William Damon

So our discussion in class today about process- versus product-based work reminded me of this adolescent psychologist William Damon. Damon's a professor of education at Stanford as well as the director of the Stanford Center for Adolescence. He held some pretty high positions at Brown before that, so he's got some stats. Anyway, his life's work is dedicated to reinvigorating a sense of purpose in our youth, which he believes has been seriously downsized due to our society's growing tendencies toward immediate gratification and fast results. What I really love about him is that he's on the front lines of the emerging positive psychology movement of our country, which aims to focus its efforts on the positive aspects of growing up rather than study and stress the negative. He is a very peace-loving man, which sometimes makes him seem like a little soft in some regards, but his work is solid and he makes some really A+ points.

Many Americans have become expert at finding short-term solutions to get through their lives—and they are instilling the same sort of shortsighted thinking in their kids. While short-term goals (e.g., homework, grades, making the team) may be necessary for adapting to a present situation and young people can learn from them, they don’t allow anyone to ask the important questions (What kind of person do I wish to become? What do I want to accomplish with my life? Why should I strive?) that create forward momentum in our lives and lead to lasting satisfaction.

In art as in life.



Here's his website if anyone's interested. He has a running blog and encourages others post and share their thoughts so he can learn from them.