Stanford duck syndrome: How the myth of effortless genius hurts learning

When a precocious yet nonconformist teenager asks why they need to learn calculus, what should you say?

You know they will never use it in adulthood, outside of certain career choices.

You could say, “It’ll help you get into college,” but then they’re left wondering why college cares if you know calculus. And once they’re in college, maybe you could... See more

Parents think they can hand children permanent confidence—like a gift—by praising their brains and talent. It doesn’t work, and in fact has the opposite effect. It makes children doubt themselves as soon as anything is hard or anything goes wrong. If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children t... See more

It's tempting, sometimes, to idealize the trope of the "lazy genius." I decline to do so. There is a great deal of tedious maintenance work someone needs to do to keep the world running, and an inability to consistently do so is not praiseworthy. Some smart, low-conscientiousness people manage to flourish without discipline, making careers out o... See more

Some kinds of difficulties during learning help to make the learning stronger and better remembered. • When learning is easy, it is often superficial and soon forgotten. • Not all of our intellectual abilities are hardwired. In fact, when learning is effortful, it changes the brain, making new connections and increasing intellectual ability. • You

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