Weekly Top Five Articles
From tackling grade inflation in universities to exploring why women receive less critical feedback, the impact of family-based foster care, and how generosity makes us better people...
Here’s what stood out this week:
(1) “Abolish Grades A modest proposal.” by Yascha Mounk (August 29, 2024)
Grade inflation at American universities is out of control. The statistics speak for themselves. In 1950, the average GPA at Harvard was estimated at 2.6 out of 4. By 2003, it had risen to 3.4. Today, it stands at 3.8.
Yascha Mounk's critiques the widespread issue of grade inflation in American universities, highlighting how it's rendered academic grading nearly meaningless. He points out that elite institutions like Harvard and Yale, where average GPAs have skyrocketed, are particularly guilty, but the trend affects most U.S. colleges. Mounk argues that the inflated grading system fails to distinguish between levels of academic achievement, demotivates students, and punishes intellectual risk-taking. The growing focus on grades over learning has resulted in students studying less and making little progress in critical thinking and writing skills, according to studies.
Mounk explains that various systemic pressures—ranging from tuition costs to professors prioritizing research over teaching—contribute to this inflation. Academics themselves often feel uncomfortable acting as strict evaluators. While some suggest reverting to grading on a curve or limiting the number of high grades awarded, Mounk believes that universities will be unwilling to address the issue head-on due to institutional pressures and the desire to maintain student satisfaction.
His "modest proposal" suggests a radical alternative: if universities cannot reform grading standards, they should abolish grades altogether, moving to a pass-fail system. This would at least stop misleading students and employers about what grades actually represent and remove the current system's disincentives for academic rigor. Mounk concludes that while this solution is imperfect, it may be the least bad option for a system that has become irredeemably broken.
(2) “Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era,” by Ronald Allen, The Walrus (August 31, 2024)
In Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era, Roland Allen explores the rise of Moleskine notebooks and how a simple, analog product thrived in the face of the digital revolution.
Carrying around a notebook is a new mark of status.
The story begins in 1995 when Maria Sebregondi, while brainstorming ideas with friends, was inspired by Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines, where he nostalgically describes his favorite Parisian notebook, the "vrai moleskine." Sebregondi realized the commercial potential of reviving this elegant yet utilitarian object, which appealed to the creative and free-spirited “contemporary nomad.”
After confirming the notebook’s absence from the market, she collaborated with Francesco Franceschi’s company, Modo & Modo, to launch a new version of the Moleskine in 1997. The product's minimalist design, with its sleek black cover, elastic closure, and ivory-tinted pages, resonated deeply with creatives, travelers, and intellectuals. The Moleskine brand skillfully marketed the notebook as an enabler of creativity, aligning it with iconic figures like Hemingway, Matisse, and Chatwin.
Despite growing competition and the rise of digital tools, Moleskine notebooks became a cultural phenomenon, symbolizing status and creativity. They attracted a devoted following, including tech CEOs, designers, and writers, and withstood mockery as a “pretentious” accessory. The notebook’s enduring appeal, Allen notes, is not just in its design but in its ability to connect users to the physical act of writing, fostering creativity in a way that digital devices cannot replicate.
(3) “New research sheds light on why women receive less critical performance feedback,” by Eric W. Dolan, PsyPost, September 6, 2024
Dolan explores a study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology that reveals how social pressures can lead to inflated performance evaluations for women. The researchers found that feedback providers tend to offer less critical and more positive feedback to women than to men, driven by a desire to avoid appearing prejudiced. While this may seem protective, it ultimately limits women's professional growth by withholding constructive criticism essential for development.
The study, led by Leah D. Sheppard from Washington State University, involved analyzing music reviews and conducting experimental tasks where participants gave feedback to male and female employees. The results consistently showed that women received more positive feedback, even when their performance was identical to that of men. This bias was particularly strong among individuals who were externally motivated to avoid showing prejudice. Interestingly, critical feedback directed at women was often interpreted as being rooted in personal prejudice rather than performance issues, leading to inflated evaluations.
Sheppard emphasizes that this overcorrection, meant to shield women from bias, ironically hinders their career advancement by depriving them of honest feedback. The research sheds light on the complex dynamics of performance feedback and the unintended consequences of social pressure to appear unbiased.
(4) “People who pledge 10% of their income to charity are more morally expansive and open-minded,” by Mane Kara-Yakoubian, Psypost, September 5, 2024.
The article discusses new research published in the Journal of Personality that examines the unique traits of individuals who have committed to donating 10% of their income to charity through the Giving What We Can (GWWC) pledge. The study found that these altruists demonstrate distinct cognitive and personality traits compared to the general population, especially in their openness to new ideas and moral expansiveness.
Conducted by Matti Wilks and colleagues, the research involved 536 participants, including 294 GWWC pledgers and a control group of non-pledgers. The study revealed that those who took the pledge are significantly better at recognizing fearful facial expressions, a trait linked to greater empathy and prosocial behavior. They also scored higher in moral expansiveness, meaning their moral concern extends beyond humans to include animals, plants, and the environment.
Pledgers also displayed higher levels of actively open-minded thinking, showing a greater willingness to revise their beliefs based on new evidence, and they had a stronger need for cognition, meaning they preferred complex thinking and decision-making processes. Interestingly, they scored lower on maximizing tendencies, suggesting that their altruism is driven more by principles than by seeking optimal personal gains.
The study sheds light on the cognitive and moral traits that characterize extraordinary altruists, offering insights into how people who commit to significant charitable giving may approach decision-making and moral concerns differently from the general population.
(5) “Family-based foster care reduces irritability in teens exposed to early psychosocial deprivation,” by Eric W. Dolan, PsyPost (September 4, 2024)
Families that foster children literally change the world.
Dolan discusses a study that highlights the positive impact of high-quality, family-based foster care on adolescents who have experienced early psychosocial deprivation. Published in Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, the study found that adolescents placed in stable, family-based foster care showed lower levels of irritability compared to those who remained in institutional care. In contrast, teens who spent more time in institutional settings or were not placed with a family by age 16 exhibited higher irritability, a condition linked to negative outcomes such as relationship difficulties and mental health issues.
Led by Kathryn L. Humphreys at Vanderbilt University, the research was part of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a landmark trial evaluating foster care's impact on children raised in Romanian orphanages. Results showed that teens in foster care experienced significantly less irritability, indicating that a stable family environment can help mitigate the effects of early adversity.
The findings underscore the importance of family-based placements for children without regular caregivers, suggesting that improving caregiving environments can significantly reduce irritability and improve long-term outcomes.
Fostering children is an under-leveraged Christian witness to the work and person of Christ (James 1:27).
Great collection, as always. It's a bit flummoxing how using analog, normal things like a notebook can be perceived as a "pretentious" accessory. But I suppose tech-light activities and ways of doing things will increasingly be perceived in such a way.