Why are humans so eager for magic-bullet solutions? Can you explain how a pen works? And how does Angela feel about being forever branded “the grit lady”?
Whoa.
That's a lot to spend for mechanical pencils.
I'm Angela Duckworth.
I'm Steven Dubner, and you're listening to.
No stupid questions today on the show.
Why do humans tend to choose simplicity over complexity?
I kind of feel like we need the opposite of Occam's razor.
Maybe we could call it the Dubner Duckworth razor.
Angie, I have a question for you that is both a straightforward question and, I suspect, a bit of a trick question.
Ooh.
Are you intrigued?
I am.
What is it?
Is grit the key to success?
Or maybe I should say, is grit the key to success?
How do you answer that?
You know, my TEd talk used to be called the key to success.
And some very unhappy person pointed out that's overselling and unlikely to be true.
I do not think, Stephen, that grit is the key to success in the sense that I don't think grit is the only determinant of success.
I didn't choose the name of my TED talk.