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It may be the case that a growth mindset causes more people to waste effort in a field that they have a severe lack of talent for, but for those who have averag

It may be the case that a growth mindset causes more people to waste effort in a field that they have a severe lack of talent for, but for those who have average talent but hit the wall that many professions have and struggle to overcome it a growth mindset can be an important tool in overcoming that wall and reaching their average fixed potential. Beyond that, specifically for people with high fixed ability, a growth mindset can drive them to develop their talent far beyond what they might have been content with under a fixed mindset. I'd definitely agree that more research needs to be done, but at the moment I'd say that optimisism about your personal potential is most likely a strongly positive thing for most people.

sfgnu89q3 8y ago
What you say is all true true. It's also orthogonal to my concerns. I am willing to assume that having a growth mindset works 100% and makes everyone's lives better. That doesn't necessarily mean it should be encouraged. A "growth mindset" is a scientific belief. It's not a personality trait, a positive outlook, or some sort of optimism. It is the belief that intelligence can be improved through hard work. (You may notice that I consistently have "growth mindset" in scare quotes. A "growth mindset" is a scientific belief, and I wouldn't call it a "mindset" any more than I'd say doctors have a "germ theory mindset" or physicists have a "Copenhagen mindset.") How intelligence works is a scientific problem. Encouraging a "growth mindset" because it makes students do better means weighing in on one side of the debate just because we like its conclusions. If intelligence is largely fixed, as I believe it is, then encouraging a growth mindset means lying to people because we think they can't handle the truth. That might be the right thing to do, but it's a dangerous habit to get into.

sfgnu89q3 8y ago

What you say is all true true. It's also orthogonal to my concerns. I am willing to assume that having a growth mindset works 100% and makes everyone's lives better. That doesn't necessarily mean it should be encouraged. A "growth mindset" is a scientific belief. It's not a personality trait, a positive outlook, or some sort of optimism. It is the belief that intelligence can be improved through hard work. (You may notice that I consistently have "growth mindset" in scare quotes. A "growth mindset" is a scientific belief, and I wouldn't call it a "mindset" any more than I'd say doctors have a "germ theory mindset" or physicists have a "Copenhagen mindset.") How intelligence works is a scientific problem. Encouraging a "growth mindset" because it makes students do better means weighing in on one side of the debate just because we like its conclusions. If intelligence is largely fixed, as I believe it is, then encouraging a growth mindset means lying to people because we think they can't handle the truth. That might be the right thing to do, but it's a dangerous habit to get into.