Summary

There are such things as “desirable difficulties.” Psychologists presented the CRT (Cognitive Reflection Test), a very difficult test, in its original form to a group of students and then presented the same test with light gray italic printing that was difficult to read. Students had to try harder to read the questions on the second test. The extra energy expended paid off with higher scores on the test with the questions that were difficult to read.

Not all “difficulty” is desirable or has desirable results. Could having dyslexia ever be considered a “desirable difficulty?” There are very successful people with dyslexia including Richard Branson, British billionaire entrepreneur, and David Boies famed attorney who represented Al Gore in Gore v Bush before the U.S. Supreme Court. Jay Friereich had a difficult childhood. His father committed suicide, his mother abandoned him emotionally...