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by awef 5040 days ago
I've never heard of the term 'rage to master' but I've been told this behaviour is common in people with Aspergers Syndrome. Intense interests which takes priority in life only to be substituted with something else weeks, months or a couple of years down the line.

Maybe you can shed some more light on the 'rage to master' personality trait you're talking about?

2 comments

Ellen Winner coined the term in the book "Gifted Children: Myths And Realities" --

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465017592/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...

I'm not able to find the definitive research paper on it right now which was titled "The Origins and Ends of Giftedness," but here's one on the trait in the visual arts which should give you an idea --

https://www2.bc.edu/~winner/pdf/talent_in_visual_arts.pdf

Despite the term being catchy/interesting, most of the literature on it is very academic and somewhat dry. It probably makes for poor curiosity reading, but it's supremely valuable to dig through the academic papers if you have the trait yourself or you're a parent/guardian/teacher of someone who does.

Seeing as I have yet to read up on the matter I can't say that I do or do not have the trait myself. But from the little that I've come to understand I'd say it's highly plausible.

I'll continue to look into it, I find awareness of oneself's personality of highest importance and I always strive to learn more about why I do the things I do.

the definitive research paper on it right now which was titled "The Origins and Ends of Giftedness"

It seems this is it http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.110...

You probably should read the document lionhearted linked to:

> Google the term “rage to master” – click around, read some summaries, and then check out a couple academic papers. It will be very worth your time.

I'm not sure if it's related to Aspergers, but I don't think negativity[0] is warranted. Having an intense interest is good by itself; if it keeps for a few months—there you have a startup. =) The only problem is indeed that you have to master it, and not always do conscious attempts help.

[0] Although I might be mistaken and there wasn't any in your reply.

I'll go ahead and do a little research. My comment might've come out a bit blunt but there was no negativity implied. More of a partly sceptical tone as to where the seemingly hip term came from.

I'd love to discuss the good and the bad with the trait itself but I should probably do some reading first to verify that it's the same trait that I'm referring to.