Awesome read.
Reminds me of someone who told me that if I quit college, I'd end up having a crappy job all my life. The most interesting part is how she said it like it was the end of the world, like I was meant or interested in having a super extraordinary life. I think she's also in for an "Effort Shock" surprise.
Words mentionned how a movie could have that kind of effect. It's not just a movie. Movies reflect cultural and a local societies' values. That a movie like Karate Kid was created means it's very likely that people relate to it.
I'm honestly not surprised of the phenomenon described in that article. I would dare say that most young adults in the western world, no, in modern capitalist societies are raised to feel special about themselves, like they could do achieve A if they go through B effort. Heck, even I feel like that sometimes, and while I believe the confidence and belief that you can do something is at the root of your ability to make it happen, the real focus shouldn't be that after B effort you'll be done, but that if you keep doing B, you might eventually get to A achievement, but what you really ought to want to do, is B and not achieving A.
