Thursday, December 20, 2012

The Twelve Days of Gheorghemas: Day 7

On the seventh day of Gheorghemas, Big Gheorghe gave to me:

Seven Traits for Winning
Six Facts O'Ghoogling
Five Lasting Images
Four Things to Think About
Three catastrophe 'staches
The Finest Holiday Duet in History
And One Hell of a bloggy Par-ty

If you have children, or if you just care about education, then I highly recommend Paul Tough's new book How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character. If you've been reading Sentence of Dave, then you've heard me tout this thesis before-- that in order to succeed in school and in life, IQ and SAT scores are less important than character traits such as resilience, persistence, and the ability to delay gratification . . . but obviously folks at the highest levels of education reform haven't been reading my blog, and so a greater and greater emphasis is being placed on test scores than ever before. This makes no sense, and Paul Tough provides scientific evidence and case studies to illustrate why, and then he provides some practical, politically neutral solutions. I don't want to get mired in the nation's educational problems when it's a so close to Gheorghemas, a time when the children across our land should forget about the looming standardized tests that will determine their future and instead enjoy the fruits of a unsustainable materialistic consumer economy, and so let me get to the heart of the matter.

Angela Duckworth, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote about the importance of "grit" as a key characteristic in success in school and beyond, and then two other prominent clinical psychologists, Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman, drafted six other core traits that tend to be present in people with "life satisfaction" and "high achievement." Progressive schools are starting to experiment with curriculum that promote these character traits -- which can be improved --  and these schools are incorporating the teaching of these traits into traditional knowledge based learning.


In a groundbreaking and candid work of psychological sincerity, I will rate myself in each of these categories, using the Dungeons and Dragons character creation scale (3-18 . . . determined by rolling three six sided dice and adding the results, three being the lowest possible score and eighteen being the highest). And then, for the New Year, I resolve to improve each and every category with a rigorous regimen of character building exercises . . . or maybe not.

Grit: 12

Although I have read True Grit and seen both movie versions (and read everything else Charles Portis has ever written) I'm not sure if I rank especially high in this category. More often than not, I tend to start projects and not finish them, which is why I set the bar so low on Sentence of Dave. On the other hand, I have persevered in several areas in which it appeared that I had zero talent -- most notably the guitar and basketball. I was fairly horrible at both these things in college, but through hard-work and persistence, I have become a serviceable guitarist and a decent basketball player.

Self-Control: 6

This is why we can't keep Oreos in my house.

Zest: 14

If it's the right topic, I can be very passionate: soccer, beer-drinking, books, the guitar, my wife and children, evolutionary theory, the singularity, Saxondale . . . but my score isn't perfect because I have a hard time faking it. If it's not something I enjoy, my zest disintegrates like a Saltine in hot soup.


Social Intelligence: 5

My low score in this category has generated lots of great material for my blog. Luckily, I am aware of my deficit, so I can warn people ahead of time . . . and my awareness and self-reflection about this fault is is why I'm not a "3."

Gratitude: 14

I'm big on saying "please" and "thank you" and I've waited tables, which is a job that makes you appreciate just about everyone in the service industry-- so though I can be a bit cynical, I am still generally thankful for the privileged life that I lead (and sometimes I even feel a bit guilty for all my good fortune . . . but that's another essay).

Optimism: 12

I am neither a glass full or a glass empty person. I'm more of a "Can I have a plastic cup, because I'm afraid I'm going to break your glass" person. A stoic realist.

Curiosity: 16

I like to read about a lot of different shit. The only reason my score in this category isn't higher is because I don't like ballet or opera or volleyball. Otherwise, I'm pretty much open to learning about anything.

I encourage the G:TB staff and readers to rate themselves in these categories and post the results in the comments. The results will be kept strictly confidential and there will be no disputing the numbers -- this is simply a healthy exercise in self-reflection (but if T.J. puts more than a 5 for self-control, I'm going to drive down to Virginia and punch him in the testicles. Same goes for Clarence). Anyway, this is a safe space, so let's hear what you think of yourselves!

37 comments:

Danimal said...

could be entertaining for you folks that have been pals for a while to guess the scores the others would give you and why, while comparing what you'd give yourself. no? never mind then.

this book has been on my e-reader for a few months now and is currently on deck. i look forward to learning how to cement my childrens' future.

T.J. said...

Dave gets a 0 for label usage.

And I scored a 69.

zman said...

You need to work the term "3d6" into this somehow.

zman said...

This is why I'm an abject failure.

GRT: 5
SC: 17 (sober) 13 (intoxicated)
ZST: 8
SI: 11
GRA: 14
OPT: 4
CUR: 15

rob said...

i scored myself way too high on every category except grit. so i'm going back to reassess. apparently i'm a 3 for self-awareness.

Clarence said...

GRT: 6 (private school white boys with my Christian name are at most a 9 in this category)

SC: 5 (on a good day)

ZST: 16 (to a fault)

SI: 13 (only marked down because of a willing suspension of SI in certain situations)

GRA: 16 (although Teej constantly tells me how arrogant I am, I do believe that every day is a gift and I express gratitude to those that make it so.)

OPT: 17 (naively so)

CUR: 11 (fascinated by humans, but not curious in all sorts of things like Dave)

Clarence said...

And Dave was pretty damn optimistic when he tried to carry those pint glasses in Amsterdam.

zman said...

I probably scored myself too low in everything except for OPT because I have such a low OPT score.

Mark said...

I'm not doing all this. Just give me a score and tell me what it is. I barely know you people anyway.

Also, I'm too busy reading the story of how former US Olympian Suzy Favors became a high priced Vegas hooker.

Clarence said...

It's not a long story. The entirety of the text is "Well, her name was Suzy Favors."

Clarence said...

And Mark certainly lost points in the Zest category with his comment.

Dave said...

perhaps all of our grit scores should go up because we've been persevering through the 12 days of gheorghemas for so many years. who has day 8?

rob said...

this suzy favor thing is mindboggling

Danimal said...

yeah, i'll say. especially the
$600/hr rate. she must have wore a mask & gun to have commanded that.

Danimal said...

yeah, i'll say. especially the
$600/hr rate. she must have wore a mask & gun to have commanded that.

Mark said...

I think you mean mind bottling, Rob?

What's mindboggling to me is that she says her husband "tried" to get her to stop. Umm, does he know about divorce?

rob said...

danimal, doubly boggled

rob said...

yeah, the husband doesn't come out well in this story.

Danimal said...

she's got one of those faces...a la seinfeld episode - jerry dates a girl who in certain lighting is hotter than a bottle rocket in july and in other light, U-G-L-Y she ain't got no alibi. She UGLY. Absolutely UGLY.

Mark said...

Danimal...revealing he knows far too much about reasonable hooker rates. I like it.

T.J. said...

She said she decided to quit the escort business, though several of her clients tell the site “she is worth every penny.”

Mark said...

Did they pay her in pennies? That seems odd. And really unnecessary.

zman said...

Speaking of rates, colleague went to Nashville for the Jets-Titans game and drunkenly entered a noodie bar. Apparently the dancers were not as attractive as he hoped they would be and their fees were the same as those found in NYC, prompting him to tell the dancer "If you're going to charge New York rates you need to have better looking girls."

And speaking of the Jest ... Greg McElroy!! And nary a comment from Gheorghe's myriad Jest/Bama fans!

Danimal said...

audible chuckle at mark comment.

teejus - i think she probably threw in a little bit of running counseling as well. that's what i call "value added".

Danimal said...

i think one or two of ya's know this guy...
http://tinyurl.com/clpbmcs

Clarence said...

I once witnessed a bumblebee get caught in Durkin"s chest hair whilst drinking keg beer in the back of a pickup truck at Apple Blossom in Winchester, VA. That's the extent of my Todd Durkin story library.

zman said...

Every tIme I read another article about Newtown I get choked up. Fuck guns.

Clarence said...

I had to stop paying attention to those stories early on. I can't handle it.

Mark said...

I approve of tonight's Thunder uniforms.

rob said...

chatted with w&m athletic director terry driscoll this evening. i now know even less about our conference destination than i ever did. did learn that the teej and i are followed on twitter by several tribe club staffers.

T.J. said...

lulz

Mark said...

So I should start insulting W&M in my twitter replies to you two as much as possible?

rob said...

those 'damn you autocorrect' bits get me right in my funny spot

rob said...

i'm not proud

rob said...

know i'm late to this party, but neil gaiman's 'american gods' is in the process of blowing my mind

Clarence said...

At least that's a break from another gaiman blowing another of your body parts. Phew.

zman said...

AWG.