Blog Post #10

One thing I learned in Chapter 9 was about overconfidence. Overconfidence is the tendency to assume that our knowledge and judgments are correct when they can actually be way off. Many people just assume that their right in some situations. For example, the saying “your eyes are bigger than your stomach.” I believe that this is very true because it happens to me sometimes. When you are really hungry, and you see all different kinds of foods that you love to eat, you generally will take all those things and double the serving size that you would normally take. In this case, very few are able to clean their whole plate even though they assumed that they were that hungry to finish it all up. Sometimes people believe that they can do something when they can’t. It is surprising how wrong some people can be. For example, if someone says they can get a task done quickly, generally it will take a little longer than they expected. Usually it will take twice as long as they expected. I also learned that many people believe that they will have free time in the future, when actually they realize that they in fact maybe busy from making plans. Most everyone freely accepts invitations. Therefore, this shows that we are actually busy and shouldn’t just assume of those things. I thought it was interesting to learn that people who normally show overconfidence are generally happier than non overconfidence people. They get less stressed and can find a way to work out tough situations easier. They also give themselves credit for the work that they accomplished. In my opinion, it sounds like people who are overconfident are generally optimistic. I would say that I am not a very overconfident person, because I generally assume for the worst and would say I am a pessimist.

Creativity is an important skill to have in my opinion. It allows you to come up with ideas. There are five components of creativity. First, expertise which is a very good understanding of a specific topic. This would be very effective because if one knows about a subject before researching it, it would make ones’ life more tangible. For example, I believe that one of my expertises is on riding horses. Since I have been around them my whole life, I’ve over the years learned more and more about them. The second component is imaginative thinking skills. This involves being able to recognize things, such as patterns or reasons. A person who has this skill can critically think and evaluate things more easily. They have a better understanding of how things work. I feel that I lack this component. I am very bad at coming up with ideas and don’t recognize patterns easily. The third component is a venturesome personality. This requires someone that is adventurous, is willing to try new things, and ready for a risk that may be involved. I strongly believe that I would fit in this category. I love to try new things and take a little bit of risk. It entertains me and allows for a good story to tell when I am done doing a stunt, etc. For example, one time my cousins and I intentionally hopped in a barrel and put some blankets in it for some sort of protection and we had a rope tied around it. A person on a horse would hold on to this rope and take off as fast as they could, pulling the barrel behind. Many people believed that we were crazy for doing this, but they don’t realize that it is the thrill and excitement that makes this event awesome! It didn’t even hurt because we had so many pads in the barrel to protect us plus we wore a helmet. The fourth component is intrinsic motivation. This involves being more driven and accepting challenges. Also, someone who has this will do something even if there is no reward at the end. They will try their hardest just to accomplish something. I believe that I have this component sometimes but sometimes not. I like to take challenges that I believe I can accomplish, but if I am not sure if I can do something, I shy away doing it. Once I am sure of what my goal is, I become very driven and will work hard to achieve something either by practicing everyday or requesting for help to help me succeed. The last component is a creative environment. This involves someone who can easily come up with creative ideas. I wish I had this component. I am not a very creative person. I need an idea to begin a project, etc. Although, once an idea has been proposed to me, I feel that I become creative and come up with ideas to add to it. Overall, I believe that I can be creative if I really set my mind to it. I am creative in ways such as adding designs to templates or coloring. I love to add color to projects and like things to be neat and in order. I am a perfectionist, so my work always has to be the best I can make it. I apply creativity to my life by coming up with new ideas and making things the best they can be. For example, if I have an assignment, I try to come up with the best details and try to make it nice and organized. I try to make it unique and eye-catching. Therefore by doing this, will help me get a better grade hopefully. I feel that creativity is a very important aspect to have because without it, ones’ life would be plain boring. There would be no excitement in their life. Everything would just be normal and how it is now, without being changed to make things more interesting. Also, one would not try new things and to me that would be boring just to do the same things all the time and not change it up a little bit by trying or doing new things.

One thing that I thought was interesting in Chapter 10 was about brain size and complexity. Doctors discovered that Lord Bryon, who was a smart poet, had a massive brain. Beethoven had convulsions in his head; therefore, scientists went into further study of this. The question was, do people who have bigger brains also become smarter? The answer was no. Some very smart people had small brains that they discovered. I’ve always wondered if that was true, but found it interesting that it is not. In my opinion, I would have believed that this would be true. Smart people differ in their neural plasticity. There childhood and environment has a greater effect on how smart they are. I found that very interesting. I believe that this is true. Kids who get out more and are able to learn more at a younger age, would most likely become smarter than a kid sheltered his whole life because they would learn more from others around them and be able to see things and experience more helping them learn from them. They would be able to relate things to their own life and be able to come up with questions on what they see or feel about an activity. Therefore, a parent for example, would be able to provide the answer for that child.