How much interest was born with you?
When we read many life guide out there, most of them all point to some intrinsic quality of you -- what you really interested in and what you really love to do.
The question is trickily asked. The word "really" in the question assumes that there is such quality (interest and love) lives in you, born with you, and you need to find it out. But what if the quality is not inside you? Then how hard would it be to find something intrinsic but not intrinsically there.
I start to have doubt in it. There must be some part of our interest born with us. Watching kids play, some kid like to play quietly and some like to play loud, some like to draw and some like to run around. But looking back at much of my experience and connect them together, I can't help to see that large part of my interest is just determined by how easily I can get appreciation.
Say I love maths, is the fact that I got a lot of praises from my big brother and the fact I got a amazing math book show me all the tricks of math computation and later I can show off before other kids and teacher? Say I love play chess, does the fact that I started chess earlier of my age and at school I can beat all the kids in my class? I lost much of my intestest in chess, does it to do with the fact that school I hardly find a competition, and in college that I hardly can beat anyone?
It is more complex that just current appreciations. I still think I love chess. Does it to do with my old memory of winning all those games? I work very hard on getting my phD degree, does that has anything to do with the image in my mind of appreciation of a PhD degree?
It goes on and on, and I hardly can find any of my interest has nothing to do with environment, society, experience, ... etc.
Sometime, it resolve into a chicken-egg question. I have strong interest in physics because I do better in physics than other same-ages. I doing better in physics give me the appreciation or satisfaction of self-esteem, and it drives me futher hard work in gaining more experience in physics. And it goes on. What it starts I learn physics better and faster than many others has much to do with the fact that I like math and good at math. Then logic goes again with math. So all my life to now I believe I have intrinsic talent in math, until my son born. He can't count to 10 yet but I have met other kids even younger than him can count to even 100. Maybe I don't have that math talent intrinsically.
Well, finding out chicken first or egg first sure is exhausting. Let me just rest on the conclusion that large portion of my interest is purely obtained after born.
The question is trickily asked. The word "really" in the question assumes that there is such quality (interest and love) lives in you, born with you, and you need to find it out. But what if the quality is not inside you? Then how hard would it be to find something intrinsic but not intrinsically there.
I start to have doubt in it. There must be some part of our interest born with us. Watching kids play, some kid like to play quietly and some like to play loud, some like to draw and some like to run around. But looking back at much of my experience and connect them together, I can't help to see that large part of my interest is just determined by how easily I can get appreciation.
Say I love maths, is the fact that I got a lot of praises from my big brother and the fact I got a amazing math book show me all the tricks of math computation and later I can show off before other kids and teacher? Say I love play chess, does the fact that I started chess earlier of my age and at school I can beat all the kids in my class? I lost much of my intestest in chess, does it to do with the fact that school I hardly find a competition, and in college that I hardly can beat anyone?
It is more complex that just current appreciations. I still think I love chess. Does it to do with my old memory of winning all those games? I work very hard on getting my phD degree, does that has anything to do with the image in my mind of appreciation of a PhD degree?
It goes on and on, and I hardly can find any of my interest has nothing to do with environment, society, experience, ... etc.
Sometime, it resolve into a chicken-egg question. I have strong interest in physics because I do better in physics than other same-ages. I doing better in physics give me the appreciation or satisfaction of self-esteem, and it drives me futher hard work in gaining more experience in physics. And it goes on. What it starts I learn physics better and faster than many others has much to do with the fact that I like math and good at math. Then logic goes again with math. So all my life to now I believe I have intrinsic talent in math, until my son born. He can't count to 10 yet but I have met other kids even younger than him can count to even 100. Maybe I don't have that math talent intrinsically.
Well, finding out chicken first or egg first sure is exhausting. Let me just rest on the conclusion that large portion of my interest is purely obtained after born.
posted by Hui Zhou at 3:06 PM
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