Public excoriation of failures usually lowers everyone’s performance (in complex tasks or those that require creativity, like the candle/drawing pins test). If, in dangerous situations, his students are afraid that they will fail by dying, they’re going to be less effective at defending themselves.
Granted, but that’s a really unusual thing for the mind to jump to. “Oh god, who will feed my owl?!”, maybe, but “I’m going to fail DADA! Ohnoes!” seems terribly unlikely.
Also, at risk of pointing out the obvious, he’s fricking Voldemort. He’s allowed to do evil stuff.
(I don’t think anyone has been suggesting that it would be, I dunno, out of character for Quirrelmort to make the point he’s making. What’s at issue is—isn’t it? -- that Harry thinks it’s unwise or irrational or unfair or something of the kind. And Harry evidently hasn’t figured out who Quirrell really is yet. Or maybe he has, at the very end of the chapter, though I am inclined to doubt it.)
I think the effect of his statement was to better calibrate his students’ attachment to written tests (make them less worried), but also to make them more vigilant in life.
Public excoriation of failures usually lowers everyone’s performance (in complex tasks or those that require creativity, like the candle/drawing pins test). If, in dangerous situations, his students are afraid that they will fail by dying, they’re going to be less effective at defending themselves.
Dying is pretty much a failure no matter how you look at it, so I doubt worries about your grades will make any marginal difference.
People are irrational, especially in high-stress situations.
Granted, but that’s a really unusual thing for the mind to jump to. “Oh god, who will feed my owl?!”, maybe, but “I’m going to fail DADA! Ohnoes!” seems terribly unlikely.
Also, at risk of pointing out the obvious, he’s fricking Voldemort. He’s allowed to do evil stuff.
DADA would be on your mind at that point. It seems pretty likely to me. Shrug.
Allowed?
(I don’t think anyone has been suggesting that it would be, I dunno, out of character for Quirrelmort to make the point he’s making. What’s at issue is—isn’t it? -- that Harry thinks it’s unwise or irrational or unfair or something of the kind. And Harry evidently hasn’t figured out who Quirrell really is yet. Or maybe he has, at the very end of the chapter, though I am inclined to doubt it.)
Right, good call.
Cites? I’ve been relying on Hanson’s read of the evidence, which points the opposite way.
I think the effect of his statement was to better calibrate his students’ attachment to written tests (make them less worried), but also to make them more vigilant in life.