The Mindset List

Beloit College is a small college in southern Wisconsin. 15 years ago Beloit College started a tradition called the Mindset List. The idea was to provide the professors and staff at Beloit College with an idea of what the incoming freshmen class knew about the world, that could be particularly different from the staff who could be twice or three times the age of these new students. Sort of a generational difference guide if you will.

Here’s an example for the class of 2015, most of whom were born in 1993 – music has always been available as a free download. The idea of downloadable music is still that new and yet it has become so pervasive so quickly.

Here’s another from the class of 2008, most of whom were born in 1986 – the Energizer bunny has always been going, and going, and going. And still is!

The lists start with the class of 2002 and go to the current class of 2015. They are a remarkable study of how things change, how quickly they change, how they become part of everyday life so readily, and even how quickly things are gone.

The full set of lists is here at Beloit College – take a trip down memory lane and enjoy!

10,000 hours

If you read material about creativity or genius, there is a common concensus that the foundation of extraordinary creativity or genius is about 10,000 hours of study and practice (there are other pieces to this, but I'm focusing on the hours for now). That's just to establish the foundation of knowledge and experience. The learning still continues and that's also when there is more opportunity for new thinking and new opportunities because of that basis.

Here's some perspective on that number. If a student completes the United State primary education system (K-12), they will have spent about 10,000 hours in a classroom or with homework. In reality that time is establishing a foundation for the rest of their lives. It would be difficult to get very far without that foundation.

Our basic four years of college is only about 3000-4000 hours of classroom time and study. 120 credits is typical 4 year program with each credit representing about 15 hours of classroom time. On top of that basic 1800 hours of classroom time is homework.

The schooling and training needed to be a doctor or earn a Ph.D. is usually 5 years of even more intense study. This is getting near the 10,000 hours as the foundation for a subject of study.

Here are a few other ways to look at 10,000 hours:
- That's 5 years of working full-time, 40 hours a week.
- At 20 hours a week or practice at anything, it would take 10 years to establish that foundation.
- Finally at just 10 hours a week, the time extends out to 20 years!

Everyone who decides to pursue a career as a lawyer or doctor, or pursue a Ph.D. knows that amount of time that is involved and they are willing to put that in. I wonder if everyone knew this number, what they'd think about their chosen career or hobby? Or How many people are truly willing to put in that much time and effort over an extended period of years to achieve that foundation of knowledge and experience?

What this does show though is that consistency and effort does pay off. It just takes time like anything else!

The West Wing as education

The West Wing was a prime time drama that aired from 1999-2006. It was the ongoing story of a Democratic President over two terms. I don't watch much television, but it's one of my favorite shows ever. I've watched the entire 7 seasons at least twice.

Whether or not the show captured what politics is really like or not, or whether that's what the actual West Wing of the White House is like has been debated in various articles. Regardless it's fascinating to watch.

One of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much was the educational aspect and the level of intelligent writing that came with that. Almost every episode, or series of episodes, touched on some real issue happening in the US or the world. Everything from flag-burning to terrorism to presidentical elections.

What I found fascinating was the presentation of the ideas. Often it seemed like the dialogue was centered around trying to give many points of view, not necessarily just a point of view from the mainline Democratic Party. There were arguments and counter-arguments and then counters to those even. Stats, numbers, stories were all brought to bear in these discussions. I don't know if the stats actually used on the show were real, but many seemed like they could have been.

In the end, many issues were never fully resolved and if they were it was almost anti-climatic in a way, the debates was the real story. That what was so beautiful to me was the story was about the issue, not the resolution.

If you ever get a chance to watch The West Wing, I'd highly recommend it. While watching from the first episode to the last is thrilling and shows the evolving nature of the characters and issue, each episode is almost a story unto itself and worthwhile watching.