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June 4, 2006

Ten Heuristics of Life and Learning

Topics: Life Issues

N. Gregory Mankiw, a noted professor of economics at Harvard, has published his "My Rules of Thumb" in which he passes on his wisdom about work. Before I retired from teaching, I did the same thing in a speech I gave to faculty and students. It was my attempt to pass on the insight and wisdom that comes from age and experience. A former student of mine who attended the speech read Mankiw's article, and suggested that I do the same thing with my speech. This post is from my notes, and is organized into ten heuristics:

1. Never assume a negative about your abilities or what you can do. Let reality provide the negative through your failure. This is fundamental in life and work, as in not asking the boss or bureaucracy whether you can do something. Just go ahead a do it, and maybe they won't say no. One of the most impressive case of this is the blind student Tim Cordes who got a medical degree with honors from the University of Wisconsin, and is also a black belt in kwon do and jujitsu.

2. Keep in mind that the power to achieve = interest X capability X will. I have known very intelligent students whose interests were so diffuse, or their will to work so lacking, that they could not succeed in school. Then I've known those who were not so bright, but worked hard at what they wanted to do, or had such a deep and highly focused interest in what they were doing, that they achieved well past what I expected of them.

(Continued here)

Posted by Rudy at June 4, 2006 10:09 PM

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