The daily battle of trying to stay current on the readings have once again struck ultimate darkness into my daily thinking. Once again my mind is riddled with the basic knowledge of success building skills Geoff lays out. In the book the issue of "Smarts" in relation to memory and IQ in relation to meaningless intelligence. The fact of truth displayed is that yes not always is IQ related to a successful life and just cause your memory is good does not always mean that person is in anyway smart. I can remember what happened to me in fifth grade but that does not help me at all in calculus. High repetitions of practice is a good source but it has to be deliberate. Yes I know that this is not fun and the fact I have to read it makes it better Geoff.
In daily situations it can be said that top performers always strive or that average performers don't even notice. In the book these things are said to incite a sense of enthusiasm to the reader but what about those who work hard and never succeed? Maybe luck or communication skills has something to do with it.
And yes Geoff what made Reggie Rice so good? Speed, Athleticism, Coaches, Knowledge, or good old fashioned practice? Honestly I know 500 people who could be put through the same training as Rice and still fall about 100yds short of perfect. So maybe it is not all practice and patience but there may be an aspect of genetics involved to help with his success. Perhaps the talented are not predisposed to vouch any sort of genetics into their personal abilities on sports fields but history tells us otherwise. Maybe Geoff never studied how in the slave era the owners would breed the strongest with the strongest in order to create a "super slave", facts that is still witnessed today through athletic ability in African American culture. True these strengths can be honed in with hours of intense training but the mold still has to be there to create a masterpiece.
Calculus I feel has the same principal of practice vs Talent. The fact that others pick up on numerical logarithms and have a keen eye for numbers exist. The talent has to be there for them to be perfect practice has to be there for them to excel but not everyone I am afraid truly "gets it".
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Talent is over rated chapter 1-3
This week we started reading Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin, for calculus. Initially this process of reading literature and blogging for a math class seems to be quite different. The book however does make some decent points about success though I am not quite sure why people would need to read books on how to be successful in daily situations. The self-help qualities stream from the pages almost in a cliche like manor. The favorite so far "Great performance is in our hands far more than ever accepted" well of course it is good sir! I mean honestly if we wait for others to ensure our success then the process can never be duplicated by our own hands. The need for people to succeed is only measured by others success in the same areas of life. This seems to me like an easy out or a way to pass failure off on personal attributes.
Just a few more quotes from the pages that I would like to elaborate on.
"natural talent doesn't explain top level performance if talent doesn't exist" ? how much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck couldn't chuck wood; see I can do it too.
"Deliberate Practice is key" Well first off who the hell is practicing anything on accident? Yes a major key to success in any area of life is practice. You cannot walk onto a football field never have played the game expecting to throw like Tom Brady, I am sure that even he has had to practice a few times in his life. I can however see Geoff's point on practice being exhausting and mental, but then again what practice have you ever done that wasn't the least bit mental or physical? Think about it! i'll wait. Too exhausting? yeah should have practiced.
"with practice good memories are developed" well with practice bad memories can be developed too. I appreciate the enthusiasm Geoff I really do but really?
"no correlation between IQ and success" Yes! finally a statement I can totally agree with, I mean look at our last two presidents. No need to further elaborate I am sure. Tiger may have the skills but in the IQ level even he fell short. In life its more of who you know than what you know. I can teach a kid to design erosion control designs and only that, hell he could be a complete moron in his older age but his designs would be flawless. With this we can assume that the kid would be successful in designing erosion control plans and the rest of his life would suck but even he could be in what Geoff would label as successful.
"practice should designed to work on specific skills" Oh boy! I would have never known this if I didn't just see it in black an white. Listen I am not trying to take the cynical approach here just trying to understand what others train of thoughts would be on this same statement. Lets break this down a little further "practice should be designed" ok well yes Geoff it should otherwise what would it really be? But not just designed but "designed to work on specific skills" that goes hand in hand with "deliberate practice is key" funny how they sound different but mean almost the same thing. Also just to kick that thought process a little further "if you are behind it is hard to catch up" well I have news for anyone who may read this further that is the definition of being behind. There has never been anyone who says being ahead is easier than being behind because honestly who the hell gets caught up in the first place.
I cannot wait to see what the next chapters bring to the table and though this is for a grade I am pretty sure I will not be the favorite in class tomorrow with the teacher. I am pretty comfortable with who I am as a person and frankly where I have been and what I have done. There have been successes in my life that I have to attribute to hard work and knowledge, but to be frank the most success has come from communication and willingness to learn. Anyone can do a certain job with a little practice but most of the knowledge stems from on the job learning. I hope you enjoy this post and Carrie I apologize in advance.
Just a few more quotes from the pages that I would like to elaborate on.
"natural talent doesn't explain top level performance if talent doesn't exist" ? how much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck couldn't chuck wood; see I can do it too.
"Deliberate Practice is key" Well first off who the hell is practicing anything on accident? Yes a major key to success in any area of life is practice. You cannot walk onto a football field never have played the game expecting to throw like Tom Brady, I am sure that even he has had to practice a few times in his life. I can however see Geoff's point on practice being exhausting and mental, but then again what practice have you ever done that wasn't the least bit mental or physical? Think about it! i'll wait. Too exhausting? yeah should have practiced.
"with practice good memories are developed" well with practice bad memories can be developed too. I appreciate the enthusiasm Geoff I really do but really?
"no correlation between IQ and success" Yes! finally a statement I can totally agree with, I mean look at our last two presidents. No need to further elaborate I am sure. Tiger may have the skills but in the IQ level even he fell short. In life its more of who you know than what you know. I can teach a kid to design erosion control designs and only that, hell he could be a complete moron in his older age but his designs would be flawless. With this we can assume that the kid would be successful in designing erosion control plans and the rest of his life would suck but even he could be in what Geoff would label as successful.
"practice should designed to work on specific skills" Oh boy! I would have never known this if I didn't just see it in black an white. Listen I am not trying to take the cynical approach here just trying to understand what others train of thoughts would be on this same statement. Lets break this down a little further "practice should be designed" ok well yes Geoff it should otherwise what would it really be? But not just designed but "designed to work on specific skills" that goes hand in hand with "deliberate practice is key" funny how they sound different but mean almost the same thing. Also just to kick that thought process a little further "if you are behind it is hard to catch up" well I have news for anyone who may read this further that is the definition of being behind. There has never been anyone who says being ahead is easier than being behind because honestly who the hell gets caught up in the first place.
I cannot wait to see what the next chapters bring to the table and though this is for a grade I am pretty sure I will not be the favorite in class tomorrow with the teacher. I am pretty comfortable with who I am as a person and frankly where I have been and what I have done. There have been successes in my life that I have to attribute to hard work and knowledge, but to be frank the most success has come from communication and willingness to learn. Anyone can do a certain job with a little practice but most of the knowledge stems from on the job learning. I hope you enjoy this post and Carrie I apologize in advance.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Here is the new blog. I still have no idea what blogs have to do with math but I am trying to stay positive. The internet issues seemed to hold most of the work week up for most of us so once again this week is looking brighter. Calculus is by far going to be the most confusing this year/ week and minute. Office hours seem to be good so all set there
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