The Secret To Raising Smart Kids Analysis

The key difference between Walter Isaacson’s, author of “The Genius of Jobs”, and Carol Dweck’s, author of “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids”, perspective of intelligence lies in their thought of inherent ability; Isaacson believes that intelligence is a natural gift that can be expanded upon, but Dweck would respond by agreeing to a degree but believing that the beauty of intelligence lies in that expansion. Isaacson and Dweck begin and would agree with a similar base that intelligence, to a `certain point, is innate upon those who society sees as intelligent. Isaacson proves his viewpoint by exploring the mind of Steve Jobs, someone that most would consider to be the pinnacle of intelligence, and stating that “His imaginative leaps were instinctive, unexpected, and at times magical. They were sparked by intuition, not analytic rigor” (Isaacson 3). By emphasizing

Isaacson bases much of his text upon this, with sentences directly stating “Mr. Jobs’s intuition was based not on conventional learning but on experiential wisdom. He also had a lot of imagination and knew how to apply it. As Einstein said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’” (Isaacson 5). In referencing someone as intelligent as Jobs to have only gained that through experience, it is shown that he supports this theory. However, Dweck also supports the theory that knowledge does originate from experience in that she says that when “confronted by a setback such as a disappointing test grade, students with a growth mind-set said they would study harder or try a different strategy for mastering the material” (Dweck 13). Due to the knowledge and experience that they gain from having gone through a process like a test, they were able to expand upon their intelligence. Clearly, this proves a line of connection to exist between Dweck and Isaacson’s viewpoints on