Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (Chapter 5 Review)
It starts by the author asking how much grit do we have.
She says that grit is affected by both genes and experience, same as how height works.
Talents are also genetically influenced, but only for the most part. You only get the talent once you’ve done the thing.
Scientists used the grit scale on 2000 pairs of twins in the UK, and the results were that inheritance of perseverance was 37% while passion was 20%.
The author says grit isn’t affected by only one gene. Research shows that traits aren’t affected by one gene, but lots.
If you asked people from 100 years ago to take an IQ test now, the average would be 70, almost mentally disabled. But if you put people from today to the normal scores of 100 years ago, we would average on 130 IQ.
This is a thing called the Flynn effect, used for the big increase in skill over the last 100 years because of technological advancements.
For example, basketball became more competitive than before because of kids watching TV programs of basketball and copying the pros’ moves and as a result, making them used to it and “practice” more.
The grittiest people are in the 60s and above age range, while the least gritty were at their 20s.
There’s a reverse Flynn effect for this, because the older people grew up in a different era that probably had more hardships than today.
Or, it could be that it has nothing to do with generation changes, but that people mature as they get older. As people try more stuff and fail, they have a resistance against getting annoyed and giving up.
As we get older, we get pushed into doing new things, like getting jobs or taking care of your parents. We adapt to that, so we change when we need to.
The conclusion is that older people having more grit can both be affected by either age or cultural progression, the author says it can be both.
You can grow grit first by thinking about where you are now. Are you as gritty as you want to be? If not, why?
The higher the goal, the more people tend to be stubborn about finishing it. The more stubborn the person is about stuff, probably the more they’ll stick onto smaller tasks, so stubbornness might not be all that bad.
The people have grit in their interests show the same process. First comes interest. Second comes practice. Third is purpose, as in “does my hobby really matter or is it just for the fun of it?”. The last is hope to be successful using that interest.
The author says that grit grows, and if you’re not as gritty as you want to be, learn how in the next episode of Dragon Ball Z!!!
>continued in the next chapter on how to grow grit
