Last week I wrote about rethinking education to take advantage of technology and teach for mastery.
I saw this tweet a few weeks ago, and it’s been on my mind ever since:
It’s tempting to laugh this off and make a joke about people who are a little too obsessed with winning trivia night at the local pub.
Or to dismiss the insight altogether and say, “of course being smart isn’t important as an adult. Besides, who cares what anyone else thinks about you?”
But if you happen to catch me in a brutally honest and self-reflective mood, then I would say, this cuts deep.
I’m one of those people who was praised often as a kid for being smart. <Takes a hit of dopamine>. Being praised feels good, so we go off looking for more opportunities to prove how smart we are. <Takes another hit of dopamine>. It creates a positive feedback loop.
So what’s the problem?