The Tortoise and the Hare

I've been busy this summer working at UT to get a new class ready for next Fall, so I haven't had a lot of time to write. However, I thought that I would take just a few minutes to write about something that I was thinking of randomly.

I can't remember where I read it(probably an educational psychology book), but the author posited that the classic Aesop story of the "Tortoise and the Hare" doesn't really have the message that we think it does.

To recap the story: the tortoise and the hare are in a race to see who is truly fastest. Everyone bets of the hare because he is clearly fastest. The hare of course takes an early lead. Then, confident that he will win, the hare stops to take a nap. He oversleeps and the tortoise beats him. Slow but steady wins the race! It is better to be resolute than quick.

Let's really take a look at this though. Would the tortoise have won if the hare wasn't overconfident? Not even close. The tortoise didn't have a chance except by taking advantage of his opponent's mistake. The real, hidden message is "don't be stupid or an unskilled adversary will beat you".

The author (it's really bothering me that I cannot remember who (I'll look it up later and update this post)) points out that we don't want to be the tortoise. We want to be the hare, but be smart. Society doesn't want us to be turtles. Turtles are lame.

What is my point? I guess it's really just that embedded in some of most fundamental morality stories are problematic messages.

A better story might be one in which the tortoise loses as expected. He decides to not let it get him down and he trains hard everyday. He gets faster and faster. Maybe he never beats the hare, but he is happy in the knowledge that he has improved himself and has met his own goals without the need for external validation. The hare praises him for his hard work and they go out for pizza together.

Yeah, I like that.

Update: The book is "Mindset" by Carol Dweck.

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