THINKER'S ALMANAC - October 17

How can looking at a four-year-old’s attitude toward jigsaw puzzles help us better understand our motivation to learn?

Subject:  Mindset  - Jigsaw Puzzle Study

Birthday of Carol Dweck, 1946

Two men look out through the same bars; One sees the mud, and one the stars. -Frederick Langridge

Today is the birthday of Stanford professor Carol Dweck.  Born in 1946, Dweck’s work has been highly influential in helping us understand human motivation.  Her 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success provides insights into the nature of human intelligence and how our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, can influence our attitudes and our effort.

Dweck’s work describes two mindsets:  the fixed mindset and the growth mindset.  A person with a fixed mindset believes that intelligence, talent, and character are static, and they cannot be changed.  A person with a growth mindset, however, believes that intelligence, talent, and character are fluid and that they can be changed through hard work, experience, and effort.

The two mindsets are most prominent when we look at students’ attitudes toward learning.  In one of Dweck’s studies, she gave four-year-olds a puzzle to complete.  Once they completed the puzzle, each child was then offered one of two options:  one, redo an easy jigsaw puzzle or two, try a harder puzzle.  The students who believed that their intelligence and talents were fixed chose the safe option of redoing an easy puzzle; in contrast, those who believed that they could become smarter through effort, chose to challenge themselves.

                                                                   Image by Hans from Pixabay 

Older students might assess their own mindsets by thinking about the following scenarios.  

Imagine you’re in class.  The teacher asks a question.  In thinking about the question, you have an answer, but you're not certain it is right.  Would you raise your hand?  A student with a fixed mindset most likely would not raise her hand, for fear of giving the wrong answer.  The student with a fixed mindset sees a wrong answer as a threat to her ego since she sees being wrong as a final judgment on her lack of intelligence.  A student with a growth mindset, however, would most likely raise her hand, seeing it as a win-win scenario and as an opportunity to check her understanding of her learning.  If she is right, she will confirm what she knows, and if she is wrong, she will have an opportunity to correct her misunderstanding.

Imagine a second scenario.  You are in class the day after completing a test.  You did not do very well.  The teacher then offers you a choice.  One, you can look at the tests of students who did worse than you did, or two, you can look at the tests of students who scored higher than you did.  Which would you choose?  In this scenario, students with a fixed mindset typically choose to look at the tests of students who did worse than they did since this helps them feel better about themselves.  Students with a growth mindset, however, chose to look at the tests of those who scored higher than they did since this offers an opportunity to see what they got wrong and to correct their mistakes.

At the core of each of the two mindsets is a distinctly different attitude toward failure and learning.  For the person with a fixed mindset, failure is to be feared.  Since they see intelligence as fixed, any failure is a challenge to their self-esteem.  As a result, they frequently will not even attempt new challenges for fear that it might threaten their self-image as a smart person.  For the person with a growth mindset, failure is not something to fear; instead, it is an opportunity to identify weaknesses and to focus on specific areas that can be improved with effort and practice. Instead of a final judgment that they are not smart, people with a growth mindset see failure as an opportunity to get smarter.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How does the Puzzle Study illustrate the fixed and growth mindsets?

Challenge - Fix Your Mindset and Grow:  Write a public service announcement for elementary ages students that explains the fixed and growth mindsets.  Try to persuade the audience that they should embrace the growth mindset both in school and in life.

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

October 17, 2005:  On this date in 2005, comedian and television personality Stephen Colbert unveiled a new word: “truthiness.”  Speaking in the satiric tone familiar to fans of his show The Colbert Report, he introduced the word as follows:

 

And on this show, your voice will be heard... in the form of my voice. 'Cause you're looking at a straight-shooter, America. I tell it like it is. I calls 'em like I sees 'em. I will speak to you in plain simple English.

 

And that brings us to tonight's word: truthiness.

 

Now I'm sure some of the Word Police, the wordanistas over at Webster's, are gonna say, "Hey, that's not a word." Well, anybody who knows me knows that I'm no fan of dictionaries or reference books. They're elitist. Constantly telling us what is or isn't true, or what did or didn't happen. Who's Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was finished in 1914? If I wanna say it happened in 1941, that's my right. I don't trust books. They're all fact, no heart. (2)

Sources:

1-Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York:  Ballantine Books, 2006.

2-This Day In Quotes.  “True or false: Stephen Colbert coined the word truthiness? (Hint: you’re right!).” 17 Oct. 2021.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - October 17

How can looking at a four-year-old’s attitude toward jigsaw puzzles help us better understand our motivation to learn?

Subject:  Mindset  - Jigsaw Puzzle Study

Birthday of Carol Dweck, 1946

Two men look out through the same bars; One sees the mud, and one the stars. -Frederick Langridge

Today is the birthday of Stanford professor Carol Dweck.  Born in 1946, Dweck’s work has been highly influential in helping us understand human motivation.  Her 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success provides insights into the nature of human intelligence and how our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, can influence our attitudes and our effort.

Dweck’s work describes two mindsets:  the fixed mindset and the growth mindset.  A person with a fixed mindset believes that intelligence, talent, and character are static, and they cannot be changed.  A person with a growth mindset, however, believes that intelligence, talent, and character are fluid, and that they can be changed through hard work, experience, and effort.

The two mindsets are most prominent when we look at students’ attitudes toward learning.  In one of Dweck’s studies, she gave four-year-olds a puzzle to complete.  Once they completed the puzzle, each child was then offered one of two options:  one, redo an easy jigsaw puzzle or two, try a harder puzzle.  The students who believed that their intelligence and talents were fixed chose the safe option of redoing an easy puzzle; in contrast, those who believed that they could become smarter through effort, chose to challenge themselves.

Older students might assess their own mindsets by thinking about the following scenarios.  

Imagine you’re in class.  The teacher asks a question.  In thinking about the question, you have an answer, but you're not certain it is right.  Would you raise your hand?  A student with a fixed mindset most likely would not raise her hand, for fear of giving the wrong answer.  The student with a fixed mindset sees a wrong answer as a threat to her ego since she sees being wrong as a final judgment on her lack of intelligence.  A student with a growth mindset, however, would most likely raise her hand, seeing it as a win-win scenario and as an opportunity to check her understanding of her learning.  If she is right, she will confirm what she knows, and if she is wrong, she will have an opportunity to correct her misunderstanding.

Imagine a second scenario.  You are in class the day after completing a test.  You did not do very well.  The teacher then offers you a choice.  One, you can look at the tests of students who did worse than you did, or two, you can look at the tests of students who scored higher than you did.  Which would you choose?  In this scenario, students with a fixed mindset typically choose to look at the tests of students who did worse than they did since this helps them feel better about themselves.  Students with a growth mindset, however, chose to look at the tests of those who scored higher than they did since this offers an opportunity to see what they got wrong and to correct their mistakes.

At the core of each of the two mindsets is a distinctly different attitude toward failure and learning.  For the person with a fixed mindset, failure is to be feared.  Since they see intelligence as fixed, any failure is a challenge to their self-esteem.  As a result, they frequently will not even attempt new challenges for fear that it might threaten their self-image as a smart person.  For the person with a growth mindset, failure is not something to fear; instead, it is an opportunity to identify weaknesses and to focus on specific areas that can be improved with effort and practice. Instead of a final judgment that they are not smart, people with a growth mindset see failure as an opportunity to get smarter.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How does the Puzzle Study illustrate the fixed and growth mindsets?

Challenge - Fix Your Mindset and Grow:  Write a public service announcement for elementary ages students that explains the fixed and growth mindsets.  Try to persuade the audience that they should embrace the growth mindset both in school and in life.

Sources:

1-Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York:  Ballantine Books, 2006

THINKER'S ALMANAC - October 17

How can looking at a four-year-old’s attitude toward jigsaw puzzles help us better understand our motivation to learn?

Subject:  Mindset  - Jigsaw Puzzle Study

Birthday of Carol Dweck, 1946

Two men look out through the same bars; One sees the mud, and one the stars. -Frederick Langridge

Today is the birthday of Stanford professor Carol Dweck.  Born in 1946, Dweck’s work has been highly influential in helping us understand human motivation.  Her 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success provides insights into the nature of human intelligence and how our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, can influence our attitudes and our effort.

Dweck’s work describes two mindsets:  the fixed mindset and the growth mindset.  A person with a fixed mindset believes that intelligence, talent, and character are static, and they cannot be changed.  A person with a growth mindset, however, believes that intelligence, talent, and character are fluid, and that they can be changed through hard work, experience, and effort.

Image by Annalisa I. from Pixabay

The two mindsets are most prominent when we look at students’ attitudes toward learning.  In one of Dweck’s studies, she gave four-year-olds a puzzle to complete.  Once they completed the puzzle, each child was then offered one of two options:  one, redo an easy jigsaw puzzle or two, try a harder puzzle.  The students who believed that their intelligence and talents were fixed chose the safe option of redoing an easy puzzle; in contrast, those who believed that they could become smarter through effort, chose to challenge themselves.

Older students might assess their own mindsets by thinking about the following scenarios.  

Imagine you’re in class.  The teacher asks a question.  In thinking about the question, you have an answer, but you're not certain it is right.  Would you raise your hand?  A student with a fixed mindset most likely would not raise her hand, for fear of giving the wrong answer.  The student with a fixed mindset sees a wrong answer as a threat to her ego since she sees being wrong as a final judgment on her lack of intelligence.  A student with a growth mindset, however, would most likely raise her hand, seeing it as a win-win scenario and as an opportunity to check her understanding of her learning.  If she is right, she will confirm what she knows, and if she is wrong, she will have an opportunity to correct her misunderstanding.

Imagine a second scenario.  You are in class the day after completing a test.  You did not do very well.  The teacher then offers you a choice.  One, you can look at the tests of students who did worse than you did, or two, you can look at the tests of students who scored higher than you did.  Which would you choose?  In this scenario, students with a fixed mindset typically choose to look at the tests of students who did worse than they did since this helps them feel better about themselves.  Students with a growth mindset, however, chose to look at the tests of those who scored higher than they did since this offers an opportunity to see what they got wrong and to correct their mistakes.

At the core of each of the two mindsets is a distinctly different attitude toward failure and learning.  For the person with a fixed mindset failure is to be feared.  Since they see intelligence as fixed, any failure is a challenge to their self-esteem.  As a result, they frequently will not even attempt new challenges for fear that it might threaten their self image as a smart person.  For the person with a growth mindset, failure is not something to fear; instead, it is an opportunity to identify weaknesses and to focus on specific areas that can be improved with effort and practice. Instead of a final judgment that they are not smart, people with a growth mindset see failure as an opportunity to get smarter.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How did Dweck’s jigsaw puzzle experiments illustrate the difference between the fixed and growth mindset?

Challenge - Fix Your Mindset and Grow:  Write a public service announcement for elementary ages students that explains the fixed and growth mindsets.  Try to persuade the audience that they should embrace the growth mindset both in school and in life.

Sources:

1-Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York:  Ballantine Books, 2006

THINKER'S ALMANAC - November 4

How can thinking about fishing make us better persuaders?

Subject: Persuasion - Roger’s Fish Hook

Event: Birthday of Will Rogers, 1879

. . . you need to convince your audience that the choice you offer is the most “advantageous” — to the advantage of the audience, that is, not you.  This brings us back to values. The advantageous is an outcome that gives the audience what it values. -Jay Heinrichs

On this day in 1879, American humorist, actor, and cowboy Will Rogers was born.  Rogers made 71 films and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns (1).  In all the thousands of words that Rogers spoke or wrote, one line stands out as perhaps one of the greatest analogies of all time, an analogy that sums up the reasoning and psychology behind successful persuasion:   “When you go fishing you bait the hook, not with what you like, but what the fish likes.” 

Image by Christo Anestev from Pixabay

Roger’s analogy brilliantly sums up an ancient persuasive principle known as “the advantageous.”  When trying to persuade, resist the temptation to appeal to your own advantage; instead, frame your message in a way that appeals to your audience’s advantage.  In other words, instead of focusing on what is good for you, climb into your audience’s skin and try to see things from their point of view -- what’s good for them.

The advantageous is taught in narrative form in the opening chapters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird when Scout recounts her first day of school.  Seemingly everything that could go wrong, goes wrong for Scout, especially when it comes to her relationship with her teacher, Miss Caroline. As Scout tearfully recounts her run-ins with her teacher to her father, she declares that she doesn’t ever want to return to school again.

At this point, Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, shares a valuable lesson with her:

`First of all,' he said, 'if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view — until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.' (2)

Atticus, a lawyer, understood that winning over a jury requires more than just arguing your case; instead, it requires understanding your audience’s point of view -- their beliefs, expectations, and desires. 

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How does Will Rogers compare effective fishing with effective persuasion, and what does this analogy have to do with the advantageous?

Challenge - A Correctly Baited Hook:  What is an example of speech where the speaker employs the advantageous?  Do some research on important speeches.  When you find one that you like, analyze the relationship between the speaker and his or her audience to determine and explain how the writer appeals to the audience’s interest.

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

November 4, 1918: Poet Wilfred Owen dies in battle. (See THINKER’S ALMANAC October 4.)

November 4, 1979:  On this day New York Times columnist William Safire (1929-2009) published an article on the “Fumblerules of Grammar.”  Each of Safire’s fumblerules states a rule while at the same time breaking it, such as:

Never use prepositions to end sentences with (see THINKER’S ALMANAC - December 17).

Sources:  

1-Will Rogers Biography.  Biography.com 4 Nov. 2019.

2-Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. 40th Anniversary ed. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - July 20

 Subject:  Antithesis - Armstrong’s “Giant Leap”

Event:  Apollo Moon landing, 1969

United we stand, divided we fall.

Put up or shut up.

Don’t call us, we’ll call you.

Today is the anniversary of what many consider the single greatest human achievement of all time: the successful Moon mission of Apollo 11. On July 20, 1969, at 4:17 p.m. (EDT), Neil A. Armstrong became the first human to stand on the Moon. Armstrong was soon joined by Buzz Aldrin, and the two astronauts spent 21 hours on the Moon collecting 46 pounds of moon rocks before returning to the Lunar Module (1).

 

The race to the Moon that began with the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik on October 4, 1957 was over, and the first words from a human being on the Moon were in English:

 

That's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.

 

                                                            Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

To mark humankind’s most remarkable technological achievement, Armstrong needed to craft a message in words worthy of the moment.  To do this, he turned to a tried and true trick dating back to the classical orators of ancient Greece and Rome.

 

The specific rhetorical device he used is called antithesis. As a word antithesis means "the exact opposite," as in Love is the antithesis of hate. But as a figure of speech, antithesis juxtaposes two contrasting ideas in a balanced, parallel manner, or -- as in Armstrong's case -- a contrast of degrees: small step and giant leap, and man and mankind.

 

We live in a world of dichotomies:  hot and cold, light and dark, tragedy and comedy, love and hate.  Antithesis is the technique of juxtaposing these opposites.  Notice, for example, how the following quotations play with contrasts and parallelism to make concise, clear, and balanced sentences:

 

Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read anyway. -Groucho Marx

 

Lives as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever. -Mahatma Gandhi

 

To err is human, to forgive divine.  -Alexander Pope

 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, . . . . -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

 

Using antithesis creates contrast but also brings balance, revealing the tone of someone who sees the world in all of its broad contrasts and particular opposites.  When writers use antithesis, the contrasts and opposition create a tension that keeps the reader interested.  When ideas clash, something is at stake, so there’s more reason for the reader to stick around.

 

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is antithesis, and why did Armstrong use it when he set foot on the Moon?

Challenge - Opposites Attract:  What are some examples of words that are opposites -- antonyms such as ‘speak’ and ‘listen,’ ‘war’ and ‘peace,’ ‘present’ and ‘past’?  Brainstorm a list of opposites, and select one pair from your list or the list below to write about:

  

actions/words, above/below, beginning/end, day/night, fast/slow, freedom/slavery, gain/loss, good/evil, hot/cold, knowledge/ignorance, laugh/cry, less/more, love/hate, left/right, mother/father, mountain/valley, order/chaos, parent/child, present/past, quality/quantity, read/write, rich/poor, save/spend, speak/listen, triumph/tragedy, truth/lies, victory/defeat, war/peace, win/lose, winter/summer, yesterday/today

Then, write an opening sentence featuring antitheses that makes a claim based on the differences in the two topics, such as:

 

Logic teach us about the world; creativity teaches us about ourselves.

 

Then write a short composition of at least 150 words in which you support the claim using contrast, details, examples, and evidence.

 

Example:

 

When we read, we travel to a world of imagination; when we write, we imagine a world of our own.  With reading, the words are fixed on the page for us, and although words evoke different pictures in the minds of different readers, we still are limited by the words that were selected for us by the author.  When Robert Frost, for example, describes the snow, he says, “The only sound is the sweep of easy wind and downy flake.”  Whoever reads this imagines falling snow.  When we write, however, we are in control of the words we choose and, therefore, the worlds – and the weather – we create.  We become omniscient and omnipotent.  If we choose, we can defy gravity, we can defy logic, we can defy nature.  If we choose we can create a snowstorm in August, a world where words grow on trees, where trees speak in Latin.  Reading exercises our imagination, opening our eyes to see more; writing challenges our imagination, forcing our minds to be more.

 

 

Sources:

1- Apollo 11. The 30th Anniversary

2- "Antithesis." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05.