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What Does It Look Like? What Does It Matter? (Plus Dr. Baron's Video about Actively Open-Minded Thinking)

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What Does It Look Like? What Does It Matter? (Plus Dr. Baron's Video about Actively Open-Minded Thinking)

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Curiosity is wanting to learn more. Showing interest, seeking novelty, and being open to new experiences.

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What Does It Matter? What Does It Look Like?  (Plus Professor Emmon's Talk about Graditude and The Happiness Experiment) 

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What Does It Matter? What Does It Look Like?  (Plus Professor Emmon's Talk about Graditude and The Happiness Experiment) 

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Advancing the science and practice of character development so that all students can reach their full potential

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What Does It Matter?  What Does It Look Like?

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What Does It Matter?  What Does It Look Like?

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Advancing the science and practice of character development so that all students can reach their full potential

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What Does It Matter? What Does It Look Like?

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What Does It Matter? What Does It Look Like?

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Intentions and actions that benefit both the individual and others

How do you define character?

We define character as everything we do to help other people as well as ourselves.

As an organizing principle, we separate character strengths into three dimensions. Strengths of heart, such as gratitude, enable harmonious relationships with other people. Strengths of will, such as grit and self-control, enable achievement. Strengths of mind, such as curiosity, enable independent thinking.

Character Lab also recognizes and supports a diversity of frameworks including SEL, whole child, and 21st-century skills.

Strengths of heart

Interpersonal

Help us relate to other people in positive ways

Examples: gratitude, kindness

Strengths of mind

Strengths of will

Why character?

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education."

Overwhelming scientific evidence now shows that character strengths like self-control, curiosity, and gratitude are critically important to social and emotional well-being, physical health, and achievement. Although character strengths are malleable, surprisingly little is known about how to cultivate them intentionally.

How can we cultivate character?

At Character Lab, we believe that helping children develop character is an age-old challenge that will yield to a new solution: world-class scientists creating actionable resources for educators, parents, coaches, counselors, and anyone else interested in helping kids thrive. For more, read our Playbooks and Tips of the Week.

Download our Character Strength Posters

Character Strength Posters

Printable 11×17 posters for your classroom or office

Download now

Research articles about character

A tripartite taxonomy of character: Evidence for intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intellectual competencies in children
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 48, 16-27.
Park, D., Tsukayama, E., Goodwin, G. P., Patrick, S., & Duckworth, A. L. (2017).

Integrating psychological and cultural perspectives on virtue: The hierarchical structure of character strengths
The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(5), 407-424. McGrath, R. E. (2015).

The myth of achievement tests: The GED and the role of character in American life Heckman, J., Humphries, J. E., & Kautz, T. (Eds.). (2013). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Intentions and actions that benefit both the individual and others We define character as everything we do to help other people as well as ourselves. As an organizing principle, we separate character strengths into three dimensions. Strengths of heart, such as gratitude, enable harmonious relationships with other people.

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What Does It Matter? What Does It Look Like?

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What Does It Matter? What Does It Look Like?

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Advancing the science and practice of character development so that all students can reach their full potential

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What Does It Look Like? What Does It Matter?

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What Does It Look Like? What Does It Matter?

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Self-control is controlling your actions, thoughts, and feelings so they align with your goals.

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What Does It Look Like? What Does It Matter?

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What Does It Look Like? What Does It Matter?

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Advancing the science and practice of character development so that all students can reach their full potential

# data[].attributes.headline
What Does It Look Like? What Does It Matter?

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What Does It Look Like? What Does It Matter?

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Advancing the science and practice of character development so that all students can reach their full potential

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Are You Intimidated by Classical Music and Art?

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Are You Intimidated by Classical Music and Art?

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What is your opinion on classical music, modern art, theater or opera? Why do you feel the way you do?

In " A Note to the Classically Insecure," Miles Hoffman writes:

I was talking about music recently with a friend who makes his living cloning genes, manipulating molecules and investigating the pathways of the human immune system. This is a person whose intellectual molecules are clearly very well arranged. But he proceeded to tell me that although he loved classical music, when he listened to it he wasn't able to perceive anything other than his own emotional reactions.

Could it be true? Well, he thought it was. But he was wrong.

What my friend was expressing was merely a symptom of a common affliction, one that crosses all intellectual, social and economic classes: the Classical Music Insecurity Complex. Immediate therapy was indicated.

There's no question, I pointed out, that he perceives more than just his own reactions. Lots more. In every piece he listens to he perceives changes, both great and small, in tempo, volume, pitch and instrumentation. He perceives melodies, harmonies and rhythms, and their patterns. He perceives, in short, virtually all the musical ingredients that composers manipulate to stimulate emotional effects, which is precisely why he's emotionally affected. His "problem" isn't perception - it's description. And what he doesn't know is the jargon, the technical terms for the ingredients and manipulations.

And why should he? He's a scientist, not a musician. And frankly, it's not even essential that he be aware of the specific musical and technical means by which his reactions are being stimulated.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- Do you suffer from what Mr. Hoffman calls "Classical Music Insecurity Complex"? In other words, are you intimidated by highbrow art forms like classical music, art and theater? Why do you think this is?

- Did reading this article change your mind about classical music at all? Would you be any more willing to attend a performance or listen to a piece than you were before? Why or why not?

- Mr. Hoffman writes that "there's no denying that the more we know about music, as with cooking or gardening or football, the more levels of enjoyment are available to us." Do you agree with this statement? Are there times when knowing too much about something might actually hinder your appreciation and emotional experience of it? Can you give an example?

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Are You Intimidated by Classical Music and Art?

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What is your opinion on classical music, modern art, theater or opera? Why do you feel the way you do? In " A Note to the Classically Insecure," Miles Hoffman writes: I was talking about music recently with a friend who makes his living cloning genes, manipulating molecules and investigating the pathways of the human immune system.

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Is School a Safe Place for Self-Expression?

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Is School a Safe Place for Self-Expression?

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How much of your real self do you reveal in what you write in school? How much about your interests, background, culture, experiences and ideas are you able to express? In " The Soul-Crushing Student Essay," Scott Korb writes: ... We expect college freshmen to feel at least as comfortable with self-expression as the burbling bloggers and writers of yesteryear.

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How much of your real self do you reveal in what you write in school? How much about your interests, background, culture, experiences and ideas are you able to express? In " The Soul-Crushing Student Essay," Scott Korb writes: ... We expect college freshmen to feel at least as comfortable with self-expression as the burbling bloggers and writers of yesteryear.

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The Times reported last week that a new study of "more than 400 eighth and 11th graders found that many teenage texters had a lot in common with compulsive gamblers, including losing sleep because of texting, problems cutting back on texting and lying to cover up the amount of time they spent texting." Even if your use of texting doesn't rise to that level, do you find yourself constantly checking your phone to see what new messages you might have gotten?

Do you have a texting problem?

In " Compulsive Texting Takes Toll on Teenagers," Roni Caryn Rabin writes:

Teenagers use text messaging more than any other mode of communication, so it may be hard to tell. But youngsters who check their phones continually, snap if you interrupt them and are so preoccupied with texting that they skip sleep and don't get their work done may be compulsive texters, a new study says. For girls, compulsive texting is more than just a distraction - it is also associated with lower academic performance.

The article continues:

"Compulsivity is more than just the number of texts teens are engaging in," said Kelly M. Lister-Landman, the paper's lead author and an assistant professor of psychology at Delaware County Community College in Media, Pa. "What is their relationship with phone use? Do they feel anxious when it's not around them? When they sit down to eat dinner with their family, do they feel a need to check it? Do they feel compelled to look at it at all times, rather than just answering texts they get?

Over all, girls text compulsively at a far higher rate than boys do. And unlike girls, boys in the study who were compulsive texters were not at risk of doing poorly in school.

Students: Tell us ...

- Do you have a texting problem? Do you ever lose sleep because of texting? Does texting get in the way of doing your schoolwork? Do you ever lie about the amount of time you spend texting?

- Do you text every day? Do you text in class, in bed or while eating? Do you find yourself constantly checking your phone to see what new messages you might have gotten?

- How many texts do you send on a typical day? More than 50 or 100? Do you spend more time texting than talking on your phone, meeting face-to-face or reading email?

- Do you have strategies to make sure your phone doesn't get in the way of school, relationships or sleep? Please share.

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. All comments are moderated by Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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The Times reported last week that a new study of "more than 400 eighth and 11th graders found that many teenage texters had a lot in common with compulsive gamblers, including losing sleep because of texting, problems cutting back on texting and lying to cover up the amount of time they spent texting."

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What Activities Make You Feel Most Alive?

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What Activities Make You Feel Most Alive?

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Are there things you enjoy doing that are so exhilarating or challenging that you find yourself feeling stronger, more alert or happier? What activities make you feel more alive?

In " Alone at Sea," Elizabeth Weil writes about Aleksander Doba, who kayaked across the Atlantic Ocean (for the third time) at age 70:

Ocean kayaking is catastrophically monotonous. The primary challenge is not physical. Doba describes the tedium as a form of dementia: "Hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of repetitions. The brain is removed from the process." Alone at sea without his hearing aids, Doba joked, he grew so disoriented that he started shouting at himself "so that I could hear." (Doba is fairly deaf but didn't bring the aids along because they're expensive and not waterproof, and there was no one to talk to anyway.) He intended to keep muscle tone in his legs by swimming, but he had to abort that plan because his body in the water attracted sharks. He was assaulted by hailstorms of flying fish. "Do you know how fast they go?" he said. "This does not feel good."

When he couldn't sleep, because of the unrelenting stuffiness of his cabin and the waves crashing through the portal onto his head, Doba thought about his wife, children and his young granddaughter. He thought about his dead parents. He communed with the turtles, whose shells he tapped while they swam alongside him to make sure they were alive, and the birds, who landed on Olo for a rest and often entered his cabin and did not want to leave. He did have a satellite phone, and he texted with Arminski, who, as his trip navigator, sent a regular forecast for wind and weather. Doba also called his wife, twice. But after she got the bill for $500, she says, "the desire to talk" decreased.

Doba rotated through three kinds of freeze-dried porridge for breakfast, four kinds of freeze-dried soup for lunch and an assortment of a dozen freeze-dried entrees. (He ate all the meat options first.) He also snacked on dried fruit and his wife's plum jam, but he ran out of that halfway across the ocean. Every time he closed his eyes, Doba told me, "I dreamed I was paddling in the winter in Poland." He lost 45 pounds. Still, the trip was perfect. Ninety-nine days after leaving Senegal, Doba arrived in Brazil. He was greeted by one journalist and the Polish ambassador. Nobody cares if you cross the Atlantic in a kayak. The fact that Doba knows this is clear in his eyes. In photos from the ends of his trips, he looks ecstatic and feral, in the best possible sense, intrinsically wild and free.

Students: Read the article up to the close-up photo of Mr. Doba in a white tank top, then tell us:

- Can you understand why Mr. Doba looked as if he were feeling "ecstatic and feral, in the best possible sense, intrinsically wild and free" while kayaking? Why or why not?

- What activities do you do that give you a feeling of being more alive? Why do they make you feel that way?

- What activities can you see yourself doing when you reach Mr. Doba's age, so you still feel "wild and free"? Explain why.
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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What Activities Make You Feel Most Alive?

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Are there things you enjoy doing that are so exhilarating or challenging that you find yourself feeling stronger, more alert or happier? What activities make you feel more alive? In " Alone at Sea," Elizabeth Weil writes about Aleksander Doba, who kayaked across the Atlantic Ocean (for the third time) at age 70: Ocean kayaking is catastrophically monotonous.

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What Pop-Up Classes Do You Wish Your School Would Offer?

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What Pop-Up Classes Do You Wish Your School Would Offer?

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What is the most interesting topic you have learned about in school? Why did it appeal to you?

In " Pop-Ups Offer Classes on Today's Hot Topics," Abby Ellin writes:

The class was supposed to be temporary, a quick dive into the link between literature and anthropology. The professors had no idea if students would even come. It wasn't mandatory, they wouldn't get credit and it was taking place at night. Friday night.

So no one was more surprised than Kara Wittman and Joanne Nucho when 24 people showed up for their "Essay as Resistance" class, which had its debut at Pomona College in March 2017 and ran for three 90-minute sessions. "We were shocked that it was so popular," said Ms. Wittman, an assistant professor of English at Pomona, in Claremont, Calif., who taught the class with Ms. Nucho, an assistant professor of anthropology there.

But that's exactly the appeal of the so-called pop-up class, an experiential, interdisciplinary, extracurricular workshop that appears briefly and usually vanishes.

Pop-up classes have grown in popularity over the last few years, with a number of colleges and universities offering them. They're often related to current events. Bennington College's " Am I Charlie?," held in 2015, was a response to the attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in France. "White Privilege" was offered last year at St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vt., when Black Lives Matter gained traction on campus.

"It was a time when our community on campus and nationally was divided around issues of race, and we wanted to give our students the opportunity to discuss some of these challenging topics," said Kimoi Seale, assistant dean of students, who taught the "White Privilege" class.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- What do you think of the idea of "pop-up" classes? Would you choose to go to class during your free time if it was about something that interested you? Why or why not?

- Which classes mentioned in the article would you like to take? Why?

- What pop-up classes do you wish your school offered and why?

- If you could teach a pop-up class, what would it be about? How would you teach it?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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What 'Pop-Up' Classes Do You Wish Your School Offered?

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What is the most interesting topic you have learned about in school? Why did it appeal to you? In " Pop-Ups Offer Classes on Today's Hot Topics," Abby Ellin writes: The class was supposed to be temporary, a quick dive into the link between literature and anthropology.

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Do you enjoy spending time outside? Or do you prefer being indoors? Why?

In " Nature With Chirps, but No Tweets," Bob Morris writes:

Sometimes when Rachel Lee Hovnanian, a conceptual artist who lives in Manhattan, sees a hill, she will stop what she's doing to roll down it. She also likes lying under trees.

"As a tomboy in Ohio and then Texas, I was always outdoors," she recalled recently, while giving a tour of her current show at the Leila Heller gallery in Chelsea. "I would make mud pies, climb trees and go fishing and camping all the time."

Not doing much of anything in nature, she believes, especially in a time of pervasive smartphone and tech entertainment addiction, can be good for the imagination.

And that explains why her new exhibition has an "NDD Immersion Room," and why visitors are asked to give up their phones and have them locked up by staff members in glass boxes on the wall before entering.

NDD stands for nature deficit disorder, a phrase coined by the writer Richard Louv in a 2005 book, "Last Child in the Woods." Ms. Hovnanian first saw the term used on a psychology website called Positive Prescription, and it resonated with her own ideas about humans needing some contact with nature to be healthy, whether that means seeing mountains on the horizon or touching mud.

The artist's Immersion Room is an elaborate indoor installation that meticulously recreates a forest at night. You enter with lanterns, one or two at a time through mirrored swinging doors, to walk on leaves and a wood stump path under towering, fragrant fir trees. The sound of crickets and rushing water fills the darkness. A fake campfire flickers under an artificial sky full of stars where there's a log to sit on or a camping cot for anyone who cares to lie down. All of this is next to the West Side Highway.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- What do you think of Ms. Hovnanian's art exhibit? Would you give up your phone to spend time in the "NDD Immersion Room"?

- Do you agree with the artist that humans need some contact with nature to be healthy? Why or why not?

- How do you get your nature fix? Where do you go to experience the great outdoors? How do you spend your time there?

- Do you think people today spend enough time outdoors? Do you spend as much time in nature as you would like? If not, what are some things that prevent you from doing so?

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Do you enjoy spending time outside? Or do you prefer being indoors? Why? In " Nature With Chirps, but No Tweets," Bob Morris writes: Sometimes when Rachel Lee Hovnanian, a conceptual artist who lives in Manhattan, sees a hill, she will stop what she's doing to roll down it.

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Do You Think It Is Important for Teenagers to Participate in Political Activism?

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Do You Think It Is Important for Teenagers to Participate in Political Activism?

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Did you take part in the national school walkouts to protest gun violence on March 14?

If so, why did you decide to join, and what was the experience like? If not, why did you decide to opt out?

Have you ever taken part in any other kind of political activism? Do you think that in general it is good for teenagers to participate this way? Why or why not?

In " National School Walkout: Thousands Protest Against Gun Violence Across the U.S.," Alan Blinder and Julie Turkewitz write:

Thousands of students, emboldened by a growing protest movement over gun violence, stood up in their classrooms on Wednesday and walked out of their schools in a nationwide demonstration, one month after a gunman killed 17 people at a high school in Florida.

The 17-minute protests unfolding at hundreds of schools are intended to pressure Congress to approve gun control legislation after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and come 10 days before major protests in Washington and elsewhere.

... The demonstrations unfolded in different ways from city to city and school to school. In some places, demonstrators chanted and held signs. At other schools, students stood in silence. In Atlanta, some students took a knee.

Thousands of students around New York, many backed by permission slips from their parents, walked out of their schools and converged on central locations - Columbus Circle, Battery Park, Brooklyn Borough Hall, Lincoln Center.

... In Washington, thousands left their classrooms in the city and its suburbs and marched to the Capitol steps, their high-pitched voices battling against the stiff wind: "Hey-hey, ho-ho, the N.R.A. has got to go!" One sign said: "Fix This, Before I Text My Mom from Under A Desk."

Another article published on the same day, this one from the Well section, explains " Why Demonstrating Is Good for Kids." In it, Lisa Damour writes:

Participating in political activism may be good for our teenagers, according to a new research report.

The study, published in January in the journal Child Development, found that late adolescents and young adults who voted, volunteered or engaged in activism ultimately went further in school and had higher incomes than those who did not mobilize for political or social change.

By tracking nearly 10,000 young people from a wide variety of ethnic, racial and economic backgrounds, researchers from Wake Forest School of Medicine, Fordham University and the University of Massachusetts measured the long-term implications of youth political and social engagement. Remarkably, they found that civic activity linked to better academic and financial outcomes regardless of early school performance and parental education levels, two factors that usually drive later success.

Of course, correlation does not prove causation, but the study makes a case for the benefits of civic engagement.

In light of the findings, Parissa Ballard, the study's lead author and an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine, said that "having meaningful opportunities to volunteer or be involved in activism may change how young people think about themselves or their possibilities for the future."

Students: Read both articles, then tell us ...

- What is your reaction to the national school walkouts to protest gun violence? What comes to mind as you read about and see photos and videos from students protesting around the country?

- What is your opinion of the message that students were trying to send with these walkouts? Do you think this protest will be effective in addressing the issue of gun violence in the United States?

- How do you think teachers and administrators should respond to student protests, whether over this issue or any other? Do you think times like this, when large numbers of young people are reacting to an issue in the news, should be treated in school as "teachable moments"? If so, how?

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Do You Think It Is Important for Teenagers to Participate in Political Activism?

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Did you take part in the national school walkouts to protest gun violence on March 14? If so, why did you decide to join, and what was the experience like? If not, why did you decide to opt out? Have you ever taken part in any other kind of political activism?

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Do You Have An Idea That Is Ahead of Its Time?

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Do You Have An Idea That Is Ahead of Its Time?

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Look carefully at the map that tracks the Northwest Passage, above.

How difficult would the ocean passage be, do you imagine? What special challenges might sailors face, and why?

In " The Northwest Passage That Might Have Been," Brian Castner writes:

In the summer of 1789, a young fur trader named Alexander Mackenzie led an expedition in search of a Northwest Passage. He and his voyageurs and Chipewyan guides were attempting, 14 years before Lewis and Clark, to cross North America, paddling birch bark canoes down a river they hoped would pierce the Rocky Mountains. Mackenzie was a businessman who wanted to speed the pace of trade by connecting New York and China via an interior passage through the continent. He did find such a route, without knowing it. Mackenzie died thinking he was a failure, when he was really just 200 years early.

Some ideas are fantastically ahead of their time. In 1636, René Descartes created contact lenses, using glass tubes filled with water; unfortunately, the wearer was unable to blink. Charles Babbage invented digital "difference engines" - essentially modern programmable computers but powered by steam - in the 1820s. And Kodak developed digital cameras in 1974 but discarded the product idea because it thought no one wanted to look at photos on televisions.

In a particularly ill-timed episode, Giovanni Caselli invented the fax machine in 1856. Letter writers could scribble a message onto electrically charged foil, and the portions covered by ink would block the flow of current. The stylus of Caselli's device then scanned each line of text, transmitting the signal via telegraph lines to a second machine, which would scrawl out a "fac simile" of the letter.

He continues:

Like the fax machine and computer, Alexander Mackenzie's Northwest Passage was too forward-looking to be practical or useful. Today the melting Northwest Passage - along the North Slope of Alaska, through the maze of Canadian Arctic islands, then back down along Greenland's west coast, to the Atlantic - is regularly in the news. A holy grail for generations of explorers is now finally open, because of climate change. Giant cargo and oil tankers regularly ply those seas, and even the Crystal Serenity cruise ship, with 1,700 people onboard (many in black tie), has made the journey the past two summers.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- What was your reaction to the story about the long search for the Northwest Passage, and the fact it is now a reality because of climate change?

- What other ideas can you think of that were fantastically ahead of their time, only to become a reality at some point after they were dreamed up?

- Do you agree with the author that, "Ideas do not exist only on their own merits. Timing matters." Why or why not?

- What idea do you have that is ahead of its time? What made you think of it, and do you expect it will one day come to fruition? Why or why not?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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What Idea Do You Have That Is Ahead of Its Time?

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Look carefully at the map that tracks the Northwest Passage, above. How difficult would the ocean passage be, do you imagine? What special challenges might sailors face, and why? In " The Northwest Passage That Might Have Been," Brian Castner writes: In the summer of 1789, a young fur trader named Alexander Mackenzie led an expedition in search of a Northwest Passage.

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Have you ever experienced loss in your life - of a loved one, pet, job, home or something else special or valuable to you - or known someone who has? What was that experience like? How did you deal with your emotions?

In " Understanding Grief," Jane E. Brody writes:

Although many of us are able to speak frankly about death, we still have a lot to learn about dealing wisely with its aftermath: grief, the natural reaction to loss of a loved one.

Relatively few of us know what to say or do that can be truly helpful to a relative, friend or acquaintance who is grieving. In fact, relatively few who have suffered a painful loss know how to be most helpful to themselves.

Two new books by psychotherapists who have worked extensively in the field of loss and grief are replete with stories and guidance that can help both those in mourning and the people they encounter avoid many of the common pitfalls and misunderstandings associated with grief. Both books attempt to correct false assumptions about how and how long grief might be experienced.

One book, "It's OK That You're Not OK," by Megan Devine of Portland, Ore., has the telling subtitle "Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand." It grew out of the tragic loss of her beloved partner, who drowned at age 39 while the couple was on vacation. The other book, especially illuminating in its coverage of how people cope with different kinds of losses, is "Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death and Surviving," by Julia Samuel, who works with bereaved families both in private practice and at England's National Health Service, at St. Mary's hospital, Paddington.

The books share a most telling message: As Ms. Samuel put it, "There is no right or wrong in grief; we need to accept whatever form it takes, both in ourselves and in others." Recognizing loss as a universal experience, Ms. Devine hopes that "if we can start to understand the true nature of grief, we can have a more helpful, loving, supportive culture."

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- How do you cope with grief? What strategies from the article can you apply to your own life about healthy ways to express and relieve suffering when facing tragedy?

- What was the best way someone supported you when you were grieving? What was the worst? Why?

- What do you usually say to someone who is in mourning? What do you usually do? What advice can you take from the article about how to support those who are dealing with loss?

- What misconceptions or assumptions about grief did you have before reading the article? What is something new that you learned?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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Have you ever experienced loss in your life - of a loved one, pet, job, home or something else special or valuable to you - or known someone who has? What was that experience like? How did you deal with your emotions? In " Understanding Grief," Jane E.

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Do you know there is an official United States Poet Laureate appointed every year by the Librarian of the United States Congress?

Do you know that, for the first time ever, the United States now also has a Youth Poet Laureate?

Do you like poetry? If so, what type of poetry do you like, and why?

In " How Amanda Gorman Became the Nation's First Youth Poet Laureate " Alex Hawgood interviews the young poet:

Amanda Gorman

Age 19

Hometown Los Angeles

Now Lives As a sophomore at Harvard University, she lives in campus housing with two of her best friends.

Claim to Fame Ms. Gorman is a poet, author and activist who is the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. Celebrated by such prominent women as Hillary Clinton (Ms. Gorman helped introduce Ms. Clinton at the 2017 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards in March) and Cynthia Erivo, her poetry is a cleareyed mix of autobiography, social issues like Islamophobia, and historical motifs picked up from her college's library. "I want to create poems that stand the test of time and counter the fragmented news culture of today," she said.

Big Break Inspired by a speech that Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist and Nobel Prize laureate, gave in 2013, Ms. Gorman became a youth delegate for the United Nations at the age of 16. "It really opened my eyes to the possibilities of what I could accomplish," she said. Soon after, in 2014, she was named the inaugural Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate. The following year, she published her first poetry collection, "The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough."

Latest Project "What's really funny about being National Youth Poet Laureate is that not everyone even knows it exists," said Ms. Gorman, who was given the honor in April. "I feel in many ways like a unicorn." That's not to say she isn't taking her new role seriously. "I did a lot of sitting back and thinking about what I wanted for myself and what I wanted for my country: more unity, more support for the arts and more opportunities for young writers from marginalized groups," she said.

Next Thing Between courses in sociology and her laureate obligations, she continues to lead One Pen One Page, an organization she founded in 2016 that provides platforms "for student storytellers to change the world." She is also putting the final touches on She the People, an experiential virtual reality project that seeks to empower teenage girls. "I'm navigating all that while also being a young black woman navigating the intersectionality of my identity," she said.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- What did you learn that you didn't already know from this article?

- Did the profile of Ms. Gorman make you want to read her poetry, or click on the link to One Pen One Page? Why or why not?

- What role does poetry play in your life? Do you read it? If so, what are your favorite poems and who are your favorite poets?

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Do you know there is an official United States Poet Laureate appointed every year by the Librarian of the United States Congress? Do you know that, for the first time ever, the United States now also has a Youth Poet Laureate? Do you like poetry?

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Have you ever faced a challenge in your life? Did you overcome it? What was the whole experience like? What did you feel during and after your struggle?

In the autumn of 1826, the English philosopher John Stuart Mill suffered a nervous breakdown - a "crisis" in his "mental history," as he called it.

Since the age of 15, Mill had been caught firmly under the intellectual spell of his father's close friend, Jeremy Bentham. Bentham was a proponent of the principle of utility - the idea that all human action should aim to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number. And Mill devoted much of his youthful energies to the advancement of this principle: by founding the Utilitarian Society (a fringe group of fewer than 10 members), publishing articles in popular reviews and editing Bentham's laborious manuscripts.

Utilitarianism, Mill thought, called for various social reforms: improvements in gender relations, working wages, the greater protection of free speech and a substantial broadening of the British electorate (including women's suffrage).

There was much work to be done, but Mill was accustomed to hard work. As a child, his father placed him on a highly regimented home schooling regime. Between the ages of 8 and 12, he read all of Herodotus, Homer, Xenophon, six Platonic dialogues (in Greek), Virgil and Ovid (in Latin), and kept on reading with increasing intensity, as well as learning physics, chemistry, astronomy, and mathematics, while tutoring his younger sisters. Holidays were not permitted, "lest the habit of work should be broken, and a taste for idleness acquired."

Not surprisingly, one of the more commonly accepted explanations of Mill's breakdown at the age of 20, is that it was caused by cumulative mental exhaustion. But Mill himself understood it differently. In his autobiography, he wrote:

I was in a dull state of nerves, such as everybody is occasionally liable to: unsusceptible to enjoyment or pleasurable excitement; one of those moods when what is pleasure at other times, becomes insipid or indifferent... In this frame of mind it occurred to me to put the question directly to myself, 'Suppose that all your objects in life were realized; that all the changes in institutions and opinions which you are looking forward to, could be completely effected at this very instant: would this be a great joy and happiness to you?' And an irrepressible self-consciousness distinctly answered, 'No!' At this my heart sank within me: the whole foundation on which my life was constructed fell down. All my happiness was to have been found in the continual pursuit of this end. The end had ceased to charm, and how could there ever again be any interest in the means? I seemed to have nothing left to live for.

In the wake of this episode, Mill slipped into a six-month-long depression.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- In your opinion, is struggle essential to happiness? Have you ever experienced happiness from struggle in your own life?

- Mr. Etinson writes, "Some part of us prefers to struggle or quest after an ideal, rather than attain it." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

- From where do you draw happiness? From striving toward some future goal? From peaceful moments of quiet contemplation? From anything else?

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Have you ever faced a challenge in your life? Did you overcome it? What was the whole experience like? What did you feel during and after your struggle? In the autumn of 1826, the English philosopher John Stuart Mill suffered a nervous breakdown - a "crisis" in his "mental history," as he called it.

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What Supreme Court Now, Or In the Past, Interests You the Most?

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What Supreme Court Now, Or In the Past, Interests You the Most?

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What do you know about the role of the Supreme Court of the United States? If you live in this country, what relationship do Supreme Court decisions have to your everyday life?

In " Back at Full Strength, Supreme Court Faces a Momentous Term," Adam Liptak writes:

The Supreme Court, which was short-handed and slumbering for more than a year after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, is returning to the bench on Monday with a far-reaching docket that renews its central role in American life.

The new term is studded with major cases likely to provoke sharp conflicts. One of them, on political gerrymandering, has the potential to reshape American politics. Another may settle the question of whether businesses can turn away patrons like gay couples in the name of religious freedom.

The court will hear important workers' rights cases, including one on employers' power to prevent workers from banding together to sue them. Perhaps the most consequential case involves fundamental principles of privacy in an age when cellphones record our every move.

"There's only one prediction that's entirely safe about the upcoming term," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said last month at Georgetown's law school. "It will be momentous."

The article continues:

The court's docket may be an embarrassment of riches, but it is also a work in progress. The justices have for now set aside arguments over Mr. Trump's travel ban while they consider whether the administration's issuing of a new travel order has made the current challenge moot. And there are major cases on the horizon, including one on whether a federal employment discrimination law protects gay men and lesbians.

"The upcoming term," said Elizabeth Slattery, a lawyer with the Heritage Foundation, "promises to be one for the history books."

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- What Supreme Court cases from the article interest you the most, and why?

- Look through this list of landmark Supreme Court cases from Street Law Inc. and the United States Supreme Court Historical Society. Are you familiar with any of them, for example Brown v. Board of Education (school segregation, equal protection), Roe v. Wade (abortion, right to privacy), Texas v. Johnson (flag burning, freedom of speech), or New Jersey v. T.L.O. (student search and seizure)?

If so, where did you learn about them, and what did you learn? If not, find one from the list to read about, and tell us why you chose it.

- Will you follow any of this term's Supreme Court cases in the news this fall? If so, which ones, and why?

- What general questions do you have about the Supreme Court, its members and the cases they hear each year?
For more on the Supreme Court, listen to "The Daily" see this Times opinion, and visit The Learning Network's lesson on ways to study the Supreme Court using resources from The New York Times.

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What Supreme Court Cases, Now or in the Past, Interest You Most?

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What do you know about the role of the Supreme Court of the United States? If you live in this country, what relationship do Supreme Court decisions have to your everyday life?

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Read The New York Times headline that appears below. Did you initially misread "start" as "stop"? What do you think the Op-Ed will be about? Why would someone tell kids to start fighting?

In the op-ed " Kids, Would You Please Start Fighting?," Adam Grant writes:

Wilber and Orville Wright came from a wobbly family. Their father, a preacher, never met a moral fight he wasn't willing to pick. They watched him clash with school authorities who weren't fond of his decision to let his kids miss a half-day of school from time to time to learn on their own. Their father believed so much in embracing arguments that despite being a bishop in the local church, he had multiple books by atheists in his library - and encouraged his children to read them.

If we rarely see a spat, we learn to shy away from the threat of conflict. Witnessing arguments - and participating in them - helps us grow a thicker skin. We develop the will to fight uphill battles and the skill to win those battles, and the resilience to lose a battle today without losing our resolve tomorrow. For the Wright brothers, argument was the family trade and a fierce one was something to be savored. Conflict was something to embrace and resolve. "I like scrapping with Orv," Wilbur said.

The Wright brothers weren't alone. The Beatles fought over instruments and lyrics and melodies. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony clashed over the right way to win the right to vote. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak argued incessantly while designing the first Apple computer. None of these people succeeded in spite of the drama - they flourished because of it. Brainstorming groups generate 16 percent more ideas when the members are encouraged to criticize one another. The most creative ideas in Chinese technology companies and the best decisions in American hospitals come from teams that have real disagreements early on. Breakthrough labs in microbiology aren't full of enthusiastic collaborators cheering one another on but of skeptical scientists challenging one another's interpretations.

If no one ever argues, you're not likely to give up on old ways of doing things, let alone try new ones. Disagreement is the antidote to groupthink. We're at our most imaginative when we're out of sync. There's no better time than childhood to learn how to dish it out - and to take it.

Students: Read the entire op-ed, then tell us:

- What are some good things not mentioned by the Op-Edd that can come from argument or disagreement? And some bad things?

- How does your experience with your family compare with how Mr. Grant describes as many parents' desire to keep any kind of conflict out of their homes?

- What is your response to Mr. Grant's assertion that "we're at our most imaginative when we're out of sync." Have you had an experience that supports this idea? What about an experience that contradicts it?

- How do you think people can best benefit from their disagreements? Can you think of any examples that compare to the Wright Brothers' experiences?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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Read The New York Times headline that appears below. Did you initially misread "start" as "stop"? What do you think the Op-Ed will be about? Why would someone tell kids to start fighting? In the op-ed " Kids, Would You Please Start Fighting?," Adam Grant writes: Wilber and Orville Wright came from a wobbly family.

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Have You Ever Changed Your Mind About A Hot-Topic Issue?

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Have You Ever Changed Your Mind About A Hot-Topic Issue?

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What is one debatable topic that you feel strongly about? What has influenced your opinion on it?

Do you think you would ever change your mind about it? Why or why not?

In " How Six Americans Changed Their Minds About Global Warming," Livia Albeck-Ripka writes:

The Rev. Richard Cizik used to believe climate change was a myth. The science had to be rigged, he thought; those who believed in it were just tree-huggers. But in 2002, a friend convinced Mr. Cizik to go to a conference about climate change, and there, he said, "the scales came off my eyes."

Nearly 70 percent of Americans now say that climate change is caused mainly by human activity, the highest percentage since Gallup began tracking it two decades ago. The number of Americans who say they worry "a great deal" about climate change has risen by about 20 percentage points.

But people don't change their minds easily about controversial issues. So what is behind this trend?

Anthony Leiserowitz, the director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, said Americans' opinions about global warming have fluctuated over the years, shifting along with partisan fissures, extreme weather events and messages from political and religious figures. But the overall upward trend in opinion, he said, was strongly tied to the fact that more people are beginning to relate to climate change as a personal issue.

There are certainly many Americans who remain undecided or doubtful. Toby Wilder, a salesman from Seattle, said he found it hard to imagine that human-caused climate change was anything but a hoax propagated by elites who fly private jets. "If they are wasting more fuel in a month than I do in my lifetime, then how can I believe it?" he asked.

Greg Sandmeyer, a social studies teacher at Timberline High School in Boise, Idaho, is also unconvinced. "It's one thing to say it's happening, but it's another to make laws that will affect me," he said.

But the broader shift in public opinion, however gradual, has moved toward acceptance of human-caused global warming. In order to learn more about the attitudes that are fueling this change, we spoke with dozens of people. Here are six of their stories.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- What are some of the common elements in these people's experiences that caused them to change their minds about climate change?

- What factors influence you when choosing a position on a debatable subject? Facts and statistics? Logic? Expert opinions? Personal experience? Empathy or other emotions? A sense of justice? Religious or moral beliefs? Politics? Your parents or family members' views? Peer influence? Why do you think these things tend to sway you one way or another?

- Have you ever changed your mind about a controversial issue? If so, what was the topic and what caused you to rethink your opinion? If not, why not?

- One of the respondents, the Rev. Richard Cizik, said, "If you've never changed your mind about something, pinch yourself, you may be dead." To what extent do you agree with this statement? In general, do you think it is more important to hold steadfastly to a position or to be flexible in your beliefs? Why?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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Have You Ever Changed Your Mind About a Hot-Button Issue?

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What is one debatable topic that you feel strongly about? What has influenced your opinion on it? Do you think you would ever change your mind about it? Why or why not? In " How Six Americans Changed Their Minds About Global Warming," Livia Albeck-Ripka writes: The Rev.

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Have you ever noticed someone talking to himself or herself in public? What assumptions did you make about that person? Why?

In " The Benefits of Talking to Yourself," Kristin Wong writes:

A stranger approached me at a grocery store. "Do you need help finding something?" he asked. At first, I wasn't sure what he meant. Then the realization kicked in: I was talking out loud, to myself, in public. It was a habit I'd grown so comfortable with that I didn't even realize I was doing it.

The fairly common habit of talking aloud to yourself is what psychologists call external self-talk. And although self-talk is sometimes looked at as just an eccentric quirk, research has found that it can influence behavior and cognition.

"Language provides us with this tool to gain distance from our own experiences when we're reflecting on our lives. And that's really why it's useful," said Ethan Kross, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.

When we talk to ourselves we're trying to see things more objectively, Mr. Kross said, so it matters how you talk to yourself. The two types of self-talk you're likely most familiar with are instructional self-talk, like talking yourself through a task, and motivational self-talk, like telling yourself, "I can do this." It might be corny, but motivating yourself out loud can work.

One study published in Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences researched the effects of both motivational and instructional self-talk on subjects playing basketball. It found that players passed the basketball faster when they motivated themselves through the task out loud.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- Do you ever talk to yourself? If so, do you do it consciously? Why or why not?

- Can you see the benefits of self-talk, either motivational or instructional? Why or why not? What does talking to yourself do for you?

- Now that you know a bit more about it, is talking to yourself something you will cultivate on your own in order to improve performance or focus more acutely? Why or why not?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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Have you ever noticed someone talking to himself or herself in public? What assumptions did you make about that person? Why? In " The Benefits of Talking to Yourself," Kristin Wong writes: A stranger approached me at a grocery store. "Do you need help finding something?" he asked.

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Who are your best friends? Are they mostly similar to you in terms of age and background, or do you have friends who are significantly different from you?

In " He's 22. She's 81. Their Friendship Is Melting Hearts.," Daniel Victor writes:

Spencer Sleyon, a 22-year-old rapper and producer from East Harlem, and his friends were going around the room in October, talking about who their closest friends were.

When it was his turn, he said: "My best friend is an 81-year-old white woman who lives in a retirement community in Florida."

To be clear, he was exaggerating. They weren't quite best friends. But she was a friend, and the joke set off a chain of events that led to his flying to Palm Beach to actually meet Rosalind Guttman, the woman he had known only through the Words With Friends game on his phone.

"When I met her it was so natural," he said in an interview on Wednesday. "It wasn't like anything spectacular, or different than you speaking to one of your friends."

Based on the flood of positive reaction on Twitter, it seems people appreciated hearing about an unlikely friendship that formed despite countless boundaries that would often keep people apart.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- What do you think of Mr. Sleyon and Ms. Guttman's story?

- Do you think it is possible for two people with very different backgrounds to be friends? Why or why not? If so, what do you think it takes to build a solid relationship across differences?

- Do you have any unlikely friendships? How did you meet and become friends? How have you kept up your friendship over time?

- What do you think you can learn from being friends with someone who is different than you?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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Who are your best friends? Are they mostly similar to you in terms of age and background, or do you have friends who are significantly different from you? In " He's 22. She's 81.

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What Do You Gain From Pursuing Something You Do Really, Really Badly?

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What Do You Gain From Pursuing Something You Do Really, Really Badly?

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Think about the times you have seen people make complete fools of themselves attempting to do something they are clearly not good at. What did you think, and how did you react?

What motivates others to continually engage in activities, performing arts, sports or academics that they aren't naturally adept at, and that they may never be good at, no matter how much time they devote to it?

In "(It's Great to) Suck at Something," Karen Rinaldi writes:

Over the past 15 years, surfing has become a kind of obsession for me. I surf eight months a year. I travel to surf destinations for family vacations and seek (forgiving) waves in the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. I have spent thousands of dollars on boards of all sizes and shapes.

And yet - I suck at it. In the sport of (Hawaiian) kings, I'm a jester. In surfing parlance, a "kook." I fall and flail. I get hit on the head by my own board. I run out of breath when held down by a four-foot wave. I wimp out when the waves get overhead and I paddle back to shore. When I do catch a wave, I'm rarely graceful. On those rare occasions when I manage a decent drop, turn and trim, I usually blow it by celebrating with a fist pump or a hoot.

Once, I actually cried tears of joy over what any observer would have thought a so-so performance on a so-so wave. Yes, I was moved to tears by mediocrity.

So why continue? Why pursue something I'll never be good at?

She continues:

The notion of sucking at something flies in the face of the overhyped notion of perfectionism. The lie of perfectionism goes something like this: "If I fail, it's only because I seek perfection." Or "I can never finish anything because I'm a perfectionist." Since the perfectionist will settle for nothing less, she is left with nothing.

Self-knowledge here is key. No one ever tells you how much you suck at something. Unless you have a mean boss, an abusive parent or a malicious friend, most people are happy to help us maintain the delusion that our efforts are not in vain. No, we cannot count on people around us to let us know how much we suck. It is far more acceptable to compliment than to criticize. So the onus is on us as individuals to admit to ourselves how much we suck at something. And then do it anyway.

By taking off the pressure of having to excel at or master an activity, we allow ourselves to live in the moment. You might think this sounds simple enough, but living in the present is also something most of us suck at.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- Do you agree that there are benefits to spending time doing things you are not good at, and never will be good at? Why or why not?

- What activities or pursuits do you engage in, despite not achieving perfection, or even proficiency?

- What do people gain from spending time pursuing activities, performing arts, sports or academic subjects they do not do well, and why?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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What Do You Gain From Pursuing Something You Do Really, Really Badly?

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Think about the times you have seen people make complete fools of themselves attempting to do something they are clearly not good at. What did you think, and how did you react? What motivates others to continually engage in activities, performing arts, sports or academics that they aren't naturally adept at, and that they may never be good at, no matter how much time they devote to it?

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Do you have a special movie, show, play, painting, photograph, novel, poem, album, song, video or any other artform that you find profoundly inspiring?

What is it?

In " 5 Artists on How 'M. Butterfly' Changed Their Lives," Laura Collins-Hughes interviews artists about David Henry Hwang's play and how it inspired their work. Jason Kim said "he doesn't think he could have written his immersive Off Broadway hit "KPOP" - about selling Korean music to Americans - without it." He said:

"I remember reading it and feeling so shaken. It blew my mind. It completely changed the way that I thought about writing, but also the role of an artist in American culture.

"He is deconstructing this ancient notion of what it means to be Asian and what it means to be, in particular, an Asian person operating in the Western world. Before reading his work, I didn't think I was entitled to deconstruct or critique or even portray that tension. I was always in my personal life taught to be silent and invisible and polite.

"I was an American guy. The fact that I was Asian and an immigrant, and English was not my first language, seemed like facts that were beside the point. In fact, those are fundamentally the point. Those are absolutely the markers in my life that I should be investigating, drawing from. David really, reading his work, taught me that that is what's important."

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- Do you have your own version of "M.Butterfly" in your life?

- If so, what is it? How does it inspire or teach you or help you grow?

- What message or lesson do you take from the life-changing work, whether it is a play, novel, poem, song, album, movie, television show or any other art form?

- Has the work of art "changed your self-esteem," as BD Wong says "M.Butterfly" did for him? If so, explain.

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Do you have a special movie, show, play, painting, photograph, novel, poem, album, song, video or any other artform that you find profoundly inspiring? What is it? In " 5 Artists on How 'M. Butterfly' Changed Their Lives," Laura Collins-Hughes interviews artists about David Henry Hwang's play and how it inspired their work.

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Ted Talk

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Srikumar Rao: Plug into your hard-wired happiness

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We all strive for happiness -- but we spend most of our lives learning to be unhappy, says Srikumar Rao. In this practical talk, he teaches how to break free of the "I'd be happy if ..." mental model, and embrace our hard-wired happiness.

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Ted Talk

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At age 14, in poverty and famine, a Malawian boy built a windmill to power his family’s home. Now at 22, William Kamkwamba, who speaks at TED, here, for the second time, shares in his own words the moving tale of invention that changed his life.

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Ted Talk

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Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

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Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

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Ted Talk

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Amy Cuddy: Your body language may shape who you are

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(NOTE: Some of the findings presented in this talk have been referenced in an ongoing debate among social scientists about robustness and reproducibility. Read "Criticisms & updates" below for more details as well as Amy Cuddy's response.) Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves.

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Ted Talk

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Julian Treasure: How to speak so that people want to listen

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Have you ever felt like you're talking, but nobody is listening? Here's Julian Treasure to help. In this useful talk, the sound expert demonstrates the how-to's of powerful speaking -- from some handy vocal exercises to tips on how to speak with empathy. A talk that might help the world sound more beautiful.

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Ted Talk

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Kelly McGonigal: How to make stress your friend

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Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case.

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story

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Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

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Ted Talk

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Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius

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Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

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Ted Talk

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Brave and beautiful expressions from some of the world's most talented spoken-word performers, who weave stories in words and gestures.

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You have JavaScript disabled For the best experience, please turn JavaScript on. Here's how Brave and beautiful expressions from some of the world's most talented spoken-word performers, who weave stories in words and gestures.

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Cartoonist Grant Snider illustrates what to expect during the writing process.

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Re " I Want to Be Rich and I'm Not Sorry," by Jessica Knoll (Sunday Review, April 29):

I loved hearing how certain Ms. Knoll was at a young age of being a great writer. I love her persistence and achievement of success, her big, barrier-breaking vision of her life. Her many truths about how women have been kept small, quiet, shamed and abused resonated with me in a world where men hold tickets to success, influence, money and airtime.

But Ms. Knoll's solution is to make as much money as she can, as some men do. Will riches really make her invulnerable to pain or immune to attack?

I wish that she had shown us a different way, one that questions our unsatisfying, hypercompetitive exaltation of capital and clout and promotes fulfilling relationships with other humans, other species, and with the hurt and triumphant parts of ourselves.

BARBARA BLATNER, NEW YORK
The writer is a playwright, poet and composer. To the Editor:
As a feminist, I admire Jessica Knoll's iconoclastic position and desire to push against a system that discriminates against women financially, legally, politically and so on. Yet I can't help but wonder what money will buy her.

I am a middle-aged woman and a single parent, having raised my twin daughters on my own since they were 2.

I own my own house, and have a modest pension and the freedom to choose whatever I want going forward. I work for a humanitarian organization that pays marginally. There is nothing I can't buy because there is nothing that I want that I can't afford.

NANCY SEMKIN, TORONTO
To the Editor:
Jessica Knoll's unabashed appropriation of male ambition in proclaiming "I want to be rich" has merit, but her disdain for "placing the needs of others above your own" is abhorrent.

While a future world of gender equality is unequivocally connected with pay equity, we cannot proceed at the expense of humanity. The so-called male traits of aggression, dominance and violence are what lead to war, corruption and tragedy. This is not the way forward.

Women must instead assert and promote their intrinsically female traits of social connectedness and empathy, to lift and be lifted, because collaboration is what engenders social and environmental justice as well as personal success.

When men and women together see pay equity as a human rights issue for all, we will have a more just society of happier individuals.

ELIZABETH WOLFSON
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF.
The writer, a psychotherapist, is director of the Women and Leadership Certificate Program at Antioch University, Santa Barbara. To the Editor:
It is disappointing to see an article like "I Want to Be Rich and I'm Not Sorry" in The Times.

Rich? Jessica Knoll means money rich, not rich as in good works, or family values, or personal responsibility or any of the many qualities that truly make up a happy and productive life.

Rich from her novels? I am a novelist, too, far less successful than she, but keenly aware that her quest for riches, and the protection she believes that they will afford her, is largely spurious.

Sure, money is important, and sometimes it does help ward off some of the vicissitudes of life, but as we all should know, it cannot and does not necessarily escort happiness into our lives.

Message to young people: It's not riches that will make you happy; it's the other stuff: resourcefulness, empathy and love. In the end, that's the stuff of life that is meaningful and much more likely to sustain a life well lived.

SHEILA LEVIN, NEW YORK

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A20 of the New York edition with the headline: Attaining Riches: More Than One Kind. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Opinion | Attaining Riches: More Than One Kind

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Re " I Want to Be Rich and I'm Not Sorry," by Jessica Knoll (Sunday Review, April 29): I loved hearing how certain Ms. Knoll was at a young age of being a great writer. I love her persistence and achievement of success, her big, barrier-breaking vision of her life.