The opening to a seminal movie on education and learning environments.
Three Ways of Saying the Same Thing
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#1: The Erudite Way
The following article is about akrasia:
The Akrasia Effect: Why We Don’t Follow Through on What We Set Out to Do and What to Do About It
It’s lengthy, entertaining, well researched — and probably, when it is assigned like this, a good example of itself. In all likelihood, you won’t read this, even as I encourage you to read Clear’s essay and to think about how it tackles an idea so entrenched in human nature that it has a Greek term all to itself. In fact, it also has a Latin phrase describing it: Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor, which appears in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
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#2: The Multimedia Way
Here, from David McRaney’s You Are Not So Smart, is an article on procrastination:
Procrastination might the most common example of akrasia, but you don’t need any Greek or Latin to understand what McRaney writes. He also gives us the image of “capable psychonauts,” or people who think about thinking, which is a helpful way to look at improving your learning.
You can also watch the book trailer for You Are Not So Smart, which animates the idea of fighting procrastination:
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#3: The Straightforward Way
And then there’s a much more accessible, straightforward, and funny version of this idea, which nevertheless comes with all the NSFW warnings you might expect if you are given an article published at Cracked:
From birth until the day you move out on your own, pretty much every facet of your life is controlled by someone else. Parents, teachers, babysitters, the secretive nameless guardian who taught you to kill from the quiet embrace of the shadows. There’s always someone looking over your shoulder to prevent you from [messing] up. “Don’t run in the house, you’ll get hurt.” “Don’t stab that guy, you’ll go to jail again.”
So from the time we’re old enough to rationalize, we’re trained that nothing is truly under our own control, and if we do happen to [mess] up, the most we have to fear is getting grounded, spanked, or yelled at. When you enter adulthood, that all changes literally overnight…
For the first time, you’ll be put into situations in which the only person you have to answer to is yourself. How will you react? Take away the teacher, and do you start slacking off? Take away mom and dad’s rules on junk food, and do you start eating at McDonald’s every day? Take away the police patrols, and do you strip naked and set houses on fire, cackling like a crazed hyena?
This is what we’re dealing with when we talk about things like addiction, teen pregnancy, and obesity (the type that’s not tied to a physical cause, of course). It’s an area in which the only person who is going to give you hell is your future self. Are you prepared for that? I wasn’t. Hell, I’m not sure I know anyone who was. Because keeping yourself in check when the temptation is there to just take the easy way out is excruciating. “Man, I don’t feel like cooking tonight. Maybe I’ll just order a pizza again.” Yes, others may voice their concerns about your choices (“Dude, you’re pushing 300 pounds, and you’ve eaten pizza every day for two months”), but nobody is going to step in and force you to get your [life] under control, unless it’s flat-out breaking the law.
That might be edited down for decorum in an instructional post1, but it remains the most straightforward version of this lesson: Self-control is difficult to learn, but the sooner you learn it, the more successful you will be.
As for the Flying Guillotines…
The title of this post and the pictures in the header are another example, like Dürer’s Rhinoceros, of using a unique metaphor or image to clarify an idea. There are enough clichés about self-control to fill a thousand posts, and you’re likely to hear most of them before you figure it out. We need something more motivating.
In this course, the failure to develop self-control has an exponential impact on your success. Unlocking the “second course” explained in this post is important, but right now, many of you need to think only in terms of avoiding penalties. There are guillotines flying through the air, and if you stand there, you will end up like this:
It’s the part right after this in the video that ought to concern us, metaphorically speaking.
You must work during the class period, and you must develop a feedback loop. That’s how you are evaluated, which you’ve seen in handouts and posters and a half-dozen other forms. It takes self-control to do this. If you don’t develop that self-control, you are going to lose your head.
Iterative note: There are a couple of interesting Medium essays from about two years ago that explore this same idea with some of the same metaphorical language. They are embedded below.
Cracked is replete, by the way, with this kind of NSFW-but-insightful writing. Tread carefully, if you explore, but realize that The Onion is often just as profane, and The Onion was featured on an AP Language exam. This is the way rhetoric and argument look in the real world. ↩
I personally thought the video was quite interesting as the ‘narrator’ showed how everyone has to think, make things work with your future self and your ‘now’ self.
This post resonated a lot with me on a lot of levels. I thought that procrastination was about laziness or a lack of willpower when really it has more to do with building up the ability and the knowledge about ourselves that will let us make ourselves learn even when we are not in the mood.. because ultimately, we have to come in here ready to learn and ready to make ourselves create evidence regardless of whether or not we are having a great day. I did think that Victor Hugo’s technique was a little extreme but I see how we have to almost fight ourselves, not that there’s anything wrong with that but we have to improve on it our whole lives if we want to be successful. I also perceived the guillotine metaphor as being called “fatal” because that part reiterates what we have been hearing all along: that we have to follow through on engaging with the instruction, and having a feedback loop and filling up class time creating evidence and finding meaning. Then there is the aspect of this metaphor that shows how it isn’t just a guillotine- it’s a flying guillotine. In my way of thinking, this shows that you can see it coming if you’re doing the right thing and you’re watching it hit someone else but when it’s coming right at you, you probably see it only when it’s too late. To me that means that we have to always be responsible for our learning and stay vigilant, continuing to check that we are doing the best work we can and working as consistently as we can… because if we lose track of where the guillotine is, chances are it’s coming right for us. I guess this is kind of a dark metaphor, but I don’t see a problem with that: I think it’s actually beneficial because it causes us to be fascinated by it and, consequently, motivated by it too.
I relate to this post and it definitely speaks to me. Procrastination is an issue that everyone deals with, especially teenagers. I think we get so much school work and outside activities and commitments, that after we do what is required, we feel as though we maxed out. Like we don’t need to do those dishes or eat a salad over a cupcake because we deserve a break, and we deserve that treat. This post helped me to notice how often I do this and hopefully I can train myself and my mind to fight those urges and to fight that way of thinking. Our brains are a muscle, so if we train it we can change the way we think, which changes the way we live. Hopefully I can apply this to my life.
Everyone has their own way of doing things and does what they think will work for them. IF they have a certain way of doing something they will probably stick to it instead of doing it a different way and getting all confused. It is good to try things for a different perspective but whatever works for us understanding just keep the way we always known how to do it.
I completely agree with Destiny normally it is hard for people to change there habits and the way that things work for them. although trying new things and new ways of doing certain things is a good refresh for people and some people may even pick up those thoughts and or ways of working many people will still believe that their previous way was better and continue to work that way to get the job done.
While reading the third section, the straight-forward way, I began to think of something pretty interesting. The article that is attached in the middle of the section made me think of the benefits of this class. The unique way that the class is taught is not only a way for us to better our learning, it also prepares us for life. Like the article said, we are always being watched, criticized and taught the difference between right and wrong. That all changes between the end of the teenager years and the start of early adulthood. It’s a funny idea because people do have trouble with the transition. People are always messing up right after school and people wonder why. Parents might say, “Why did he/she do that… We taught him so well… He knows better.” The reason that they are not “doing as well as expected” is because they were carried through life… they never had to think. They were told to do their homework and told to do extra. When that’s all gone, they can’t remember to do the little things. This ties into the procrastination aspect of the article because their minds are weak. They haven’t built up the strength to think about thinking. As Jane and Maggie mentioned, I hope I can build up this “muscle” during the year and grow as a person, hopefully doing things a little sooner.
i personaly did the same thing i would do thing on the last day it was due. but now i leaned it is a good idea to start the work when it was first handed out and slowly work on the work and that way i was not rushing to finish on the last day it was due.
After reading Clear’s article about Akrasia, I found it very interesting that a phenomenon observed by the Ancient Greeks still plagues us today. Victor Hugo’s solution for akrasia seemed a little radical to me, but it was nevertheless effective. I think we all need to try and find that “thing” that will allow us to fight off procrastination. For me, I usually try to isolate myself from distractions like technology and just convince myself that the task needs to be completed. I was also intrigued by the Straightforward Way section. It’s a little scary to think about the immense number of responsibilities that get dropped on us as soon as we enter adulthood. And beyond that, when/if we begin to slack off on our obligations, it will usually only have a negative impact on ourselves. That means that to better prepare for the future, we should begin practicing self-control now.
After watching the attached video, I understand how the idea of procrastination can be toxic to someone’s life. It really opened my eyes to how much it can stop you from actually getting done. The point they made in the video (about how future you cannot be trusted and you should do things as the “now you” because so much more will actually get done) really motivates me to not procrastinate and motivates me even more to succeed in this class.
I now understand that procrastination has a much deeper meaning to it than being lazy or not doing your work. It means you aren’t able to follow through because something is preventing you from doing it. This can really impact someone’s life and prevent them from moving forward. I do procrastinate but I find that it’s much easier and my work turns out better when I start it when it’s first handed out and work on it a little each day.
I deeply agreed with Mr. Eure and the article of the Cracked article. Self control is a great thing to master. I myself thought that I have a pretty good grasp on self control due to my past experiences, but I recognize that I may be vulnerable to self bias, and regardless I hope to master self control by the end of this year. The reading has given many examples of how it is relevant in the rest of my life, so I intend to master it. To any who might be struggling with this, I find that the best ways to exercise self control is to either: remov e your own bias from the situation, and think logically what decision will have the best long term repercussions, or to choose a good, hard-working role model that nobody would question your decision over, and think what they might do in your place.
I definitely relate a lot to this article because procrastination is something in my life that is very present. After watching the video I see how toxic it is and how bad it can be for someones´ well being. I think something that could improve the amount that I procrastinate would be getting more sleep each night. I´ve learned that my brain is a muscle and I just have to get myself out of the bad habit of procrastinating to get used to a new and improved lifestyle.
I’ve had to force myself to start things because I am bad with procrastination. I worry too much about the work, and it ends up making it more difficult in the end. I have used my Chromebook for online homework instead of the computer I usually use so that I would be less distracted by the options of YouTube, games, and online discussions, and for animations, I’ll keep the programs open so that I can work on it while occasionally taking breaks. Also, for the three-week-three-essays thing that was mentioned in one of the links, do you think people spent more time on each essay with the option of one essay per week than the other options?
By the way, I can’t help but think of swimming guillotines and guillotines that walk around with human legs to help the flying guillotines. It’s a living guillotine army.
I didn’t really know the true definition of procrastination, I thought it was just what the article said most people make it out to be, being lazy and not doing your work, when it is really not. Procrastination is really the act if self control. You have to let yourself know what you have to do, maybe you could set goals to accomplish tasks instead of procrastinating. There are many different ways to deal with procrastination.
When I read the Procrastination passage I found this section interesting, “With Netflix, the choice of what to watch right now and what to watch later is like candy bars versus carrot sticks. When you are planning ahead, your better angels point to the nourishing choices, but in the moment you go for what tastes good.” I thought this was a really good analogy to use for procrastination because this happens to people all the time. I feel procrastination is being lazy. People know the things they have to do or get done but chose to put it off because they simply don’t feel like doing it or dealing with a situation. After reading this passage I want to try and not procrastinate as much with different things, as simple as starting to studying earlier for tests, because in the long run it will make life less stressful.
The impression that the article you cited gave me is that procrastination is less about being lazy and more about not being self-aware or disciplined. There are times when we have to do something we don’t want to do, but what matters is if we practice strategies to manage ourselves effectively despite that mental roadblock. Procrastination does not occur because a person is intrinsically lazy; it occurs because we don’t have the ability to manage ourselves in terms of making the right choice when we don’t want to. Procrastination is combatted with a skill (self-control) that can be developed and monitored. Procrastination can’t be chalked up to laziness because that would suggest that there is less that can be done to mitigate such a problematic tendency. Instead, we choose to monitor our self-control and make conscious, forward-thinking decisions informed by self-awareness and the desire to change our habits for the better.