Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Yeah - fell across this and landed straight onto one of those epiphanetic (?) moments when you peer into your past and make one of those long, drawn out, "oooooh"'s usually delivered while clasping your forehead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4qBSrLe19k

The actual bit in question stradles the end of this section and the start of the next one (I haven't provided the link - I figure you guys know how to use youtube by now), and concerns the study done on the effect of praise on IQ tests....Trust me, if you think you know what's coming, you don't (Unless you've read the study and know what's coming - but that's different.....and cheating). I'm a slightly egotistical smart alec when it comes to "motivational" hyperbole a lot of the time - "I'm intelligent, intuitive and cynical...So I'm pretty certain I can work out what you're going to say next....blah, blah, believe in yourself, blah, blah, reach for your dreams, blah, tell yourself everyday that your amazing and that you can do it, blah blah". Yeah one of those people. This was frankly completely out of left field.

I advise watching the whole thing but if you want just jump to 7:30 and watch from there........and no I'm not going paraphrase here.

So apparently I'm a cheater, cause I've heard of this study before. Fascinating, isn't it? When I first heard the results I was a little surprised, but then as I thought of it it really does make sense. After all, it's easy to assume you can always perform well, no matter how much effort you put into it. But when you have to work for it, well...yeah. At least I've noticed that's how I work, personally. I never had to work hard to get "A"s in school (except in math) so I was always told I was smart, and I definitely showed the same results the study showed.

I wonder what kind of affect this study would have on the praise we give out to each other, as writers. I mean, I'm an encourager by nature so I always end up praising at least something in a person's work. But am I really doing them a favor by saying they write well, I very much enjoy their plot, they have an eye for description, I think they're a great writer? Which category of praise does that fall under, do you think?

I just finished watching all 4 parts. Wow. Just wow! I had never heard of it this way, but now that I have it's like. "Oh yeah. Duh." Makes so much sense. I love the last quote on the last video:

The dynamic range of raw human ability is tiny compared to the range of practiced human accomplishment. Though your talent might let you make some noise at first, only diligent practice will get you heard. - Howard Taylor

This is a life changer Hillsy. Just like Howard Taylor, this is even going to change how I parent my boys. No praise on ability - hard work and effort baby! That's where it's at!

Dios4vida, I think it's fine to give out praise and encouragement. We all need that. However, this lecture has taught me to praise and encourage the right things for the right reasons. Besides, If I really like something, I'm just going to say it!