Links ...

1. Jonah Lehrer in Boston Globe: The Truth About Grit:

   Woody Allen once remarked that “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” [Angela] Duckworth points out that it’s not enough to just show up; one must show up again and again and again. Sometimes it isn’t easy or fun to keep showing up. Success, however, requires nothing less. That’s why it takes grit.

   Much of the article revolves around the study of grit in Angela Duckworth's group; on her website, you can participate in the GRIT study.

2. Gary Laderman in Inside Higher Ed: The Death Guy:

   For the last decade or so I have taught a death and dying course at Emory University. When I first offered the course there were 8 or so students; last year when I taught it, 60 students enrolled. As a teacher it is supremely gratifying to know when you’ve truly nailed a class, and this class is a blast for me and for the students ... [who[ also teach me a thing or two each year.

   It works every year and yet for some misguided reason I thought it would be good to try something new for a change, and so I decided to teach religion and sexuality next term. I imagined it would be an easy shift from the one topic to the other. Now that I’m preparing the class, I’m already longing for the death lectures, site visits (Emory Hospital morgue; local funeral home; Oakland Cemetery; you get the picture), and lugubrious images. Ironically, I’m not too sure how to spice up the sex class.

3. Perri Klass in NYTimes: Stealing in Childhood Does Not a Criminal Make:

   ... [P]arents of most young children can be confident that stealing is a pretty routine behavior. “It might be unusual for a child to go through childhood without ever stealing anything, though the parent may not know,” Dr. Stein said. [...]

   So when we found the cache of stolen cash, I did ask my pediatrician, who told me, kindly, that this was strictly routine. Take it seriously, he said, talk about consequences, extract an apology, but don’t act as if you think it means your child is a criminal.

4. Jamil Salmi in Forbes.com: What Makes A University Great?

   The bottom line here is not that low and middle-income countries should abandon dreams to set up their own world-class universities. Instead, they ought to understand that there are trade-offs involved, and that they need not hurry. Most of the world's elite institutions began as small teaching colleges that over time, with financial stability and thoughtful leadership, grew into the envied institutions they are now.

5. This cartoon by Barry Deutsch on libertarian freedom is pretty fantastic.