Re: OT: "Smart kids" tangent (was Re: [Nolug] Who usually shows up for meetings?)

On Mon, Dec 08, 2008 at 11:24:49AM -0500, Mark A. Hershberger wrote:
>
> Since this discussion has very little to do with Linux or New Orleans, I
> guess you won't mind if I side-track it some more ;)
>
> Petri Laihonen <pietu@weblizards.net> writes:
>
> > on the Wall Street Journal - What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?
> > http://xrl.us/o2hz6
>
> Maybe one of the problems is that Americans are obsessed with ???Smart
> Kids??? instead of children who perform.
>
> I grew up being told I was smart. Adults would tell me ???You're so
> smart, why don't you do better in school????
>
> By contrast, my wife (an Asian woman born in Vietnam) was never told she
> was smart ??? she was simply expected to perform.
>
> I would suggest that the problem is that Americans are obsessed with
> ???natural??? talent in a way that is unhealthy. Studies have show that
> when a child is praised for intelligence rather than performance, they
> fail to perform. An article in NY Magazine (???How Not to Talk to Your
> Kids???, http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/) gives an overview.

Most people want to develop natural talent and get upset when one with the talent squanders it. I think you're missing this part of this supposed "obsession."

>
> In all likelihood, there is nothing inherently better about ???smart???
> Finnish kids than their ???dumb??? American cousins.

I agree with this. I reject any notion that any person from any particular country is necessarily smarted than others. One of the benefits of my job and extracurriculars at LSU is that I get to meet and befriend a lot of people from outside of the US. All of these people are smart (even the American ones, duh!), but they're good at different things. The Asians and Indians are very good at some types of algorithms whereas Americans and Europeans are better at others. Russians seem to be in a class all by themselves :). I see this *every* day. It all has to do with what/how you learned growing up.

Also, if you speak to people from other countries about who has a better educational system, they'll usually point out some benefits to how we do things over here, including that our educational system is a lot more flexible than the ones where you have to pick your career at age 13. Many countries force students to declare a "major" at a very young age, which I think we can all agree is incredibly restrictive.

It has also been pointed out to me that most work environments in the US reward PERFORMANCE and PRODUCTION, not necessarily the number of degrees you have, which is apparently the prevailing practice in Europe (or at least France). This sort of speaks against your comment of the US' supposed preference of talent over results.

Brett

>
> Mark.
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B. Estrade
Louisiana Optical Network Initiative
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