tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post8665458375954657884..comments2024-03-10T23:01:51.493-05:00Comments on Stupid Motivational Tricks / Bemsha Swing: "you'd already be doing it"Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-60543948740632478862014-07-13T12:07:10.357-05:002014-07-13T12:07:10.357-05:00So I am endlessly fascinated by this and have a ne...So I am endlessly fascinated by this and have a new post on it that I think Thomas will like.<br /><br />http://profacero.wordpress.com/2014/07/13/extrinsic-and-intrinsic/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-35241374600971839712014-07-12T16:53:42.278-05:002014-07-12T16:53:42.278-05:00Oh, and more:
For many years, my answer to this q...Oh, and more:<br /><br />For many years, my answer to this question, why aren't you already doing it? was very simple, clear, and also true: because it felt so unsafe.<br /><br />Doing it meant continuing to associate with really destructive people. The first priority should be research, one knew, but the priority instinct and better judgement came up with was flight. Go anywhere, renounce Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-7490623669577963192014-07-12T16:09:10.329-05:002014-07-12T16:09:10.329-05:00P. P. P. S. On obstacles: what if there are TOO MA...P. P. P. S. On obstacles: what if there are TOO MANY obstacles? I notice that women tend to have two obstacles where white men have one, and persons of color have three. If this is not taken into account then one can simply say white men are the most interested. This is in fact what is usually said. <br /><br />Finally, obstacles are not things like having a broken leg for a while, or a child -- Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-85179107008968823462014-07-12T14:20:10.638-05:002014-07-12T14:20:10.638-05:00These comments go beyond the scope of the post. As...These comments go beyond the scope of the post. As I say, I like the post and the post it talks about.<br />But on being passionate as way to get beyond many circumstances, I have not in fact seen this to be true. The passionate people are also having their basic needs met, and are not being harrassed, or they are trying to leave the inadequate or destructive situation. Love helps to surmount Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-13981258543578938352014-07-11T18:35:38.749-05:002014-07-11T18:35:38.749-05:00So yes: I perk right up as soon as I get to a work...So yes: I perk right up as soon as I get to a work space in which I am not terrified. I am terrified at my current job and experience this as lack of interest. And I associate Hispanism generally with terror as well.<br /><br />Longing for other field is in large part longing for a field not contaminated for me by terror. But I do perk right up when I can inhabit a positive space.<br /><br />The Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-70471771323662077242014-07-11T18:08:08.335-05:002014-07-11T18:08:08.335-05:00Yes, I say wrong field as way of saying I must not...Yes, I say wrong field as way of saying I must not be interested. And it is a fact that I do not have just one interest.<br /><br />I think a big difference between most professors and me is that they are interested in only one thing, and want to resolve one research question, and want to teach in that one field, and are willing to do this in any circumstances -- if not at home, in the Arctic, ifAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-18163108451789581382014-07-11T11:22:50.473-05:002014-07-11T11:22:50.473-05:00If you count as an "extrinsic" reward th...If you count as an "extrinsic" reward the possibility to do more research in better conditions, then you are correct. I think that if you were at my university you could be interested in research again in a relatively unproblematic way. <br /><br />Or maybe not. You have spoken of being in the wrong field, of wanting to go to law school, etc... Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-22601378260674799872014-07-11T11:15:08.239-05:002014-07-11T11:15:08.239-05:00...and I do keep picking this apart, because I hav......and I do keep picking this apart, because I have precisely kept saying my problem is lack of interest, for many years. I am fascinated that Archambeau says this and says the solution is not productivity advice but do do something more interesting, because almost nobody says that except me.<br /><br />Yet there are so many aspects of this argument that I disagree with. For instance, lack of Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-16416442946120866022014-07-11T11:00:13.706-05:002014-07-11T11:00:13.706-05:00***But, upon reflection, I have decided this argum...***But, upon reflection, I have decided this argument is a red herring.***<br /><br />The question is not "extrinsic reward" but necessary conditions. Do you have conditions necessary to do your job? I mean: what if you had to give up your materials, and then say that the reason you were having difficulty working was lack of interest? Wouldn't that seem a very convoluted argument toAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-65224379947118270832014-07-09T23:49:12.677-05:002014-07-09T23:49:12.677-05:00I mean the rhetoric of love: doing it no matter wh...I mean the rhetoric of love: doing it no matter what the personal cost. Which some do ... but I say, there is a limit.<br /><br />What I still wonder about all of this is whether people with motivational problems writing don't actually have them for the whole (academic) enterprise ... but just see the results of this show up the most clearly in writing. And I do not know that lack of Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-59706614929349091502014-07-09T16:29:42.136-05:002014-07-09T16:29:42.136-05:00Mais oui, I can see that!Mais oui, I can see that!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-82827615579657560192014-07-09T16:28:16.384-05:002014-07-09T16:28:16.384-05:00I do not recall saying that true professionals wou...I do not recall saying that true professionals would work for free. Most scholars do, or close to it, though -- I mean, you should see my royalty checks! And at most institutions, post-tenure, the difference between publishing a lot and publishing a little doesn't mean a thing financially. So there's that.Archambeauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17273511539172747550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-78702941012422380842014-07-09T14:14:27.441-05:002014-07-09T14:14:27.441-05:00Archambeau is really the master of the facebook st...Archambeau is really the master of the facebook status update. His are tiny masterpieces. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-90587149105244974562014-07-09T14:10:23.682-05:002014-07-09T14:10:23.682-05:00I gave up, friended Archambeau on Facebook, and wr...I gave up, friended Archambeau on Facebook, and wrote my own post.<br /><br />http://profacero.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/sur-la-productivite/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-15489567603093848482014-07-09T12:53:13.178-05:002014-07-09T12:53:13.178-05:00I also find that extrinsic reasons are helpful. Wh...I also find that extrinsic reasons are helpful. Why am I doing this? It is my job. Why finish this paper? So I can give it in that interesting venue and hear other interesting papers.<br /><br />I do think passion goes a long way. I am passionate about the life's work I actually want, yes. Either a research oriented professorship or one of the research oriented professions I am interested in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-80149207216687172622014-07-09T12:39:58.219-05:002014-07-09T12:39:58.219-05:00Maybe we need to invoke the distinction between ne...Maybe we need to invoke the distinction between necessary and sufficient causes. Desire is certainly necessary, but, given the conditions, rarely sufficient.<br /><br />I guess my hope is that there is, for each scholar working under a particular set of conditions, a piece of advice which might guide the scholar's act of will, such that desire becomes, at least for a time, all that is needed.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-84878236628388431202014-07-09T12:27:58.833-05:002014-07-09T12:27:58.833-05:00Oh, hi Archambeau! Yes, I now how to write a book ...Oh, hi Archambeau! Yes, I now how to write a book proposal now. Karen Kelsky sometimes has useful posts but is very unlike me -- younger and with different priorities, and was miserable in the R1 atmosphere where I thrive.<br /><br />The extrinsic reward for research in writing, for me, would be to be in a place where research and writing is done, i.e. in a research atmosphere, somewhere lively. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-78637448023622483002014-07-09T12:10:50.853-05:002014-07-09T12:10:50.853-05:00Logically, I should be the least productive schola...Logically, I should be the least productive scholar because, while somewhat intelligent I am told, I am lazy and inefficient. So I am productive scholar in spite of my laziness and inefficiency. When those qualities have gotten in my way, I have found a way around them, so that now I am reasonably efficient, though still damned lazy. I also tend toward depression, but I can write my way out of Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-23715835983235371672014-07-09T11:21:57.154-05:002014-07-09T11:21:57.154-05:00P.S. It sounds as though I would like that Faceboo...P.S. It sounds as though I would like that Facebook post, Archambeau. Because it is non coercive.<br /><br />I have torn myself up for years trying to become a teaching person and I can only imagine what it must be to not be a research person and try to force yourself.<br /><br />But j'insiste, you would be doing it come hell or high water if you really cared is still not adequate, for the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-83085440180438400562014-07-09T11:07:41.377-05:002014-07-09T11:07:41.377-05:00Oh -- about book proposals and what they look like...Oh -- about book proposals and what they look like. This is really quite a good guide to the issue, written by someone who has had to read an evaluate a ton of proposals.<br /><br />www.theprofessorisin.com/2011/09/06/how-to-write-a-book-proposal/<br /><br />Archambeauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17273511539172747550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-47278169980454089772014-07-09T11:02:56.495-05:002014-07-09T11:02:56.495-05:00It sounds like you have difficult circumstances an...It sounds like you have difficult circumstances and aren't particularly happy with where you are. I'm sorry to hear that.<br /><br />That said, the argument that you are making -- that you are "not passionate" about literary research, but are willing to do it "as a job" (which I take to mean: for the extrinsic rewards), and that you have trouble doing it due to your Archambeauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17273511539172747550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-28903452466672257952014-07-09T10:30:46.800-05:002014-07-09T10:30:46.800-05:00I think the more interesting question is: what nee...I think the more interesting question is: what needs do you have, to be able to do this? what needs are not being met? how can they be met?<br /><br />I, for instance, turn out to need, ideally, a trip to a library every week. That means time, gas, lunch, parking ... it's 110 mi RT to one library and 260 to the other. That means I need to bite the debt bullet, which means I need to commit to Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-86277847307990004172014-07-09T10:29:40.424-05:002014-07-09T10:29:40.424-05:00Already doing what? What I dislike is lower divisi...Already doing what? What I dislike is lower division/gen ed teaching, but it has always been the greater part of the teaching I had to do. I am slow at it because I don't like it. I am also slowed down in life generally by unhappiness living in the rural suburbs, in a university without a library and a town without a bookstore.<br /><br />Literary research is something I am willing to do. NotAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-31448356293666791862014-07-09T10:25:59.520-05:002014-07-09T10:25:59.520-05:00Hi.
I'm the guy who wrote the FB post. I s...Hi. <br /><br />I'm the guy who wrote the FB post. I suppose it is predicated on three very debatable premises about scholarship in the humanities (scientific work is so different, and so outside my experience, that I don't feel qualified to have an opinion about it). These premises are:<br /><br />--If you do find scholarly work intrinsically rewarding, you are unlikely to have Archambeauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17273511539172747550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-31003919908881564232014-07-09T09:27:52.902-05:002014-07-09T09:27:52.902-05:00Hermagoras' comment reminds me of David Foster...Hermagoras' comment reminds me of David Foster Wallace's <a href="http://secondlanguage.blogspot.dk/2013/06/david-foster-wallace-on-giving-advice.html" rel="nofollow">"wise" words</a>.<br /><br />I agree with the zen-like nature of that question, as long as we recognize that it is isn't always rhetorical.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.com