Reading List

Welcome to another edition of Weekly Reading List! I am sharing links to two interesting pieces this time.

1. The first one is a clarion call for reading from a famous  British author Neil Gaiman. In a lecture on cultivating reading habit among children, Neil being a great reader himself, narrate to us the magic happens in everyone’s life when they start reading books.   According to him, the best way to raise literate kids is to give them books. Fiction increases our curiosity and helps to build empathy. We read about the lives of others and look at the world through their eyes. The ability to imagine many worlds is very important. In fiction, we visit such different worlds and it forces us to improve even our own.  Neil declares that we have an obligation to imagine and it is from our ability to imagine a different world comes the trigger to change everything for the better.  Read this lecture and get books for your children.  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/24/neil-gaiman-face-facts-need-fiction
2. Second one is on an interesting lecture by Malcolm Gladwell ,  the bestselling author of  Blink and Tipping point.  The topic is Precocity. Precocious child and theories on prodigy always generate a lot of interest. Beginning with his personal experience, Malcolm wants to debunk certain myths around child prodigies.  In his case who was an accomplished runner till 15 or so, he did not pursue it further and had to give up midway. The point is that in a majority of cases displaying an early genius is no guarantee that they will turn out to be genius adults. There are many extensive case studies done on the subject. What matters ultimately is how well you pursue your goals and your determination and curiosity. As Malcolm rightly put, “ what a gifted child is, in many ways, is a gifted learner. And what a gifted adult is, is a gifted doer. And those are quite separate domains of achievement.”. There need not be an undue focus on the precocious child as it may result in negligence of many other talents. The video link to his address is also available here. As nature Vs nurture is a subject which never loses its appeal, Malcolm’s address brings good news to all those who believe that incredible things are possible if you really work hard, despite being no prodigy as a child. Read this motivating piece here. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/the-myth-of-prodigy-and-why-it-matters

HAPPY  READING!!