A Conversation with the Grandsons

In an impromptu conversation with my very technological twin eleven-year-old grandsons, I happened to mention the term doom-scrolling.

“Doom-scrolling,” they nodded. “My friends and I talk about it all the time.” These two have been playing games such as Civilization since the age of three, and are as technically advanced as one can become at eleven — to their mother's eternal worry. Their mother is a successful Jungian psychologist with a heavy case load, so this is no idle concern. She sees, as her father and mother and five siblings see, a major obstacle across all modern nations and people — and one driving a wedge straight through our family as well.

At eleven they are several grade levels ahead in all subjects, and feeling rather bored and uninspired — already weary of what life has offered so far. One is a football strategy expert, star quarterback, and formidable chess player, who loves his public school and a dynamic social life. The other is quieter, more creative, excels at music, art, and cooking, and loves his home life and online schooling — years ahead in math and language arts.

They are bright, accomplished, but they and their friends are terribly concerned about doom-scrolling. It prompted a long exchange with grandpa and grandma about turning a set of negatives into a set of positives. This is why this book demands to be written — in an aggressively compassionate and straightforward manner, simplifying the complex math and science that has driven my other books.