activity. Interestingly, these hybrids have obvious fish-spitting behaviour, which is a typical example of the incompatibility between intermediate traits and genetic behaviors.

Extreme Ecological Niche Differences Lead to Extreme Postzygotic Ecological Isolation: A Case of Hybridization Between Carnivorous and Herbivorous Cyprinidae Fishes

Background: Postzygote isolation is an important part of species isolation, especially for fish, and it can be divided into two aspects: genetic isolation and ecological isolation. With the increase in parental genetic distance, the intensity of genetic isolation between them also increases. Will the increase in parental ecological niche differences also lead to the increase in ecological isolation intensity between them? This question is difficult to answer based on the current literature due to the lack of hybridization cases of extreme ecological niche parents.Results: Cyprinidae fish parents (Schizothorax wangchiachii and Percocypris pingi) with extreme ecological niches (herbivorous and carnivorous) and their F1 hybrids were used as research objects. Fish and periphytic algae were selected as food corresponding to different parental resources. The foraging-related traits of these hybrids are generally the same between parents; however, the intermediate foraging traits of hybrids did not result in intermediate foraging performance for parental resources, and these hybrids could hardly forage for parental resources. The poor foraging performance of these hybrids for parental resources was caused not only by the decline in the foraging ability of these hybrids but, more importantly, by the decrease in foraging activity. Interestingly, these hybrids initially showed a high interest in foraging small fishes; however, after the first successful capture, these hybrids had difficulty ingesting fish and spit them out, which led to the subsequent decrease in foraging activity. We designed a series of experiments to explore the mechanism of the fish spitting of these hybrids, excluding the taste and the size of prey, and found that the decrease in their pharyngeal tooth puncture ability may be the reason. Conclusions: This study was the first to demonstrate that these parents with extreme niche differences will produce extreme postzygotic ecological isolation for parental resources. The poor foraging performance of these hybrids for parental resources is mainly due to the decrease in foraging activity. Interestingly, these hybrids have obvious fish-spitting behaviour, which is a typical example of the contradiction between intermediate traits and parental resources.