the vancouver sun has a very interesting article about young men postponing adulthood - basically refusing to "grow up". the article is here, and is well worth a read. there were also some very interesting points at the end, regarding talent vs. effort:
The second is a cultural bias based on the "entity theory of ability," which means a predetermined competence in an area.
"Most of us are steeped in a culture which says we're born with this competence; in North America we have a love affair with talent," he says.
The truth, however, looks more like "incremental theory," which states we can improve how well we do a task given a concerted effort. "It's known as 'deliberate practice.'" he says. "We love hearing stories of Mozart and Rafael, but we forget they practised!"
The media will extol the talents of a hockey player or rock singer, only looking at the end of the equation, he says. So a young person starting a new job, for instance, is much more likely to give up if it's difficult, choosing to do nothing until he finds something he's good at — "instead of saying, 'Hey, the research says that if I practise, I will develop competencies.'"
Practice makes talent, D'Alessandro says. So even someone with no innate talent, with enough practice can bridge the gap, become better, even become expert.
"Avoiding exposing oneself to opportunities to practise, say, demanding new job tasks, deprives oneself of the opportunity to experience competence feedback, to increase self-esteem."
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