"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." (and afterward, you can eat marshmallows!)

Nature vs. Nurture, Motivation, Gratification (Pulling together last week, this week, and beyond)

Think of someone who is "smarter" or "more successful" than you.

(Of course, there are lots of ways to interpret those labels depending on what exactly you value in terms of intelligence or success -- think about your own definition of these terms as you consider this post.)

Okay, now think of someone who is "smarter" or "more successful" than you. Were they born that way? Given more advantages in their upbringing to become that way? Did they simply work harder to make themselves that way? What other factors come into play?

Carol Dweck would suggest that had, or developed, a specific mindset or outlook on life that helped them achieve success. Malcolm Gladwell (who we will read soon) would theorize that they put in more hours practicing in order to get better until they became masters in their field. This week, you will see that Joachim de Posada attributes their success to the ability to delay gratification. These are all interesting perspectives to consider, and overlap somewhat, although also differ in crucial ways -- and we can learn something from all of them.

I often ask my SCSU students to consider where they are and how they got there, especially in comparison to others who are on different paths. For example, what do you think is the difference between Yale students and SCSU students? Yale students are seen by many as more successful -- are they? Are they smarter? More hard working? Do socioeconomic factors separate these two groups and/or determine their different paths? Or are these two groups essentially the same but have made different choices? How about Gateway students vs. SCSU students? Or Quinnipiac students vs. SCSU students?

My questions here are not solely asking you to think about which is better...instead, I hope you will consider how you have gotten where you are and what factor have contributed to that as well as where you want to go from here and what factors can help you get there.


This Week's Blogging Assignments

Blog 4A:

This week's topic of discussion is delayed gratification. Think about what things in your life have been worth waiting for and/or what things you expect will be worth waiting for. Why? People often say that Americans hate to wait, that we have no patience? True? Do you think we, as a society, do enough to cultivate the skills necessary for delayed gratification or do we value instant gratification instead? How so? What should we be doing differently? Some people believe that technology plays a role in this -- what do you think? Include at least one quote from this week's assignments.

Blog 4B:

Choose 1 or 2 inquiry questions that you developed in response to the readings/videos assigned for this week. Use this blog post to explore potential answers. Be as in-depth as possible instead of simply scratching the surface and try to consider how you might answer your question(s) from different perspectives. Be sure to engage with this week's assignments using direct quotes to discuss, but remember that your ideas should drive this post!