From the book Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success by Matthew Syed, I got turned on to Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck. Her thesis is that we have two basic mindsets that she calls “fixed” and “growth.” I am always a little leery about binary divisions, particularly in something as complex as human psychology. Nevertheless, I find much of what she says very compelling. Dweck’s so-called “growth” mindset leaves individuals open to expansion and promotes the idea of hard work. The “fixed” mindset, on the other hand, is characterized by a reliance on real or perceived talent. In a variety of experiments covering a broad range of tasks, an obvious pattern emerged. Subjects who were led to believe they were particularly talented underperformed thereafter, while subjects complimented on the amount of effort they had put in tended to overperform.

As I was reading through right-wing nuttery lately (I have odd hobbies), I hit on a sort of epiphany. I wonder to what extent Dweck’s “mindset” idea explains our current national character. Where most of the developed world was left devastated by the end of World War II, the United States was relatively unscathed. I think few would doubt the worth of the generation of Americans that survived the Great Depression and emerged from the second World War an economic juggernaut. Those who grew up in the post-war years, however, embraced the concept of American exceptionalism. The baby boomers have made this country into that coddled brat who has been told of his greatness since childhood. Meanwhile, the real assets of this nation are forgotten. Disagree? Who listens to Rush Limbaugh and, in the 21st century, is still frightened of “socialism,” women, and dark people? I rest my case.