This is a most interesting blog written by Dr. Jonathan
Wai. The blog is within Psychology
Today, at this address:
Jonathan Wai, Ph.D., is a research scientist at the Duke University Talent
Identification Program and
a visiting researcher at Case Western Reserve University.
He
researches and writes about the development of talent, broadly conceived, and
its impact on society. His interests focus on the role of cognitive
abilities, education, and other factors that contribute to the development of
expertise in education, occupation, and innovation. Additionally, he is
interested in policy implications of developing (or failing to develop) talent,
and connecting his work with the larger global conversation.
The blog features interviews with
interesting people, book recommendations, study reviews and more. Dr. Wai writes in a very interesting way.
Here are two posts I liked:
1.
An interview with Prof. Douglas
Detterman
Prof. Detterman is one of the prominent
intelligence scholars
of our time, and is the founder of the journal "Intelligence". He's also one of the most generous scholars I've known. Prof. Detterman is currently writing a book
on intelligence. He sent the book's chapters,
in draft, to all those interested provided that the reader sends him
comments. This is how I
also got to read
his fascinating book. I've learned a lot from
it.
In this interview Prof. Detterman
discusses social aspects of intelligence.
One of these is whether cognitive
abilities can be improved by training or effort. From what I gather, Prof. Detterman thinks
that beyond a certain point, they can't be much further improved. "It’s all part of the philosophy of work hard and you’ll be rewarded. That everybody is the
same and the only difference is how hard you are willing to work to achieve a particular
goal. And if you don’t achieve that goal it’s because you haven’t worked hard
enough, not because you’re not capable enough. It would seem to me that a much
smarter way of looking at things is that I’m better suited for some things than
other things and so I should try to find those things I am suited for and work
at those." This is
similar to ROBERT STERNBERG's view (which he terms "Successful
Intelligence").
2. A book recommendation:
Curious:
the desire to know and why your future depends on it, by Ian Leslie.
Dr. Wai reviews the book in a way that
really makes you want to read it. I found
myself agreeing with most of this book's insights, as represented by Dr. Wai.