Tierney,
John. “Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expect to Be.” The New York Times. 3 January, 2013. 5 January, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/science/study-in-science-shows-end-of-history-illusion.html?ref=science&_r=0
Many people think that
they know what they will be like when they grow up. A study described in the New York Times article by John Tierney entitled
“Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expect to Be” demonstrates this phenomenon and
attempts to explain why it occurs. Often, when asked to reflect upon their
pasts, people will make a comment to the effect of, “I know so much more now
than I did back then.” The perceived changes from their former selves to their
present selves were intense, even drastic. However, when discussing their
future, they don’t make predictions that are in any way radical, even though
there is a good chance their lives will change just as much. For example, when
asked if how much they would pay to see a band they liked ten years ago, eighty
dollars was the general answer, but when asked how much they would pay to see a
present favorite band ten years from now, they said one-hundred and
twenty-nine, as if they were expecting today’s trends to remain strong while simultaneously
admitting that old ones fell flat. The researches of the study called this the “End
Of History Effect,” elaborating upon it by stating that people in general
believe that they are already at the best that they can be and do not expect
much change over the years. This was observed in 19,000 people whose ages
ranged from 18 to 62.
This article is
important to society because the study that it describes encourages us to lower
our expectations and look upon life more realistically. If this happens, it is
possible that we, as humans, will be much more open to change and look upon
life more constructively. This relates mostly to the field of psychology rather
than that of biology, but it is still significant in its findings. It could
potentially introduce a new of thinking for people and make life better for
them. Many scientific findings help people physically, but this one could help
people mentally.
While this was an
indeed an informative article, it was not without its flaws. I felt that the
reasons for the phenomenon studied by the researchers were not all touched
upon. For example, Mr. Tierney, the author of the article, did not mention that
perhaps people think this way because it is impossible for them to imagine all
of the changes that will occur around the world in the next ten years, so they
cannot take into account all of the factors that will result in personality and
taste changes. Even though this mistake was made, the article is still
informative and a good, cursory explanation of an interesting psychological
study.
I really enjoyed reading both “Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expected to Be” and the review of the article. I think it was interesting mainly because it is not something I really thought about that way before- I always figured that in the future, I would be much the same person that I am now. I like that the article included a video. In particular, I found the age group that was interesting to be studied (18-68), so I was glad that Gina cited several important statistics in her review. I think that Gina was also able to convey the general process and idea behind the experiment very concisely. Gina’s comment that, “many scientific findings help people physically, but this one could help people mentally” is an interesting idea to think about and I appreciated her insight. I also felt that Gina’s critiques of the article were valid in that I came away from the article with the same feeling.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the anecdote in the article about one of the researchers and his daughter. I feel that this was a nice, more personal piece of evidence that Gina could have included in her review. Also, although this is not Gina’s fault as I couldn’t really find anything in the article on it, I was left wondering why this was important. Although she commented that it could help people mentally, perhaps she could have expanded that premise a bit more.
All in all, this article was interesting because it got me thinking about what the future holds for me, my friends, or my family. Change is so gradual that it is difficult to recognize in someone close to you, but if you don’t see someone for a longer period of time, it seems obvious. This will be interesting to see firsthand as we leave our friends and go off to college, seeing them only periodically.
I thought Gina’s review of “Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expect to Be” was very informative. One thing I learned through this review is the “End of History Effect.” This effect states that people in general believe that they are already at the best they can be and do not expect much change over the years. The review even stated that this effect was observed in 19,000 people from ages 18 to 62. I also learned that people when discussing their future do not make predictions that are in any way radical, even though there is a chance their lives will change drastically. I also learned that this theory could potentially introduce a new thinking for people and make peoples’ lives better.
ReplyDeleteI thought the review could have mentioned more about the theory since it did not go into much detail about the actual findings. I also think that it could have mentioned the public’s thoughts on this theory.
Overall I was very intrigued by this article since it made me think about the way I think. It is very hard to imagine what the future holds for me so it was interesting to read about this new theory.
The review of “Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expect to be” was both interesting and informative. One thing that was presented well in the review was the fact that although people can easily recall past likes and personality traits, it is harder to predict new likes and traits of a future “you.” Another point well presented was a direct example from the article of the study showing how much people would pay to see their past and present favorite bands. This is important because it adds to the final well presented point mentioned of the “End of History” effect. These facts show that people generally believe that they will not change very much as they grow older and find it hard to predict change, if they believe there will be some.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the review was extensive and well-written, a few points could have been added. It would have been good to mention that the “end of history” effect may very well be a failure of the use of imagination. Also, toward the end of the article, it is mentioned that Dr. McAdams four year old daughter refused to acknowledge that the Ninja Turtles may not be her favorite show one day, but as she got older, she admitted that deep inside of her, she knew that change in her favorite show was inevitable. This important because it shows how we may have some knowledge that our views and favorite things may change, but we cant exactly explain how or to what they may change to, making us more stubborn in accepting the fact of change.
This article was quite interesting and I was surprised to learn about how hard it is to imagine your life changing, as you get older. I would expect that people would realize that even through decades, trends, styles, and music changes and this makes people change. No one is ever the best that they could possibly be and I am surprised to learn that this isn’t obvious to people.
I enjoyed reading Gina’s review of, “Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expected to Be.” I appreciated how she started of the review by stating how people in general think they know what they will be in the future, since it sets up the rest of the review to prove how this article disproves the common thought of knowing one’s future career. Gina also did a nice job on including the article’s information on how people look at their past and believe there was a drastic change between them then and them now. This supports the idea that people will not know who they will become through the common thought that themselves in the past is far different from them now. I lastly liked how Gina gave her own criticism and insight in the last paragraph in the review, considering it gives another idea to the reader of how people may not know who they will become in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe review could have been improved in a couple of ways. One being that I wished there was more information on the direct studies of this idea. More statistics on more questions asked of people would have been interesting to read about. Also, Gina’s connection of the article to the world I felt was not too strong. In stating that it teaches people to “lower their expectations,” I do not believe this would be a direct benefit to people.
I greatly liked reading the review as a whole and learning its main idea. I have for the past few years up to today believed that I will become an engineer one day, or something at least related to the subject. This article, although not making me change my whole perspective of my future, helps convince me that there is a fair chance that I can be something completely different. Not knowing what I will be in the future brings on great curiosity that, in time, will slowly be answered.
I thought the reviewer did a good job of summarizing “Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expect to Be.” I liked the way that she incorporated quotes into her summary in order to make her points more compelling. I also thought the reviewer did a good job because she included information about the study, which included about 19,000 people in order to gain more credibility for the study. Without such a statistic and background about the study, it would be hard for the reader to determine how credible the study was. Finally, I appreciated her input and critique in regards to the flaws of the article. I shared many of her views in regards to what could have been addressed in the article that wasn’t.
ReplyDeleteI think the reviewer could have done a better job describing the implications of the study. Most points were very general and did not allow for an in depth understanding of the topic of the article. I also think she could have mentioned some of the anecdotes that were contained in the article. If she had done so I think it would have been easier to understand the theory being presented in the article.
I found it very interesting that oftentimes people cannot imagine their lives changing. Although I think that I have known this subconsciously for some time, to read it in a study was eye-opening as it makes me realize how much I have changed even in the past few years.
AP Biology Petey DeJoy
ReplyDeleteComment Review 1/8/13
Gina did a fantastic job with her review of “Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expect To Be”. It was an extremely interesting conceptual article, and there were some aspects of her account that were particularly well presented. First, she did a great job with making the main point of the article very clear. I was able to understand the phenomena discussed easily. Second, her citation of “the End of History Effect”, which states that people do not believe they will change, as they have in the past, was incorporated very well in the article. I think this idea is very interesting; although we change a ton over the years, we all think that we will not change in the future. This is because if we wanted to change something about ourselves in the present, we would do it. Only hindsight provides the lessons needed for change. Third, she did a good job with presenting the article’s social implications; if we lower our expectations, life will become more constructive and progress will be more feasible. If I were her, however, I would have done a few things differently. First, I would have described more about this study and its scientific process, as there was little allusion to such processes. Second, I would have written a little more about psychology and how this effect really works on the human mind. I learned from this review this whole conceptual idea that I will not be the person I expect to be, which I think is extremely interesting.
Maddy Foley
ReplyDeleteBiology Comment #9
1.10.13
I read Gina’s review on the article, “Why You Won’t Be the Person You Expect to Be,” published in the New York Times. I thought Gina did a good job in presenting the information in a comprehensible way. Rather than flooding her review with statistics and tests that were presented in the articles, she addressed the main topic of the psychological study and gave a few statistics, to support the idea that people change more drastically over a decade, then they would typically predict. Secondly, I think the reviewer did a good job at relating the presented information in the article to her audience. As we are preparing for a future after high school, we might have predetermined path we decided to take. The review provides scientific support for the idea that maybe we should be more open to change and different life paths, as drastic changes in personality and interests usually occur. Thirdly, I think the reviewer critiqued the article well, as I agreed that the article was flawed since it lacked addressing the various factors that could have contributed to the results of this scientific results.
One thing I think the reviewer could have improved on was to include more of analysis of the study. While she explained the results of the scientific study well, it would have been more verifiable if she had included some of the theories presented by various psychology professors. Secondly, I think the reviewer could have include a few more points of evidence for the study, to make the research more understandable. For example, she may have incorporated the point that Participants were asked about their personality traits and preferences — their favorite foods, vacations, hobbies and bands — they were also asked about their personalities and tastes changes. A typical 20 year old predictions for the next decade was not at all as radical as the typical 30 year old recollection of how much he/she has changed.
One interesting thing I learnt from reading this article, was how scientific studies can also be used to understand certain social trends.
I decided to read Gina's review as the title, "Why You Won't Be The Person You Expect to Be", intrigued me. Gina's summary of the article was done very well and accurate. This article was quite interesting and I think Gina covered the most interesting parts, one being the fact that people know their personality and likes now, however can rarely predict in the reality of the future, and often think they will be the same as they are "now". Secondly, I appreciated that Gina cited the age group that was tested, 16-68, as this was an important factor in the article, and also an interesting aspect of the article. Lastly I liked how Gina also incorporated quotes, as this reassured her understanding of the article.
ReplyDeleteI think Gina did an excellent job in picking this article and the review, however, I think she could have improved upon two things. One is considering the "End of History Effect" was one of the major parts of the article and her review, I think Gina could have given more detail to this, especially the theory that this could just be not using the imagination. Also, Gina's connection to the world today and herself in this article could have been improved upon as this is really relative to all humans and there was little connection made between the real world and this article.
My favorite part of the article was reading on how we very little considering the drastic change that can happen in our lives. It made me reflect on how in the future I too thought I would like the same things, have the same personality. I always thought I would be essentially the same person but age in terms of years, however this article is making me rethink this.
Firstly, Gina chose a wonderful article. It is often difficult to select a piece of writing of relevance to our every day lives. Although this may not be a pro to some, I liked how this article strayed from the main focus of Biology. It stresses scientific study and experimentation and is not so advanced and sophisticated to an extent where I have a difficult time understanding the main idea. Gina provides an amazing insight regarding the importance of viewing life from a broad and realistic perspective in which we take into consideration all obstacles in our path, which are generally unpredictable. I truly enjoyed this review and it may have been my favorite read this year in Biology. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing considering that the article is not completely biology based.
ReplyDeleteA couple of suggestions I would make include, providing more specific examples from the text. For instance, Gina could have incorporated quotes. A second recommendation would be to better summarize in the first paragraph, even include some more connections to our day-to-day lives, and human nature, and finally cut down on the final paragraph, the reflection part of the review.
The one thing I was very impressed with when reading Gina’s article review was the fluidity in her writing. This piece could have been an English paper! Although this is not the main focus when it comes to biology papers, I was surprised with the flow of the paper and her input, or her opinion on the topic.