Happy Healthy Long Life

The Most Unlikely Book Club to Love Kevin Roose's "Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University"

"When I got to Liberty for the first day of orientation week, I expected to be completely unhappy, mostly because Liberty's 46-page code of conduct – which prohibits drinking, smoking, R-rated movies, cursing, and dancing – wiped out basically 95% of my daily life. After I got used to the rules, though, I actually found that the rigid discipline was actually sort of refreshing. It gave me an incredible amount of structure in my life, and I felt happy and productive there."

Kevin Roose, author of "Unlikey Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University"

Here's the pitch

Roose grew up in Oberlin, Ohio, "the product of the ultimate, secular, liberal upbringing", with next to no contact with conservative Christian culture.  He was raised a Quaker & rarely went to church. He's smart, savvy, liberal & open-minded. His parents even worked for Ralph Nader in their twenties.  He goes to ultra-liberal free-spirited Ivy League Brown University--the polar opposite of a school like Liberty University. 

No semester study-abroad in Italy or Prague for Roose.  He decides to really broaden his cultural education.  He enrolls for a semester at Jerry Falwell's evangelical Christian Liberty University in Lynchberg, Virginia--"a bastion of Christian purity--sort of the anti-animal house."

This is a self-described "Bible Boot Camp" for evangelicals--Falwell's training ground for the next generation of America's Religious Right.   

Most parents are nervous about sending their college-age kids off to a foreign country--Kevin's parents were scared to death to send Kevin off to Liberty University, fearing some sort of subtle conversion.

His semester turns out to be nothing like he expected. 

With a course load that included Old Testament, New Testament, Evangelism 101, and The History of Life--Liberty's Creation Biology, he had to work hard to get even mediocre grades.

It Was My Turn To Select a Book for Book Club

It was April 15th, and our book club was meeting on May 30th. It was our turn to come up with the next book & my husband & I had finally settled on 2 possible books for the group. 

I was about to send out the email for a vote when I read Gretchen Rubin's interview with Kevin Roose on her blog and my email suddenly changed.  This book sounded terrific.  I quickly added "Unlikely Disciple" to my list of book choices for the group and within hours everyone agreed that they wanted to read Kevin's book.

So Why Would This Book Club Be Unlikely Fans of "Unlikely Disciple"?

Because this book club--made up of couples in their 40s & 50s--are practically like Kevin's parents--remember, they were not too happy about his transfer to Liberty U.

Our book club has been meeting for almost 17 years.  Half of the group are doctors, who value science, and don't exactly understand the teaching of creationist biology in a university.  None of us are Christian, and our politics wouldn't be described as staunchly conservative--for the majority of us, that is.

WE UNANIMOUSLY LOVED THIS BOOK!!!  In the almost 17 years we've been meeting this is only the 2nd book that everyone has loved, hands down.  The other one was:  The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen. The other-almost-favorite was Captain Corelli's Mandolin, written by Louis de Bernieres.

Why We Loved the "Unlikely Disciple"

1. It's wise, funny, compassionate, balanced, hopeful, well-written and entertaining. There's nothing snarky, mean-spirited, cynical or condescending about it--which is a welcome relief.

2. Kevin experiences everything at Liberty: a spring-break evangelical mission to Daytona Beach; one-on-one spiritual counseling with Pastor Seth; dating the old-fashioned way; singing in the famous Thomas Road Church choir; participating in a self-help group that helps student's dial-down their sexual thoughts; and good old-fashioned single-sex dorm camaraderie.

3.  As strict as the rules are at Liberty, on balance, there's a lot to recommend it--and it mostly works.  The students are engaged, healthy, and happy--especially compared to those at many secular colleges.

4.  The book has a lot to say about the danger of stereotyping individuals by their group affiliation--and the value of getting to know people before making judgments.  The students Kevin met were nothing like his preconceived notions--and the same could be said for Jerry Falwell.  Get to know people, and opinions change.

5.  We all got a kick out of Kevin's amazement at how easy it was to awaken in the morning--clear-headed & full of energy--with the help of an enforced curfew and rules barring alcohol.  And he even lost weight minus the alcohol.

Some of My Favorite Quotes

Kevin on Pastor Seth, his spiritual advisor:

"It comes back, I guess, to the difference between the form and content of Liberty's religious system.  I love the way Pastor Seth's faith motivates him to help me in my struggles.  I admire his compassion and selflessness.  I just wish he were calling to see whether I was returning my mom's phone calls, or whether I had left good tips at restaurants, or whether I had been nice to everyone I met today.  Working on masturbation when I have so many other flaws seems like putting fuzzy dice in a car whose transmission is falling apart.  I suppose it's better than nothing, but it doesn't feel like a particularly good use of anyone's time."

On learning the value of prayer--something Kevin has continued to practice since returning to Brown:

"Prayer may not always be entirely about G-d," Pastor Seth said. 
Here, Pastor Seth quoted the famous Christian author Oswald Chambers, who wrote: "It is not so true that prayer changes things as that prayer changes me and I change things."

From his interview with Gretchen Rubin:

"When I was living at Liberty, I had to learn how to pray.  I'm back at secular college now, but I still pray almost every day. Don't get me wrong:   I'm not an evangelical Christian, and I don't believe that G-d sits on his throne in heaven watching our requests flood into his cosmic inbox.  But I do think there's value in focusing on the needs of my friends and family members, trying to empathize with them for ten or twenty minutes a day.  It forces me to be aware of how lucky I am, and I really do think it motivates me to be more compassionate."

On trying to make sense of why certain moral values get higher priority than others at Liberty:

"(I feel) frustration with a religious system that gives issues of personal sexuality higher spiritual priority than helping the poor or living a life of service."

My favorite comment on the NPR story about Kevin:

"Through the whole piece I got the sense that NPR was surprised Mr. Roose found the folks at Liberty likable and even non-judgmental. When I was his age, in college, lol many years ago, I was religious but suspicious of Baptists, Pentecostals and other evangelicals. I volunteered in a Model City neighborhood teaching math skills. The people I kept running into were from evangelical Christian churches. They took very seriously the admonition to care for all God's children. Going back to the dorm where drunks were vomiting or passed out from binge drinking, I wondered which was a better way to live. I never became an Evangelical due to differences on dogma, but there saner, sober life of service seemed more rational (and safe).

Finally, there have been a rash of deaths in MN due to alcohol toxicity or impairment. Where would you want you kid to go to school. A place where, while conservative, was safe or a place that your kid lived a risky life due to the binge drinking?"  Bill Rowe   Sun May 31 09:5615 2009

If you are looking for a book for your book club that has something discussable--this is it!!  There's religion, the appeal of the group religious experience, sexual attitudes, morals, politics, humor, ethics, friendship, deception, as well as what constitutes a well-rounded university education.

We all agreed that this book was just plain good fun to read--all of us looked forward to reading it--and we all really liked Kevin Roose.  What could be better?

To Read More:

Gretchen Rubin's interview with Kevin Roose

NPR's Excerpt from the "Unlikely Disciple"

NPR's segment, "Undercover at an Evangelical University"

The Secret To Success: Do Something You Love, Practice A Lot, Pay Attention & Get Feedback

"Pardon me sir, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?"
 "Practice, practice, practice!"

Arthur Rubinstein, Pianist

Want to get really good at something?  Want your kids to be successful?  No need to be a genius.  No need to have the perfect genes.  You don't even have to have talent.  All you need are 4 things.  At least that's according to 3 new books and a lot of research studies. 

1.  You need to find something you really enjoy doing.  Something that really interests you.

2.  You need to put your nose to the grindstone and practice for 10,000 hours.  That means, if you can only spare 2 hours a day, it's going to take you 13.75 years to get really good at something. 

3.  You need to practice with your head in gear--consciously, deliberately and methodically.  You need to break down each and every technique--think about what you are doing, to prevent your brain from going into its favorite mode, "sloppy automatic pilot".

4.  You need to find a knowledgeable mentor who will give you constant feedback, point out your tiniest errors, and push you to take on tougher challenges.  Simple, huh?

Oops!  So that explains why I'm not a a smashing success at anything.  I never liked to practice.  I love to take shortcuts.  And except for a couple of elementary school teachers I never had a mentor who pointed out my tiniest errors.

But, when I think about this prescription for success, it's absolutely right on the money. 

What are we best at?  The things we love to do.  The things we do everyday.  Violin, art, foreign languages, crafts, gardening, team sports?  Forget about it!  I was awful to mediocre.  Digging into books, looking for information or trying out new recipes?  Now that I could do everyday.

And for me, I know that I only improve when I do something consciously--methodically--analyzing carefully--thinking about how something works--figuring out what's working, what's not.  And that takes a lot of time.

The hardest thing to come by is feedback.  Let's face it--we rarely give honest constructive feedback to each other.  And we share the positive more than the negative.

Last week I heard our brand new division head at work introduce himself at a "town hall" sort of meeting.  Here's what he said--remember he's a scientist,  "I'm a feedback kinda guy.  I thrive on feedback.  Please let me know how I am doing, and how how you think we can do our jobs better."   So, I decided to send him a short "thumbs up"  feedback email about his talk. 

I love his reply:  "tx. feedback is a gift!"  So true.  We need to gift each other more often.


What Are The Three Books That Are Bursting The Genius Bubble?


Malcolm Gladwell.  The Outliers: The Story of Success.  Little, Brown, Nov. 2008.

Daniel Coyle.  The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born.  It's Grown.  Here's How.   Bantam, Apr. 2009

Geoff Colvin. Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everyone Else.  Portfolio, Oct. 2008.


Excerpts From David Brooks, NYT's article, "Genius:  The Modern View"

"What Mozart had, we now believe, was the same thing Tiger Woods had--the ability to focus for long periods of time and a father intent on improving his skills.  Mozart played a lot of piano at a very young age, so he got his 10,000 hours of practice in early and then he built from there."

"It's not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms of chess.  Instead, it's deliberate practice.  Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft."

"Her practice would be slow, painstakingly and error-focused....By practicing this way, performers delay the automatizing process.  The mind wants to turn deliberate, newly learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills.  But the mind is sloppy and will settle for good enough.  By practicing slowly, by breaking down into tiny parts and repeating, the strenuous student forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance."

"The primary trait...is not some mysterious genius.  It's the ability to develop a deliberate, strenuous and boring practice routine."

According to Coyle, (not Hoyle) "It's not who you are, it's what you do."

Malcolm Gladwell's Five Steps to Success

1.  Find meaning and inspiration in your work.

2.  Work hard.

3.  Discover the relationship between effort and reward.

4.  Seek out complex work to avoid boredom and repetition.

5. Be autonomous and control your own destiny as much as possible.

To read an interview with Gladwell click here.

According to actuary tables, at 59 I have at best 23 years left, which means I have maybe enough time to pick 1 & 3/4 things to get really good at--the 10,000 practice hours, remember?  What's it going to be?  I think maybe I'm going to choose YOGA!

My New Inspiration (thanks to my niece Tarah, the yoga instructor!) Yoga Granny Bette Calman, age 83

According to Calman, "You're never too old.  The body is a remarkable instrument."

"It can stretch and stretch, and get better all the time.  Forget age!"

"I'm proof that if you keep at it, you'll get there.  I can do more now than I could 50 years ago!"

Mrs. Calman teaches up to 11 classes a week with no sign of stopping and she keeps the 'corpse' posture strictly for her classes.

To read her more click here.

Meet You At Carnegie Hall!

Intelligence: How to Make "Our" Children Smarter - How to Make "Ourselves" Smarter

 

"If intelligence were deeply encoded in our genes, that would lead to the depressing conclusion that neither schooling nor antipoverty programs can accomplish much. Yet while this view of I.Q. as overwhelmingly inherited has been widely held, the evidence is growing that it is, at a practical level, profoundly wrong. Richard Nisbett, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, has just demolished this view in a superb new book, “Intelligence and How to Get It,” which also offers terrific advice for addressing poverty and inequality in America."

Nicholas Kristof, "Raising Our IQ"  April 15, 2009

Sometimes I wonder where I have been.  Until this morning I had never heard of Richard Nisbett--and now I'm obsessed with reading all about him.  His latest book, "Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count"  just came out in February and I'm heading to the library ASAP for a copy. His earlier book was: "The Geography of Thought: How Asians & Westerners Think Differently...and Why: 

Here's the Book in a Nutshell

"Who is smarter, Asians or Westerners? Are there genetic explanations for group differences in test scores? How can parents work to improve their child's intelligence? Can schools eliminate the social class and racial gaps in academic achievement? The book argues that intellect is not primarily genetically determined but is principally influenced by societal factors. There is a need to revamp our entire approach to education, because malleable, controllable factors like schools and social environment, and not hard-wired genetic codes, hold the keys to the future of intellectual advancement."   Check out Dr. Nisbett's own web site at The University of Michigan


Why He's a Nominee for Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People

According to Malcolm Gladwell, the brilliant & best-selling author of Outliers, Blink and The Tipping Point:

"Richard Nisbett's Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count is a devastating and persuasive refutation of all those who believe intellectual ability is fixed at birth. Few Americans have done as much to deepen our understanding of what it means to be human."

What We Can Do To Make Our Kids & Ourselves Smarter

Carey Goldberg, of the Boston Globe, interviewed Nisbett and asked him for advice on how to make our kids and ourselves more intelligent.  For the entire interview, "Get Smart", click here.

1.  Talk to your kids a lot!!

"The child of professional parents hears 30 million words by age 3. For the child of working-class parents, it's 20 million, and the child of a welfare parent, it's 10 million. And the richness of vocabulary is utterly different: The 3-year-old child of professional parents uses a more advanced vocabulary talking to parents than a welfare mother does in talking to her child. In addition to talking to kids, there's reading to kids. Also, surprisingly, some things that happen before birth turn out to be important: Mothers who exercise have bigger babies with bigger brains. And it looks like breastfeeding can account for as much as 6 points in IQ."

2.  If adults want to get smarter they need to EXERCISE & NOT RETIRE!

"Exercise. Don't retire. Hang around with smart people. Stay in school. You can start vigorous exercise in your 60s and reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer's by 50 percent. In countries with low retirement ages, the IQs of people drop more from age 50 to age 65 than they do in countries with high retirement ages."  Read Happy Healthy Long Life regularly!  Just kidding.

3.  Self-Control

"The best evidence we have indicates that children with above-average self-control have higher intelligence."  There's no question that self-control is a behavior that parents can teach their children.

4.  Check out Chapter 10 - Raising your child's intelligence & your own.  Look below for the excerpt!

Who Is Geoffrey Canada & How Does His Work Relate to Nisbett's?

I don't know if Nisbett mentions Canada in his book--but he should.  I first heard about him on an Ira Glass This American Life radio broadcast.  I was awestruck by his Harlem program, called "The Harlem Children's Zone".  Here's the link to the episode, which aired 9/26/08.  It's called, "Going Big", and it's Act One, "Harlem Renaissance".  Thirty minutes long--but worthy of a listen.

Click on the "Full Episode" link on the left and listen to it in real time for free.  If you want to download it to your Ipod, it will cost you 95 cents.  I've listened to it twice.  It's wonderful!

Excerpt from Terry Gross' Fresh Air episode interviewing Geoffrey Canada and Paul Tough.

The Harlem Children's Zone, writes New York Times reporter Paul Tough, is "the first and so far the only organization in the country that pulls together ... integrated social and educational services for thousands of children" — all under one umbrella, all in one place, all at one time.

It's the brainchild of education and social-services reformer Geoffrey Canada, and it's nothing less than an audacious poverty-eradication effort that, as Publishers Weekly explains, is "predicated upon changing everything" in the New York City neighborhoods it targets, "creating an interlocking web of services targeted at the poorest and least likely-to-succeed children."

As students progress through an all-day prekindergarten and then through a charter school, they have continuous access to community supports like family counseling, after-school tutoring and a health clinic

All of that institutional structure, Tough explains, is "designed to mimic the often-invisible cocoon of support and nurturance that follows middle-class and upper-middle-class kids through their childhoods."

How about a look at the Table of Contents & a free preview of this book?

Link to the Google excerpt of the book.

Table of Contents

1 Varieties of Intelligence 1

2 Heritability and Mutability 21

3 Getting Smarter 39

4 Improving the Schools 57

5 Social Class and Cognitive Culture 78

6 IQ in Black and White 93

7 Mind the Gap 119

8 Advantage Asia? 153

9 People of the Book 171

10 Raising Your Child's Intelligence ... and Your Own 182

Epilogue: What We Now Know about Intelligence and Academic Achievement 193