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ZorbaTHut  2yr ago (text post)   35985 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 26, 2022

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I think the growth vs. fixed mindset paradigm is bunkum . Its obvious that although practice can improve absolute ability, relative differences will persist, which is more important. People want to not just get better at things, but better relative to other people or good enough to make a living or attain some recognition. competitors train equally hard for marathons, yet some runners are still clearly better than others. Despite law school prospects using the same apps and study methods, why do some individuals score higher on the LSAT than others? Likely IQ.

an article in the Atlantic recently made the case that separating sport by sex doesn’t make sense, because it ‘reinforces the idea that boys are inherently bigger, faster, and stronger than girls in a competitive setting — a notion that’s been challenged by scientists for years.’

I think women can be more competitive at endurance-like events relative to men, but the women-in-sports debate focuses on activities in which men are massively better, like mma (anything to do with combat, speed, strength). I have observed this myself...women climbing mountains as well as men, which would be like going to the gym and seeing women doing 225+ reps on the bench with good form, which you will never see. Indeed, the best women's marathon time is 2:14 vs, 2:02 for men, a 10% difference. By comparison, the best men's deadlift is about 70% greater than the best women's deadlift. I think this is why marathon or 5k,10k events tend to be more diverse than other sports activities.

It should be uncontroversial that if you want to see who can run the fastest, or lift the heaviest, or whatever, that it will be a male athlete. So if you're watching a sport for extreme limits, you will be watching men's sports. Want to watch the fastest runners in the world? Then you're going to be watching the men's 100m sprint, no question about it.

But if you're interested in skill, then you can watch women's sports too (not that men are brawn over brains). And in, for instance, a woman's 5,000 metre race, while the men's time might be faster, both of the races will involve strategy (when to go to the front, when to hang back and let someone take the lead for the first laps, can you pull off that final stretch burst of speed to pass them out) which is interesting to watch.

I think the mindset idea has some value - innate talent might be important, but for practical purposes, you can't change the genes you were born with, whereas you can practice hard. At the same time, it might be that people are better off trying to identify their talents and disposition and act in a way that matches them, rather than trying to shove their square self into a round hole.

I think the growth vs. fixed mindset paradigm is bunkum .

It's a Current Hot Thing in pedagogy. Those are usually a core of wishful thinking with a thin science-flavored veneer on top, for the same reason that star basketball players are usually very tall: it's a big competitive advantage in the marketplace of ideas, as long as the participants in that marketplace don't particularly care about what's actually true.

(Regarding the growth mindset stuff in particular: attempted replications keep failing to show much effect except when Carol Dweck is personally involved, which at the very least does not inspire confidence in its ability to accomplish anything real at scale.)

Jesus Christ, wasn't Scott dunking on the "growth mindset" literally years ago?

Short version of my theory:

  • Fixed mindset is what is true.

  • But people who believe in growth mindset actually work to their fullest potential instead of sitting on their ass.

I am very uncomfortable with The Noble Lie but telling someone that they are just going to end up wherever mother nature decides is robbing them of something big.

This is related to having an internal versus external locus of control. The difference has a massive impact on motivation and perseverance.

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