- Dweck and Lukianoff/Haidt can be related by the idea of Fixed Mindset. Dweck explores what makes a fixed mindset a fixed mindset such as, thinking your intelligence is being tested and subsequently feeling like you failed. In “The Coddling” the authors reference how people spoke in the past a lot. In the present we are obviously evolving the way in which we speak to others all the time, which means acknowledging the past to discuss why it was wrong or destructive. “The Coddling” presents the fact that the newer generations are seen as “sensitive” and “can’t take a joke” but all the newer generations are trying to do is acknowledge the past and change for the better. But some want to live in the past and not the present and refuse to change the ways in which they speak, which I feel is a great example of fixed mindset. You are in your comfort zone, while individuals from the new generations push to better themselves.
- Barclay Paragraphs Connecting Dweck and “The Coddling”
Fixed mindset can be applied anywhere in life, even in interpersonal relationships and speech. A woman named Carol Dweck performed a ted talk about the differences between fixed mindset and growth mindset. In her presentation she discussed why growth mindsets were better for preparing children for the future, and why fixed mindsets were so detrimental to the percieved idea of intelligence. In her experiments, students were given slightly hard math problems to solve, and students with fixed mindsets reacted in a negative way. Some students viewed the experience as “tragic, catastrophic. From their more fixed mindset perspective, their intelligence had been up for judgment, and they failed.” These students felt as though it was the end of the world that they were unable to solve these problems. A fixed mindset led these students to believe they were incapable and therefore unintelligent. A fixed mindset can sometimes solely rely on our emotions leading us to believe we are truly unintelligent. Yet, when thinking critically our fixed mindset can change. In an article titled “The Coddling” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haid they stated, “critical thinking requires grounding one’s beliefs in evidence rather than in emotion or desire, and learning how to search for and evaluate evidence that might contradict one’s initial hypothesis.” Critical thinking and emotions decide whether we stay in a fixed mindset or break out into a growth mindset to think of new ways around a problem. If we rely solely on our emotions the true solution to a given problem might never be found. Given this idea, a growth mindset allows us to truly think critically while having our emotions in mind without them being our main focus when confronting a conflict.
Growth mindset can be used to enact useful change in the world and how we understand each other. Dweck explains how she observed which children possessed a growth mindset out of all the children who received the same math problems as mentioned before. “Some of them reacted in a shockingly positive way…They understood that their abilities could be developed. They had what I call a growth mindset.” Those students weren’t held back by their emotions, but were stimulated at the idea of trying something new. They understood that the problems were hard but they also knew they would try their best to solve them. Understanding the fact that your critical thinking abilities can be developed is a huge factor in developing a growth mindset. Lukianoff and Haid stated in their article that, “Rather than trying to protect students from words and ideas that they will inevitably encounter, colleges should do all they can to equip students to thrive in a world full of words and ideas that they cannot control.” Introducing students to the idea of a growth mindset will better prepare them for things they cannot control. Having a growth mindset allows a person to think critically about the problem or situation in front of them, and figure out a way to confront it without fear. Having a growth mindset when discussing personal issues or world wide problems will help everyone in the long run to become more understanding of one another.
