Shenk keeps
explaining that if one wants to achieve greatness, they need the motivation to
be able to go through the “daily grinding commitment to becoming better” (68).
Even though part of his advice is purely counseling, how could the motivation
described on page 120 be able to physically help one to pursue a talent. What are other mental drives that Shenk describes could help to push one forward to achieve greatness? How
would the mental drive of a person actually affect outcome of a skill
genetically? Think along the lines of environmental stressors and brain related
hormones. Incorporate the growth mindset theme.
(Christina Li, christinali208@gmail.com)
Motivation is a common term that refers to the determination of a person to achieve something, but Shenk augments what it means to be determined. It is obvious that the motivation that Shenk refers to is a much more passionate feeling, "You have to want it, want it so bad you will never give up, so bad that you are ready to sacrifice time, money, sleep, friendships, and even your reputation" (Shenk 120). Such passionate motivation are what help a person push towards greatness. This constant fight to become better creates a specific environment for your body, one specific to the goal you are attempting to reach. For example, if you are motivated to become a great baseball hitter and you are as motivated as Shenk suggests, then you will create an environment that your body will have regulate the change in the environment. The constant motion of hitting the baseball is an action that will cause the specific muscles involved to get stronger and while this practice occurs the body is attempting to regulate itself back to homeostasis. The motivation to practice a task "beyond the zone of relative comfort... will challenge the available protection of homeostasis sufficiently to induce an abnormal state for cells in some physiological system" (Shenk 254). The motivation that is behind the vigorous practice of a task challenges homeostasis, and specific cells are challenged enough they will adapt in order to be more well fitted with the task needed. For example, the motivation to practice a specific task such as hitting a baseball will develop a higher lung capacity in order for the muscle cells to reach homeostasis more quickly (Campbell), but the muscle cells will also eventually develop a response in which they need less oxygen in order to continue the same amount of work. This change in the body shows how motivation has the ability to change the outcome of a skill genetically. The extreme motivation leads to strenuous practice of the specific task, and in order to maintain constant and more efficient homeostasis, the body cells that are involved with the specific task that is being practiced has changed. In short the motivation do achieve greatness in some aspect allowed for the augmentation of a skill genetically.
ReplyDeleteThe growth mindset is yet another way to look at this topic. The ability for a person to understand that with strong motivation they can achieve some sort of greatness is evident throughout Shenk's argument. The growth mindsets incorporates the importance of practice, which is a key element to the process that will lead to a physical change associated with greatness. In fact, Shenk mentions the importance this mental drive can have, " Individuals... own abilities are malleable-not fixed from birth. Many studies show that the more a person believes that abilities can be developed the greater the success that person will eventually enjoy" (Shenk 48). This mental drive of a growth mindset parallels the effect that motivation can have.
The overall effect of motivation can be seen in the change the body has physically. This occurs in order to maintain homeostasis more efficiently, but at the same time rewards the individual with greatness. For example, a runner who continuously is motivated to practice running will eventually experience what is known as a "runner's high" this is due to the increased levels of endorphins. "Endorphins interact with the opiate receptors in the brain to reduce our perception of pain" (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55001). This hormone is a physical change that runner's encounter when they are motivated to become better runners.
Joseph Hugener (jah1112@comcast.net)
In the kind of obsessive motivation described by David Shenk, one’s devotion to mastering a certain skill outweighs all else: “time, money, sleep, friendships, even [one’s] reputation” (120). If you devote the time normally spent sleeping, maintaining friendships, earning money, or maintaining a social status to honing one specific skill, over time, the muscles in the body used to perform the skill will adapt to their newfound demands. With regular performance of that skill, those muscles will become stronger and more efficient to more effectively maintain homeostasis within the body. This is also true of the brain, which has been proven to adapt to more efficiently perform certain tasks. As long as the task that you perform is challenging, and remains so even as your body adapts, your skill will continue to grow (http://www.naturallyintense.net/exercise/weight-training/).
ReplyDeleteAdaptations to environmental stressors (such as a change in the way one uses a certain muscle) can occur through the regulation of gene expression. When the body needs extra energy or ingredients in a certain area or muscle, that part of the body may stimulate the production of a hormone in the pituitary gland. This hormone will then be dispersed throughout the body, where it can regulate gene expression at a few different levels. At the post-transcription level, a hormone may alter the stability of mRNA molecules, which affects how fast they degrade. At the transcription level, a hormone may bind to RNA transcriptase, slowing down or speeding up the process of transcription in the nucleus. (http:// jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/Promoter.html) Both of these methods are equally effective, but without the stressor, adaptations cannot occur. That is where a healthy growth mindset comes into play- if you believe that you really can change the way your body works, then you will likely push yourself harder, and your belief will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Alternatively, if you do not believe, then you will likely not push yourself as hard, and that will also become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In addition to motivation, Shenk also describes “constructive self-criticism” (122) as a necessary part of the path to greatness. For years, we have heard the saying “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” and most of us have rolled our eyes, but as silly as it sounds, it is true. Shenk points out that the greatest inventors never would have become the greatest inventors if they had not first failed, and forced themselves to learn from their failures. They would correct the more obvious flaws in their next few versions, then correct more subtle problems in the few after that, but they never gave up because it didn’t work on the first try. To be great at anything, one would need that kind of persistence. In a related tip on page 123, Shenk warns against assigning blame in the event of failure. Whether you fault yourself or someone else, your bitterness spreads like a cancer and quickly becomes destructive to your potential success. A prospective “genius” should move towards the future, not waste his or her life away dwelling in the past.
(Rachael Affenit, rachael.affenit@comcast.net)