WHAT YOU TALKIN' 'BOUT, WILLIS?

The greatest paper--I never wrote.

Spent half a day Thursday with this mensa trying to gather research for the article I wanted to write, How do slackers learn? but finally realized that the topic just doesn't fit the assignment or my more immediate needs that well. Based on the lack of scholarly writing on the topic I think there is a need for such a paper, so when I get done with this paper I at least want to post an essay on that with my thoughts on the topic and what little I found.

I believe a great percentage of HS and college students I deal with fall into this category and I have certain leanings myself. It's not a bad label in my opinion (like my previous post about Freaks) but it's basically a question of motivation. Ron Livingston's character in Office Space is my example of a slacker. He is not lazy or incompetent, but in his own words, a slacker basically needs the right kind of motivation:

Peter Gibbons: You see Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.

Bob Porter: Don't... don't care?

Peter Gibbons: It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime, so where's the motivation? And here's another thing, I have eight different bosses right now.

Bob Porter: Eight?

Peter Gibbons: Eight, Bob. So that means when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation is not to be hassled, that, and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired.

Reminds me so much of when I have a student ask, What's the lowest grade I can make on the exam and still pass the class. So, more to come on slackers and how they learn, or as I am calling it--Slacker Learning Theory, very soon.

See also: Slackers on imdb.