We are in an age of widely divergent narratives. At the same time, we also have wide access to much less divergent statistics which can be used to determine which narratives are contra factual. We need numeracy like never before.
Thank you *so* much for writing this, and posting the link in my thread so I could find it. It's a strong data point towards one of my longstanding hypotheses: math is often the first class that a smart kid has to really try in. Being really unfamiliar with the need for effort and persistence, because everything else has come easily up to that point, the (extremely convenient) narrative of left brain vs right brain, always towards an angle of the superiority of being "right brained," becomes the major impediment to math literacy. (BTW my therapist spends half of every session pointing out my own extremely convenient narratives; I'm not remotely judging!) I am extremely grateful to you for such a clear, thoughtful elucidation of exactly how this happens. I will be sending your marvelous essay to future tutoring students and homeschool parents (I do consulting on math curricula) who believe this narrative to varying degrees.
I'm in some weird Twilight Zone episode today where everything in my feed is about taking personal responsibility! Substack is on to me I suppose. On another note: as a teacher, I was asked to read Carol Dweck's book about Growth Mindset where she talked about people not trying because - exactly as you said - it's easier to say you didn't try than to receive mediocre scores and see them as a sign of a mediocre intellect. You articulated this phenomenon very well.
I figured this out when I went back to college as an adult and watched younger classmates ask, "Hey, Dude, did you read the book? Did you study for this test?"
I was like, "Yep. read the book. took notes on it. and studied 6 hours for this test. You?"
Jason, this was such a joy to read. I really admire your self-awareness and ability to harness that into something that others can learn from.
Question: Why did you categorize art and literature in the hedonistic pleasures category?
For me, a big part of my journey to finding what I’m good at and working hard at it has been carving out time to focus on reading and small creative pursuits.
Many forms of art and literature are meant to provide pleasure. Additionally, I did well in those in classes, in part, because I grew up in a home where they were discussed. They were easier for me. Math only provides pleasure to someone who excels at mathmatics. In my case, I had to work harder to feel the rush of pleasure that one gets from mastering a skill. I just didn't want to do the hard work.
It took me a couple of years at Med school to discover that playing rugby, drinking lots of beer and chasing nurses wouldn’t help me pass my exams. So I stopped playing rugby, rarely went to the bar and studied hard - two out of three changes seemed to work because I cruised through finals and embarked on a fifty year career in medicine.
PS I married the nurse which was the best decision I’ve ever made
My teachers were trying to tell me this. I just didn't want to listen. I don't think that I ever got a report card that didn't have the word "potential" in it:
The world's shortest Act 3 :)
It's surprisingly boring how I got over my math deficit. But, I'll give more detail in a follow-up post. 😉🙂
I'd be interested in the details.
We are in an age of widely divergent narratives. At the same time, we also have wide access to much less divergent statistics which can be used to determine which narratives are contra factual. We need numeracy like never before.
Thank you *so* much for writing this, and posting the link in my thread so I could find it. It's a strong data point towards one of my longstanding hypotheses: math is often the first class that a smart kid has to really try in. Being really unfamiliar with the need for effort and persistence, because everything else has come easily up to that point, the (extremely convenient) narrative of left brain vs right brain, always towards an angle of the superiority of being "right brained," becomes the major impediment to math literacy. (BTW my therapist spends half of every session pointing out my own extremely convenient narratives; I'm not remotely judging!) I am extremely grateful to you for such a clear, thoughtful elucidation of exactly how this happens. I will be sending your marvelous essay to future tutoring students and homeschool parents (I do consulting on math curricula) who believe this narrative to varying degrees.
Hilarious, love the charts. Glad I subscribed.
I aim to please. Thanks for sub and the comment. 😀
Thank you for this essay, a great template for my own introspection.
Glad you liked it.
Thanks
Glad you found some value in this confession of my foolishness. :-)
I'm in some weird Twilight Zone episode today where everything in my feed is about taking personal responsibility! Substack is on to me I suppose. On another note: as a teacher, I was asked to read Carol Dweck's book about Growth Mindset where she talked about people not trying because - exactly as you said - it's easier to say you didn't try than to receive mediocre scores and see them as a sign of a mediocre intellect. You articulated this phenomenon very well.
I figured this out when I went back to college as an adult and watched younger classmates ask, "Hey, Dude, did you read the book? Did you study for this test?"
I was like, "Yep. read the book. took notes on it. and studied 6 hours for this test. You?"
Jason, this was such a joy to read. I really admire your self-awareness and ability to harness that into something that others can learn from.
Question: Why did you categorize art and literature in the hedonistic pleasures category?
For me, a big part of my journey to finding what I’m good at and working hard at it has been carving out time to focus on reading and small creative pursuits.
Many forms of art and literature are meant to provide pleasure. Additionally, I did well in those in classes, in part, because I grew up in a home where they were discussed. They were easier for me. Math only provides pleasure to someone who excels at mathmatics. In my case, I had to work harder to feel the rush of pleasure that one gets from mastering a skill. I just didn't want to do the hard work.
It took me a couple of years at Med school to discover that playing rugby, drinking lots of beer and chasing nurses wouldn’t help me pass my exams. So I stopped playing rugby, rarely went to the bar and studied hard - two out of three changes seemed to work because I cruised through finals and embarked on a fifty year career in medicine.
PS I married the nurse which was the best decision I’ve ever made
“It turns out that when I applied myself…” now that’s something that should be added to tap water.
I look forward to your next episode.
My teachers were trying to tell me this. I just didn't want to listen. I don't think that I ever got a report card that didn't have the word "potential" in it:
Jason has a lot of potential
I would like to see him reach his potential
Jason isn't working up to his full potential
ALthough he has a lot of potential. . .