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Sounds like folks taking the idea farther than is warranted and trying to replicate in a lab without success. "...to claim that your performance in a cognitive

Sounds like folks taking the idea farther than is warranted and trying to replicate in a lab without success. "...to claim that your performance in a cognitive task is entirely dictated by how hard you try" This one in particular is silly. I personally lived the experience she describes in her book and reading it was quite useful. Never took it to mean, "I could be Einstein, if I just tried harder." You can't teach a dog calculus, no matter how hard both of you try. But we can improve through practice, it's pretty simple.

Planktonne 4y ago
> But we can improve through practice, it's pretty simple. So simple as to be trivial. As applied to education (it was all the rage a couple of years back), Dweck's work is either unfalsifiable or just truisms.
- digisign 4y ago
  Sounds like you believe "common sense" is common, but it is often not. A lot of "truisms" need better publicity. A pertinent example. Every single job thread here has dozens of folks complaining that no interviewing company has a lick of interest in training. It causes untold harm to everyone involved. It certainly has negatively affected me. An incredibly-wide industry thinking that folks are unable to learn; it boggles the mind.
  - Planktonne 4y ago
    The belief that students are capable of learning is universally accepted in education. To the extent that Dweck's ideas are testable and worth publicising, they're already embedded in every school. Dweck's growth mindset is just another Brain Gym [1] - it's shaky pseudoscience building on top of a couple of inoffensive claims that can't be refuted (and shouldn't be), using them to push unsupported assertions and expensive training on schools. Industry's lack of focus on training is deplorable, but it's a separate problem. Growth mindset is already the kind of thing that recruiters and internal L&D love - it looks good on a slide, but it involves no practical improvement. Corporate L&D needs fixing, but more pseudoscience isn't the answer. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_Gym_International https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_Gym_International
    - infpeace 4y ago
      This might mean nothing to you, but I will tell my story regardless. Last year I started learning maths again, 15 years after leaving school. Part of me wasn’t sure if I can do it. “I’m not a maths person” was my mindset (a fixed mindset). Listening to Carol Dweck helped me understand the difference between helplessness (fixed mindset) and hopefulness (growth mindset). Her ideas gave me courage. I changed how I viewed myself. I’m not “a maths person”, but I’m working hard at growing my maths ability. I’m not static, I can change. It might sound simple and obvious to you, but it changed my world, especially after being raised in an abusive household. I wasn’t taught how to believe in myself, but Carol Dweck’s lessons in growth mindset replaced poor parenting with insights that actually help. I’m now further down the line in my studying and I’m enjoying maths, which I can’t believe. I wouldn’t have done this without her.

Planktonne 4y ago

> But we can improve through practice, it's pretty simple. So simple as to be trivial. As applied to education (it was all the rage a couple of years back), Dweck's work is either unfalsifiable or just truisms.

digisign 4y ago
Sounds like you believe "common sense" is common, but it is often not. A lot of "truisms" need better publicity. A pertinent example. Every single job thread here has dozens of folks complaining that no interviewing company has a lick of interest in training. It causes untold harm to everyone involved. It certainly has negatively affected me. An incredibly-wide industry thinking that folks are unable to learn; it boggles the mind.
- Planktonne 4y ago
  The belief that students are capable of learning is universally accepted in education. To the extent that Dweck's ideas are testable and worth publicising, they're already embedded in every school. Dweck's growth mindset is just another Brain Gym [1] - it's shaky pseudoscience building on top of a couple of inoffensive claims that can't be refuted (and shouldn't be), using them to push unsupported assertions and expensive training on schools. Industry's lack of focus on training is deplorable, but it's a separate problem. Growth mindset is already the kind of thing that recruiters and internal L&D love - it looks good on a slide, but it involves no practical improvement. Corporate L&D needs fixing, but more pseudoscience isn't the answer. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_Gym_International https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_Gym_International
  - infpeace 4y ago
    This might mean nothing to you, but I will tell my story regardless. Last year I started learning maths again, 15 years after leaving school. Part of me wasn’t sure if I can do it. “I’m not a maths person” was my mindset (a fixed mindset). Listening to Carol Dweck helped me understand the difference between helplessness (fixed mindset) and hopefulness (growth mindset). Her ideas gave me courage. I changed how I viewed myself. I’m not “a maths person”, but I’m working hard at growing my maths ability. I’m not static, I can change. It might sound simple and obvious to you, but it changed my world, especially after being raised in an abusive household. I wasn’t taught how to believe in myself, but Carol Dweck’s lessons in growth mindset replaced poor parenting with insights that actually help. I’m now further down the line in my studying and I’m enjoying maths, which I can’t believe. I wouldn’t have done this without her.