Though at some moment you should admit they are smart, or at least not actively deny it, otherwise they will have an incorrect model of the world.
As an extreme example, if a person with IQ 200 believes that intelligence does not exist and all that matters is the hard work, it may motivate them to work hard, which is great, but it may also make them believe that all other people are simply not trying if they can’t do even such simple things as winning a Nobel price. This can make them have unrealistic expectations of less intelligent people, or even make them believe that the less intelligent people are actually morally inferior (too lazy, don’t care enough, etc.). -- Now imagine a person with IQ 150, and it’s less extreme, but still similar.
Exactly. Praising means socially encouraging someone to do more of X. If X is fixed trait, there is no way one could do more of X. They can only do more signalling of X.
People sometimes think that giving a honest feedback about any positive trait is implicitly a praise. And they have a point, too. But I guess it’s a question of giving this feedback in a proper context.
Signalling of a fixed trait is sometimes useful and sometimes harmful. It can encourage people to work on what they are good at. It can also discourage them from trying new things.
On the other hand praising hard work could also lead to some failures, such an clinging to lost purposes. (“What I am doing now is probably meaningless, but people reward me for working hard, so I can’t give up.”) It’s complicated.
Though at some moment you should admit they are smart, or at least not actively deny it, otherwise they will have an incorrect model of the world.
As an extreme example, if a person with IQ 200 believes that intelligence does not exist and all that matters is the hard work, it may motivate them to work hard, which is great, but it may also make them believe that all other people are simply not trying if they can’t do even such simple things as winning a Nobel price. This can make them have unrealistic expectations of less intelligent people, or even make them believe that the less intelligent people are actually morally inferior (too lazy, don’t care enough, etc.). -- Now imagine a person with IQ 150, and it’s less extreme, but still similar.
So to simplify—explaining the state of the world is fine, but there’s a difference between that and praising someone for it.
Exactly. Praising means socially encouraging someone to do more of X. If X is fixed trait, there is no way one could do more of X. They can only do more signalling of X.
People sometimes think that giving a honest feedback about any positive trait is implicitly a praise. And they have a point, too. But I guess it’s a question of giving this feedback in a proper context.
Signalling of a fixed trait is sometimes useful and sometimes harmful. It can encourage people to work on what they are good at. It can also discourage them from trying new things.
On the other hand praising hard work could also lead to some failures, such an clinging to lost purposes. (“What I am doing now is probably meaningless, but people reward me for working hard, so I can’t give up.”) It’s complicated.