Find a community, gain a special skill within that community, build something worthwhile that may outlast you, play your position, find people who will respect your work. Is this the answer to how it is that people are able to work together constructively in groups? These are Michael Nielsen's ideas, and I think they are good ones. I think that they apply to students just as much as or more than they do to researchers and to political communities:
Michael A. Nielsen: Extreme Thinking: "Three principles that I believe are critical to success in any tough learning situation.... Balance three activities... development of a common understanding with... people with whom one is later able to feel a common sense of community... development of abilities which are not common to your community... making a creative contribution to your community, to something larger than yourself. To develop effectively, we need to balance all three of these.... Effective learning requires long-term vision.... The example of kids playing soccer.... Create a social environment that will support and reinforce the change...
#noted
