Reading Outside of the Box (or syllabus)

I found two interesting readings that relate to discussions we've been having lately.

1. Don't Eat the Cupcake

This article from NPR.org discusses a new book called Willpower which focuses on the muscle power it takes to delay gratification, to not eat the cupcake, for example. Unlike the marshmallow experiment, however, this book suggests that this skill is not set in stone but can be learned, and improved upon with practice.

2. When We Don't Succeed, We Try Harder

This article from The New York Times asks us to think about the role of failure in our eventual success. The process we go through when confronting something difficult, failing, reapproaching the problem from another angle, working harder to overcome it, and perhaps learning something along the way is one that changes us in profound ways. Isn't that much better than having success handed to us? But then why is it so hard to embrace failure, or sometimes even embrace challenges that might lead to failure?