This is an educational blog for a Social Psychology class at Penn State University, Fayette. The purpose is to provide a forum for all students to express views and insight on a variety of topics covered in class and textbook.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Boy Genius's book reveals life in college at age 8
Do you buy what he is selling? Do you agree with his interpretation of the interplay of "talent" and "effort"? Where do you stand on this? Click, read, comment. Boy Genius
#966292420 I'm kind of torn on an issue such as this one. I mean, I do generally agree that hard work can achieve a lot but the truth of the matter is that some are simply with born with an innate ability or aptitude for a specific thing. It perhaps isn't exactly the same as this case but an analogous situation are athletes, specifically professional athletes. In most cases, people cannot just simply will themselves to become professional athletes. They could train and train without the results of their professional counterparts, even with them working harder than their counterparts in some instances. Essentially what this shows is that, by and large, whether it be professional athletes or even this "Boy Genius" they were often gifted with an aptitude for their specific endeavor. That isn't to say that they didn't work hard - in fact, I would wager a guess that they worked extremely hard and even struggled to achieve what they have achieved. Calling them a genius of their craft isn't an insult, or necessarily a compliment, it is simply a fact that no matter how hard a person without their level of aptitude worked, they would almost certainly not reach the lofty heights of those with that aptitude.
966292420 Looking back at this answer, I believe that I was correct in deducing that effort does not always match one's innate ability for that particular thing. Though, I think my assessment of the Boy Genius itself was wrong as he more or less is speaking strictly of hypothetical effort and how a person can only truly control their effort while I focused on the literal meaning of effort and the output of said effort.
you were supposed to cite the attribution cube/matrix of stable v. unstable, and internal v. external for a complete answer supporting your assessment.
Don't forget to START with your student ID# first! Did you remember to check your spelling and grammar? Lastly, don't submit two comments for the same post, I will only count one. Really lastly, make sure you answer all the questions in the post!
#966292420
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of torn on an issue such as this one. I mean, I do generally agree that hard work can achieve a lot but the truth of the matter is that some are simply with born with an innate ability or aptitude for a specific thing. It perhaps isn't exactly the same as this case but an analogous situation are athletes, specifically professional athletes. In most cases, people cannot just simply will themselves to become professional athletes. They could train and train without the results of their professional counterparts, even with them working harder than their counterparts in some instances. Essentially what this shows is that, by and large, whether it be professional athletes or even this "Boy Genius" they were often gifted with an aptitude for their specific endeavor. That isn't to say that they didn't work hard - in fact, I would wager a guess that they worked extremely hard and even struggled to achieve what they have achieved. Calling them a genius of their craft isn't an insult, or necessarily a compliment, it is simply a fact that no matter how hard a person without their level of aptitude worked, they would almost certainly not reach the lofty heights of those with that aptitude.
966292420
DeleteLooking back at this answer, I believe that I was correct in deducing that effort does not always match one's innate ability for that particular thing. Though, I think my assessment of the Boy Genius itself was wrong as he more or less is speaking strictly of hypothetical effort and how a person can only truly control their effort while I focused on the literal meaning of effort and the output of said effort.
you were supposed to cite the attribution cube/matrix of stable v. unstable, and internal v. external for a complete answer supporting your assessment.
Delete