I came across this quote today, and I thought it related well to what you've been doing in class the last few weeks.
"When you collaborate with other people, you tend to regard your own individual contribution as the most important."
-Yang Jiang, Chinese writer and translator
This is essentially true to many projects-
ReplyDeleteThere was a similar conversation in my not-so-favorite Technology class, where we defined the difference between a "team" and a "group". A team are members who collaborate on a common goal, and a group are just individual pieces put together.
You consider your job, not your partners' parts, to be the most important as this is "your" grade on the project and by helping the other team member, they are getting help in getting a better grade while you have less time to have a better grade in your part.
-Rodolfo H. Period 4
I agree. I think my part is the most important because you will be knowing who does what, and if you see that I am doing a specific part, then I would want that part to be better than the rest.
ReplyDeleteYuval S.
Period 3
I think this is true to nearly everyone. After all, humans are selfish creatures, and it's our nature to care about ourselves more than others (it was a survival instinct for our ancestors.) That's why it kinda makes sense to see ourselves and what we do as more important than others and what they do. Also, since we only experience the work that WE'RE doing, we don't really know how hard it was for the other guy to finish his part, just that we worked hard to complete our part and that we should receive the credit and recognition that comes with completing the job. That's why our part always seems to look bigger (unless, of course, the division of work is clearly unbalanced.)
ReplyDeleteObviously, this isn't the case. Sometimes (and I do mean SOMETIMES) the other person's work is just as important if not more. I mean, if it IS a collaboration, then everyone has to pull his/her weight to make the entire thing work.
Overall, I think this quote is a perfect example of human nature.
~Caterina Golner
Period 2
First off I just want to say that a human's selfishness is not an ancient instict, people are selfish because their parents raise them that way. This(in my opinion) is not even about selfishness. It is about a person's self-worth. People think their part is the most important because it is that pert that they want to do first. For example, if i were to give you 30 minutes in Bass Pro Shop and then throw you into the jungle, you would get the most important items first (i.e. gun, knives, shelter, fire source). This goes for a group project too, I get the big important sections out of the way first and then go back and do the small parts. We all have different oppinions about wat is important, so we all start off with different things. I'm gonna go back to my jungle example. One man might think it that having a means of getting food and being protected from predators is the most important thing, while another man might think that having shelter from the elements is the biggest necessity. This is not a queston of human selfishness or intelligence, it is rather one of human opinion.
ReplyDeleteTyler Levinson Pr.6
I agree Completely with this quote. Who wouldn't regard their contribution to something as the most important part, it is human nature. Everyone wants to be the best, some less than others. I think it is necessary for someone to believe what they do is most important, but only to a certain extent. If someone thinks their part is more important than they will try harder and will make the whole collaboration better. Too much of this confidence though, can create problems between group members.
ReplyDeleteFederico T.
-period 5-
Pffft. Of course my contribution to this discussion is far superior to that of the rest of you mere peons.
ReplyDelete...*cricket, cricket*...
I'm kidding. I kid.
It is the zeitgeist of today to undermine/undercredit the work of the other party in a collaboration.
Miscreant that I am, sometimes I assume that my own contributions simply cast shadows on the others of the joint effort (which has always been proven false) - everyone gets an inflated sense of self-importance at one point or other. Perhaps its simply a failure to realize the importance of a contribution from those with differing viewpoints and ideas. Simply removing a person from the group may compromise the capacity of a given task.
According to that horrendous (yet credible) Career Visions course from last year, an ideal group is comprised of a realist, an idealist, a fatalist, and a perfectionist, and such a group provides superior quality and quantity of a given assignment, much better than groups that do not strike such an equilibrium. Maybe by finding group members with different skills and working styles, the underestimation of peers would be depleted.
This vaguely reminded me of an article some time back in The Economist (http://www.economist.com/node/16843817), where
it was noted that those who contribute more in a job are resented rather than appraised. Selflessness, along with selfishness, may isolate one from a group. This aspect of psychology is baffling to me - shouldn't the hardest worker receive some credit from those that pull in less effort? Maybe the quote -which gives an aura of miscomunnication between members - maybe applies to the scenario. After all, shouldn't the amount of wrok applied be a direct ratio of
credit received.
Group dynamics are baffling.
Lisa B.
4th p.
Craig, you raise an interesting point, except that in group projects and collaborations, most people do not get the part they want. Instead, one or two people take the position of the leader and assign parts out trying (if it is possible) to give everyone a part that they might like and will be able to do to the best of their abilities. Obviously, that doesn't always work. The leader might be a total moron and divide things unevenly, or that one person who always goes above and beyond because he/she feels like they want to do more work or outshine the others. Either way, everyone doesn't always get the part or the amount of work he/she wants.
ReplyDeleteAs for the parents being the source of selfishness, I partially agree with you. Upbringing does have a lot to do with a person's personality, but it doesn't always work like you expect it to. I know a lot of people that are an exact personality replica of one or both of their parents. I also know adults who are great people but have rotten kids. On the other hand, I also know kids who are wonderful but have horrendous parents. Also, many kids are greatly influenced by their friends, so if their friends are selfish bozos, then there's a big chance that the selfish bozo's friend will become a selfish bozo as well.
Anyway, I'd like to hear other people's theories as to why this quote is true, including Mrs. Powers's.
~Caterina Golner
Period 2
@Cat - I will share my opinion after a few others post comments. Sometimes, I feel like students tend to simply agree with me because they feel like that is what I want even though it is NOT. Anyway, that is why I haven't commented yet, but I will. :)
ReplyDeleteI partially agree with this quote. One one side of the argument, the person who is doing their part tries their hardests (or they should) and they don't know how much effort another group member put into their own part. Naturally, this would lead to a superior mindset, and one would think their own part was the most important. On the other hand, some people are lazy on collaborative projects and they purposefully choose the easiest part. In this case, the person would be aware that their part was not that big of a contribution to the whole project.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree with Cat about the ubringing of kids and their personality/attitude. Sometimes, kids are "a chip off the old block", but sometimes "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree". However, sometimes none of these is true, and the kid is nothing like their parents. Therefore, I don't think it's accurate to state what Craig said.
I also agree with the quote. However, most of the posts discuss how their finished product is more important. When I read this quote, I was thinking about the original ideas people put forth. In the end, every part is necessary to the end result. In the group projects I have participated in, it is almost always an individual's ideas of how to complete the project that ends up being debated. I will admit that I do not usually think another student's idea surpasses my own. If I put forth an idea, it is because I truly thought about it and felt it was best. I also tend to get attached to certain ideas, and I am almost positive that I am not alone in this.
ReplyDeleteI think the discussion of why humans tend to think this way is very interesting. I do agree that a person's environment can shape them. On the other hand, the fact that this quote was generally agreed with shows me that it is not the only factor. Everyone's family circumstances are different, and I find it difficult to believe that we all have the same tendencies to value our own opinion above others solely on the fact that we were raised to think that way. The brain has evolved in a certain way, and I think that human nature is a product of this.
When I read this quote, I though about bees. Yes, the little bugs that make honey, sting you, and then die because they seem to be one of the few animals that can work together for a single goal. Yang Jiang used the words "collaborate" and that's what caught my attention. When you "collaborate", you work in union towards a common goal. Sometimes it seems that its not so much as working towards a goal, as working towards separate goals that end in the same note. What I've noticed when students, or anyone work in groups is that they don't really collaborate. They do his or her part and then don't support each other as a team should. I often hear “I finished my part” or “when are you going to do your part” when I talk to my friends, but it should be, in my opinion, completely different. I think that teams or groups should not have parts, but instead works towards a goal in union and in collaboration. Throw organization out the door, and do the best you can for the group. That's what bees do. Bees do what they can for the colony, and work towards a common goal-survivingl. Instead of assigning parts for certain people, and a few members becoming the Fidel Castros of the group, people should do whatever they can for the group, and then the other members should add or subtract in order to improve the project. The result would be much more 3-D and revised, and hold up better. The idea sounds sort of communistic in essay form but when you learn to do a project like this IT REALLY HELPS. Now you have to take in consideration the fact that people are stubborn and selfish, and that alone can throw any society into turmoil. Its just an idea, and like any idea, it can be altered to suit the needs of the many. Conclusion: we should act like bees and ants.
ReplyDeleteCamilo B.
Period 3
This is true for the leader of the group or leaders because they think that they get final say. Also, if you assign parts, the editor does have the most important ideas because they correct everything. This quote expresses one of the disadvantages in group work in one sentence. This is a very good quote.
ReplyDeleteMax Brenner
Period 6
Ryan G p6
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote is true because of my experience with the History Fair. Most of the time in a group project, it really is just a bunch of individual portions put together. So yeah, you do consider your part more important because it is your grade.
I think this quote is so true because whenever I do a project, I somehow adopt a mentality, "My part is the most important." Why? I don't know, but I just feel like the other parts aren't as much work as mine...
ReplyDeleteMira Merchant
Period 3
The way I see it most of the people in group projects do consider their part to be the absolute most important. Consequently most people also consider their part to be the most well done and they feel that every other part could "use some work". Still, a lot of groups do not do back to back projects because they don't get 100's and blame the points taken off on everyone else.
ReplyDeleteOn a slightly different topic, I am watching a Heat game as I write this and was thinking about the offseason. The Miami Heat aquired Chris Bosh and LeBron James this summer and it was a big deal. As much as it was a group effort the orginization kept telling each other, "NO, I was the one who got LeBron to come.",and "If a hadn't don blah blah blah than Bosh wouldn't have come." Then Dwayne Wade took credit for, "talking to them and convincing LBJ and BOsh to come." Overall, even so called mature adults feel that their part of any project is the most important.
Kevin Scott Period 5
I think this quote means that you can work with other people, but the way you work in your group and what you do for your group determins your grade.
ReplyDeleteAllison Blake period three
This is veeery true!! I usually always end a project thinking that I did all the work, or that my part of the project is superior to the others. I don't know why that would be...I'm guessing that in our own mind our parts require more thinking and doing than other parts.
ReplyDelete-Isabel Hofmann, Pd. 4
This quote is definitely true. Whenever I have a group project I always try to do my part very well. I like to know that if we get point deducted off on the project it wasn't because of my part. I always regard my part as the most important part in a project.
ReplyDelete-Kayla Moodie Pd.3
I think that this quote is true in some situations, but it doesn't apply to all. This is because some people don't care about their work. They just do it to get it done. In that case, the person would most likely regard the other group members' contributions as more important because that person has to rely on everyone else to pick up their slack for a good grade. Now, if someone did all that they could, and worked hard, it is kind of obvious that they would be prideful, and think that what they did was the best.
ReplyDeleteChristal Hector
Period 3
When I work with other people I do tend to think that my part is important so I work extra hard on it not only for me but for everyone in my group because I don't want to let them down. If my group trusted me with a certain part on a project I will be sure do get it down with my best effort put into it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, not everyone in this world lives by this quote. In my experience. When I am put in a group not everyone does their part to the best of their abilities. Especially when we are chosen randomly to be in a group. I always hear the same old excuses, "my printer broke" (well then why couldn't you have emailed it to me), "my internet isn't working" (well then why didn't you call me), and my personal favorite "I had so much homework to do" (then why were you playing video games all night). These people have no regard for themselves or others.
Stephanie Mahadeo
Period 3
When working on an assignment with others, it seems natural to credit yourself for doing the work IF you have indeed done the work. No one wants awful grades, and by all means necessary, we as people will fight for our own success. When a group project is done, most of us try to skim and revise through all the work for errors, so our brain assumes that we have done the most important part. The solution, is to look at a general stand point. One should compare what he or she needed to have done with what overall has been done. Then it becomes easy to self evaluate. That may just be a personal trait but life becomes easier when you look at a general stand point.
ReplyDeleteJake Ukleja (Period 6)
I checked the dictionary just to double check. Collaborate means, "to work, one with another; cooperate, or to cooperate, usually willingly, with an enemy nation, esp. with an enemy occupying one's country. Collaborate can have a negative meaning. So in technicality it would make sense to deem oneself the most vital member of a project. I still believe in general perspective but though I should point that out.
ReplyDeleteJake Ukleja Per 6
I agree with the quote.When people start a group project students (including me) tend to think that they will automatically be the most important in the group and that they should get the most credit. when in a group people should get together and all do an equal share of everything so that it is truly a group project
ReplyDelete-Aina Rivas pd.2