Gifted Endorsement: Coursework Hours

I watched a very interesting webinar, in more ways than one, featuring Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman. He is a humanistic psychologist who works at Columbia university and is a widely published author including several books. He was an interesting speaker that repeatedly mentioned the CBD oil he had used before he started the webinar and inserted “okay” in the manner a valley girl does “like.” It seemed he sometimes lacked focus during his presentation or the ability to answer questions promptly during the Q & A. Maybe that’s his style, or maybe it’s all that CBD oil?! He also stated lots of gifted people are “assholes” that use their intelligence to manipulate others. Like I said, interesting guy.

Dr. Kaufman began by discussing 10 characteristics of self-actualizing people. These included truth-seeking, purpose, continued freshness of appreciation, authenticity, equanimity, humanitarianism, peak experiences, good moral intuition, and creative spirt. Then he shared his website and encouraged us to take his self-actualization tests. I started with “Characteristics of Self-Actualization Scale” and discovered my top 3 characteristics included purpose, continued freshness of appreciation, and good moral intuition. He particularly thought “Light vs. Dark Side of the Force” was a funny test. So, I tried it and scored “You are strongly tipped toward the light side of the force!” I’ll take that as a good thing. If you’d like to try a test, you can find them at this link Self-Actualization Tests.

As the webinar moved forward, discussion of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs became the new focus. He shared Maslow’s pyramid, and then his personal reinvented version. A boat.

You probably get the idea. You need the bottom of the boat to be obtained before you can proceed to the sail and upward to self-actualization. The purpose of the boat is we are always moving. Not necessarily like Maslow’s thought (two steps forward, one step back) but always moving.

Disclaimer:

I’m in no way saying I have a problem with people who use CBD oil. I realize it has its health benefits. But it does seem when you are presenting to a global audience, you might want to keep your mind clear. Or, maybe that’s just the way he rolls!