A half-baked theory
Feb. 6th, 2021 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabby We all know there are people with very low executive function.
This is most of my students. They're smart as hell, but when it comes to things like remembering to bring a pen and pencil to class, they just can't, and if they're given a form to get signed at home, that form will inevitably end its life, crumpled, shredded, and unsigned, in the pocket dimension at the bottom of their backpack. They know the material but can't write the test. Etc.
There are people with very low executive function, who have developed workarounds.
This is me, and most of my closest friends. I can't make it out of bed in the morning, so I set my alarm two hours early to start waking me up. I can't remember anything so I keep three separate to-do lists. I can't motivate myself through any means beyond raging anxiety, so either I do a task immediately, or I procrastinate forever. I somehow manage to exist, but every day is a struggle.
Presumably, there are people with the normal amount of executive function, and they go around unbothered by life and everything is fine.
But I would posit the existence of a fourth class of people, and these are people with too much executive function to the point where it is detrimental to both their lives and society as a whole. These are people for whom executive functions are an end unto themselves. As long as boxes are generated and checked, and everyone is very busy, work is getting done and progress is being made. These are people for whom rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic seems like a good and feasible plan, because you are taking action and doing things.
I would posit that very early in life, and in many careers, an unhealthy level of executive function is rewarded. This is mostly the key to success in school, far more important than intellectual capability. And in white collar work, looking busy while accomplishing nothing is a useful skill. But I would also say that these are the sorts of people who end up promoted above their level of competence— school boards and governments are full of them. Everyone who has ever suffered through a PowerPoint explaining the new educational jargon through Venn diagrams has encountered this sort of person.
They are the sort who tend to be particularly impressed if you add "smart" or "enhanced" before a word but don't actually change anything.
Right now, they are making decisions that would better fall to people with perhaps lower capacity for navigating institutions and systems, but higher levels of intelligence, wisdom, and empathy. Life and death decisions.
I could be talking out of my ass. It has been known to happen. I'm pretty sure if I were a higher functioning sort, I could brand this into a PowerPoint somehow and make a decent living as an educational consultant, and I wouldn't have to go back into a plague box next week.
This is most of my students. They're smart as hell, but when it comes to things like remembering to bring a pen and pencil to class, they just can't, and if they're given a form to get signed at home, that form will inevitably end its life, crumpled, shredded, and unsigned, in the pocket dimension at the bottom of their backpack. They know the material but can't write the test. Etc.
There are people with very low executive function, who have developed workarounds.
This is me, and most of my closest friends. I can't make it out of bed in the morning, so I set my alarm two hours early to start waking me up. I can't remember anything so I keep three separate to-do lists. I can't motivate myself through any means beyond raging anxiety, so either I do a task immediately, or I procrastinate forever. I somehow manage to exist, but every day is a struggle.
Presumably, there are people with the normal amount of executive function, and they go around unbothered by life and everything is fine.
But I would posit the existence of a fourth class of people, and these are people with too much executive function to the point where it is detrimental to both their lives and society as a whole. These are people for whom executive functions are an end unto themselves. As long as boxes are generated and checked, and everyone is very busy, work is getting done and progress is being made. These are people for whom rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic seems like a good and feasible plan, because you are taking action and doing things.
I would posit that very early in life, and in many careers, an unhealthy level of executive function is rewarded. This is mostly the key to success in school, far more important than intellectual capability. And in white collar work, looking busy while accomplishing nothing is a useful skill. But I would also say that these are the sorts of people who end up promoted above their level of competence— school boards and governments are full of them. Everyone who has ever suffered through a PowerPoint explaining the new educational jargon through Venn diagrams has encountered this sort of person.
They are the sort who tend to be particularly impressed if you add "smart" or "enhanced" before a word but don't actually change anything.
Right now, they are making decisions that would better fall to people with perhaps lower capacity for navigating institutions and systems, but higher levels of intelligence, wisdom, and empathy. Life and death decisions.
I could be talking out of my ass. It has been known to happen. I'm pretty sure if I were a higher functioning sort, I could brand this into a PowerPoint somehow and make a decent living as an educational consultant, and I wouldn't have to go back into a plague box next week.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-07 08:28 pm (UTC)