In the Evidence section on p.302, Shenk cites evidence that is used to support his claim that a culture that encourages achievement for all personality types--competitive and noncompetitive--better utilizes the talents of its people. HAM's, or people who enjoy and thrive in competition, and LAM's, or people who are noncompetitive and prefer improvement instead, are not genetically determined. Rather, they are greatly influenced by the culture in which they live in- the patriarchal Maasai society had more male HAMs, but the matriarchal Khasi society had more female HAMs (Shenk 150).
To what extent does our culture influence our motivation and achievement? Do the population dynamics of a culture such as age structure, population density, infant mortality, or life expectancy play a role in that culture's achievement? (See Chapter 53 in Campbell). If so, how? If not, why not?
Akila Khan (starlight608@gmail.com)
An example of how much influence our culture has on motivation and achievement is the story of the tiger mom. Chinese mother, Amy Chua states, "Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa were never allowed to do: attend a sleepover, have a playdate, be in a school play, complain about not being in a school play, watch TV or play computer games, choose their own extracurricular activities, get any grade less than an A, not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama, play any instrument other than the piano or violin, and not play the piano or violin" (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html). These activities Chua has listed are daily things kids would do in America. However, by Chua reinforcing the Chinese culture through these strict rules, although they live in America, she has successfully motivated and made her kids strive to be successful. On the other hand, many Americans wonder how the Asian parents manage to make their children a math genius or a music prodigy. Because there is a culture difference in cultural lifestyle, Americans choosing social aspects over academics when their kids are little, and Chinese choosing strict rules and academics, does make a difference in the motivation and achievement. Therefore in case of Shenk's argument, this article/incident is stating that Chinese are more likely to follow the HAM method while the Americans are reinforcing the LAM method, showing the difference in culture and how it influences the motivation and achievement differently (Shenk 150).
ReplyDeletePopulation dynamics of a culture plays a big role in that culture's achievement. For example, as humans go through evolution, our range of age in average has increased. Although that is an overall generalization that human's average lifespan has increased, by different cultures, their "pyramids" look different when graphing out the age structure. More specifically, "for Italy, the pyramid has a small base, indicating that individuals younger than reproductive age are relative underrepresented in the population. This situation contributes to the projection of population decrease in Italy" (Campbell 1193). As it is predicting that there will be no population growth, the culture's achievement has to decrease because there are not enough variety people the country can depend on. However, that also does not mean that countries such as Afghanistan, which will have a rapid growth in population (1192), will prosper rapidly in culture's achievement. Because there are more population in countries in Africa, culture's achievement might even decrease because now there are too many people. Age structure and population density can affect the culture’s achievement positively and negatively, depending on how extreme the case is. Relating to the biological theme of evolution, life expectancy rate has increased in the industrialized countries due to a better adaptation form of the new environment (1193) and this will impact the culture’s achievement because it decides the long lifespan the next generation has in order to achieve greater things.
-Sally Park (sypark1029@gmail.com)