Progress-focused

Robert J. Sternberg , an influential psychologist and psychometrician known for his extensive work on intelligence , has published an article: “ What is intelligence, really? The futile search for a Holy Grail ” (2024). In this piece, Sternberg, Professor of Human Development at Cornell University, rethinks the nature of intelligence and criticizes the ongoing search for an all-encompassing definition of intelligence.

“I need to control myself.” This simple statement raises a profound question: Who is the “I” that needs to control, and what is the “myself” that needs to be controlled? How can someone be one and the same, yet appear to be made up of many different parts? This confusion shows up not only in language, but also in our thinking about the self. Think of terms like “self-coaching” or “self-compassion.” Who is coaching whom? Who is showing compassion, and to whom? This raises the question: What is the true self? In this article, we’ll look at three key theories that help us better understand the self: mindset theory, self-determination theory (SDT), and Douglas Hofstadter’s idea of ​​the self as a “strange loop.”