Hello, I’m Wang Fang. Last episode Kelly called us all scientists, a title I gladly accept. Scientists confront a basic question:is something stable and fixed, or dynamic, malleable, and changeable?

As amateur scientists, we hold intuitive views too, usually about people: Can personality change? Can intelligence improve? Can mathematical ability grow? Can a relationship get better?

Some believe intelligence or personality is fixed; others believe it can develop.

PsychologistCarol Dweck(born 1946) calls these two theories. One isentity theory,or a fixed mindset. Its premise is thatan ability or quality is innate:you either have it or not, and it rarely changes. The other isincremental theory,or a growth mindset. It holds thatabilities and qualities are malleable and can improve through effort.（Dweck, Chiu, & Hong, 1995; Dweck, 2006）。

We already know thata theory is a basic assumption about self and world.Whichever theory you believe becomes a lens that changes the world you see, what you seek, and whether you achieve it.

Considerintelligence.Do you believe it cannot change—anentity theory of intelligence—or can grow through experience and effort—anincremental theory of intelligence?This belief is independent of actual ability; people at any intelligence level may hold either view.

For entity theorists, intelligence already exists in a fixed amount, so learning cannot improve it. They can only test, prove, and display what they possess—looking smart and avoiding looking foolish. Effortless success or beating others proves intelligence.

Imagine struggling all evening with a magazine intelligence test. Does effort mean stupidity, or does eventual progress prove intelligence? Two students both score 80, one through hard work, one easily—which seems smarter? Entity theorists choose the effortless student: smart people should not need effort, even on hard tasks; needing it signals low ability.