Reading Too Much Into It?

I am inclined to spend too much time reading. So, as well as all the fiction I am reading at the moment (mostly fantasy), I am also reading "The Uses Of Enchantment" by Bruno Bettelheim, "How Life Imitates Chess" by Gary Kaparov, and "The Shadow Of The Object" by Christopher Bollas.  I have also just picked up a copy of "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell, but have not started that one yet.

I think it is interesting how certain ideas and themes can repeat themselves in slightly different ways in these books. At the moment, the idea that seems to be jumping out at me is the need for careful reflection and self-awareness if we are to grow and mature in any way. Kasparov emphasises this a lot in his book. He does not believe that there is a formula for success that will apply to everyone (beyond the idea of hard work and self-awareness - and that he says is not a formula). Bettelheim also feels that people have a tendency to assume that age will bring maturity and wisdom. But, without reflection and an intention to improve ourselves in some way, that will just make us older versions of our younger selves, with the same weaknesses, preferences and habits.

And I think this is partly why I started out with this blog. I wanted to get into the habit of thinking and writing about life - my life, in particular - and I wanted to do something a bit different to my usual diary or journal writing, which seems to have gotten into a repetitive rut for now.

Is More Education Good For You?

Just looking through some recent research summaries online and found this interesting report on the effects of increasing the ages for compulsory education. I know it is not the full story (I don't suppose any researcher could afford the level of commitment and finance needed for such a study) but at least it is not a knee-jerk and non-reflective response to the idea of extra education.

New research presented this week at the Royal Economic Society Conference from our Department of Social & Policy Science questions the commonly held belief that more education is 'good for you' and results in higher wages and better life outcomes.

Previous work on this question generally suggested that the effect of 1972 school leaving age reform was positive; more recent estimates have challenged the magnitude of such effects suggesting a downward revision from 15% to 5%. But none of these studies examined the early parts of the life-cycle, concentrating only on the later working years.

But when comparing the lifetime wage trajectories of individuals who were born shortly before and shortly after the reform, the authors find that those with additional education suffered significantly lower wages in the first part of their working lives. On average, men with additional education suffered lower earnings until they were aged mid-30s. Post mid-30s wage differentials were non-significant.

Importantly, the authors argue that this negative effect is induced by the loss of early labour market experience and that previous studies did not adequately deal with this phenomenon. When correcting for this, the authors identify that the effect of education remains positive and significant.

Dr Buscha added: "Our research shows that it is important that when designing school leaving age reforms, such as the recent Raising of the Participation Age, that children are not only made to learn useful skills during this additional education but that practical arrangements are made to smooth integration into the labour market such that the negative effects of lost work experience are kept to a minimum."

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-03-wont-necessarily-richer-reveals.html#jCp

The Uses of Fairy Tales

I have just started reading "The Uses Of Enchantment" by Bruno Bettelheim. It has some really interesting ideas already, and some really complicated ones also. But what struck me today is an article I came across on phys.org where a recent study found that most fairy tales have a much longer history than previously believed. One story in particular, "The Smith & The Devil" can be traced back to the bronze age.
http://phys.org/news/2016-01-phylogenetic-analyses-fairy-tales-older.html