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Character vs Intellect
Martin Seligman and Paul Tough have written about how “success” is often as much a product of optimism, grit, curiosity, conscientiousness etc as it is of cognitive ability. Measures of self-control can be better predictors of grades than IQ. A short list includes zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism and curiosity (Duckworth). Some schools have…
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Livingstone
The David Livingstone centre, bless, will always try to paint him in a positive light. His biographer Tim Jeal, however, makes clear that he was imperfect, obsessive, perverse and often misguided man. He wrote lovely letters to his wife, but it was probably a marriage of convenience, at least to begin with. He risked their…
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Palaeontology for parents
Life evolved in the ocean. Lungs came from gills, hands and feet from fins. The hard shelled egg was the great advance which allowed amphibians to leave the water behind for good. Although amphibians have only primitive lungs (and usually rely on skin diffusion), there have been massive ones eg the 9m long crocodile-like Prionosuchus!…
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Bribing your kids
Rewards undermine kids’ intrinsic interest in an activity by convincing them that they are doing it for the reward and not becase the task is enjoyable in itself. Better to offer incentives strong enough to get children to perform the desired activity, but not so strong that they see the rewards as the only reason…
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Game theory
How we don’t always act rationally. Prisoners dilemma: if both confess, both go to jail. If one confesses then he goes free and the other goes to jail. But if neither confesses then both go free. The paradox is that self interest will drive both to confess, even though the best outcome would be achieved by…
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Vulnerability
Vulnerability is emotional risk, exposure, uncertainty. It is, according to Brene Brown, our most accurate measurement of courage. Shame focuses on individual, guilt on behaviour. Shame drives 2 scripts – “you’re not good enough”, and “who do you think you are?”. Shame correlates with addiction, depression, violence, aggression, bullying, suicide, eating disorders. Guilt however is inversely related. Guilt…
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More hopeful, more committed to the challenges of living in a complex world
“We’ve been taught to think that the real question is “Do people deserve to die for the crimes they have committed?” And that’s a very sensible question. But the other way of thinking about it is not “Do people deserve to die for the crimes they have committed?”, but “Do we deserve to kill?” “I…
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Marco Polo
Travelled aged 17yr with his father and uncle, merchants from Venice, in 1271 to see Kubla Khan in Peking. His father and uncle had already been there once, on a trip lasting 7 years, and were asked by the Khan to bring back learned men and oil from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Arrived after…
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Concerted cultivation
“A child that has been concertedly cultivated will often express greater social prowess in social situations involving formality or structure, attributed to their increased experience and engagement in organized clubs, sports, musical groups as well as increased experience with adults and power structure. “While this pattern of child rearing holds no innate positive qualities, it has…
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Induction for new doctors
Arrive early but not so early that you show up your educational supervisor. Read induction manual in advance. Volunteer to manage rota (demonstrates leadership and altruism, but results in xmas/hogmanay shifts, which to be fair you were going to have to work anyway. To be popular with nurses, balance knowledge with humility, and ask their…