Monday, April 30, 2012
Agreed
A precursor here is a recent post of mine (found here), arguing that being content with what you have is more important than focusing on what you wish you had. Shortly thereafter I happened across this video and I think this guy's onto something...
Friday, April 27, 2012
It's Not the "Power of Positive Thinking"...
I have a thought: perhaps it's not the power of positive thinking, but rather the power of thinking positively. The way we see the world has an enormous effect on our affect. However, all too often, I think we continually set our sights on how much better off, how much happier we would be if we could just land that job, get that bigger salary (caveat if you truly do need that salary to cover basic needs...sorry folks, that new patio or plasma TV doesn't count), or that brand-spanking-new car. If we could only get, we would receive. But why do we stress getting? Why do we need more stuff? I instead advocate for treating daily circumstances as opportunities for using what we already have, and being thankful for it.
Struggles are an opportunity for growth, annoyances are windows for patience. The Dalai Lama advocates thanking those people with whom you must interact but absolutely drive you nuts, as they're providing you the opportunity to practice compassion and patience. In the same vein, the way we decide - yes, decide: we cannot control what others do, but we do have total control over how we choose to react - to view certain circumstances can change our perspective and become less frazzled. For my job, I often find myself driving through Madison during what we'll call "inopportune times of day". If you've ever found yourself in a metropolitan area during such a time of day, you'll understand how frustrating it can be. I've been trying to take this time to #1: recognize that I'm well aware the traffic pattern during the times of day I'll be travelling, and as such am more than able to modify my departure time to avoid it - i.e. leave earlier. #2: Understand that often there are extenuating circumstances for the traffic, and that it's not actually anyone's fault, certainly not the person trying to merge that I'm continually foiling. And if traffic's especially bad, usually due to an accident, rather than being upset that I'll be late, I've been trying to change my reaction to one of thanks that it wasn't me or my friends or family involved. It's useful to keep in mind that things aren't good or bad. Things just are.
So I see real value in looking on the bright side. I don't believe that things magically appear if you will them to, but happiness and success, I think, are precluded heavily by focusing on being thankful for and using what you have, not on what you wish you had.
Struggles are an opportunity for growth, annoyances are windows for patience. The Dalai Lama advocates thanking those people with whom you must interact but absolutely drive you nuts, as they're providing you the opportunity to practice compassion and patience. In the same vein, the way we decide - yes, decide: we cannot control what others do, but we do have total control over how we choose to react - to view certain circumstances can change our perspective and become less frazzled. For my job, I often find myself driving through Madison during what we'll call "inopportune times of day". If you've ever found yourself in a metropolitan area during such a time of day, you'll understand how frustrating it can be. I've been trying to take this time to #1: recognize that I'm well aware the traffic pattern during the times of day I'll be travelling, and as such am more than able to modify my departure time to avoid it - i.e. leave earlier. #2: Understand that often there are extenuating circumstances for the traffic, and that it's not actually anyone's fault, certainly not the person trying to merge that I'm continually foiling. And if traffic's especially bad, usually due to an accident, rather than being upset that I'll be late, I've been trying to change my reaction to one of thanks that it wasn't me or my friends or family involved. It's useful to keep in mind that things aren't good or bad. Things just are.
So I see real value in looking on the bright side. I don't believe that things magically appear if you will them to, but happiness and success, I think, are precluded heavily by focusing on being thankful for and using what you have, not on what you wish you had.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Thinking and Learning II
Several weeks ago, I wrote about how the more you know, the more you can learn (accessed here).
Adding to it with a bit of Ken Robinson into the mix (an animated TED Talk he's done can be found here). Initially, I predominately indicated that it's useful to have a depth of knowledge from which you may be able to draw referenences and points of comparison, effectively interconnecting the web of information that exists all around us. And I most certainly still see that as an incredibly valuable asset to have. The ability to observe a situation, understand the circumstances, recognize likely outcomes, and acknowledge the otherwise unforeseen effects is an incredible ability indeed.
However, I beleve that there may in fact be two sides to the coin. On the one side, we have depth of knowledge - expereince and insight perhaps only gleaned through conscious effort to learn. On the other side, I think we can find breadth of knowledge - experience and background into a wide range of topics. This one's a bit more difficult for me to convey, mostly because I'm not a psychologist. But I'll give it a shot:
The human mind is perhaps one of the most intricate and interconnected system of avenues and information in the history of the world. no computer has even come close to providing anything on par with it, and as such, there's still much we don't fully understand. What we, as humans, have come to learn about the human mind is that it's very dynamic and very diverse. Two hemisphere's compose the brain, one, on the left, controlling logical/deductive reasoning and the other, on the right, controlling our artistic ability, spatial awareness, and creativity. It's fun - to draw the left hemisphere, we need the right. To study and learn about the right hemisphere, we need the left. The two sides don't operate in a vacuum: they intermingle data from one side to the next, back to the first, shoots it over...and so on and so on and so on and so on, and it happened faster than you read this sentence.
Pretty cool, eh?
But what that means, however, is that as we learn, the dynamic and plastic nature of our mind organizes, accumulates, and reorganizes data in such a way that we haven't even begun to fully understand the pathways and synapses and connections made in the categorization of information. What we know and what we've experienced shapes our perceptions and influences how we view the world around us. The language we speak and use influences how we see the world more than how we see the world influences our language. The experiences each of us have and the encounters we face all play a role in some way, shape, or form how we see the world, and in turn, perceive future events. As such, if all we study and all we know is, for instance, 19th century English literature, we limit ourselves to (predominately) only be able to perceive the world through that singular lens. Adding breadth to your knowledge, though, may just be the key to an ability to see more...
Pretty cool, eh?
But what that means, however, is that as we learn, the dynamic and plastic nature of our mind organizes, accumulates, and reorganizes data in such a way that we haven't even begun to fully understand the pathways and synapses and connections made in the categorization of information. What we know and what we've experienced shapes our perceptions and influences how we view the world around us. The language we speak and use influences how we see the world more than how we see the world influences our language. The experiences each of us have and the encounters we face all play a role in some way, shape, or form how we see the world, and in turn, perceive future events. As such, if all we study and all we know is, for instance, 19th century English literature, we limit ourselves to (predominately) only be able to perceive the world through that singular lens. Adding breadth to your knowledge, though, may just be the key to an ability to see more...
Friday, April 20, 2012
Changing Education Paradigms
Check out the video from Ken Robinson. I'm in the midst of his book Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, and he makes some excellent points about the widening gap between what and how school's teach and what the modern workforce will need to know and be capable of. Enjoy!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Common Sense
Thomas Paine first published his short, 48-page pamphlet "Common Sense" in 1776. At that time is one of the most widely read and distributed pieces of literature throughout the American colonies. From there, it helped fuel the fires of revolution, swaying readers to buy into the argument that those colonies should be free and independent from British rule, portraying a vivid picture of an American identity.
1852 witnessed the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. A best-selling abolitionist novel, the book eventually led President Abraham Lincoln to reference Stowe as "the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war" - the American Civil War.
In our present day, the fires of revolution are still stoked by the spread of the written word. Egyptian revolutionaries successfully disposed of long-time president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, aided by significant use of social networking sites such as Twitter to coordinate efforts and disseminate information.
We currently live in a globally-interdependent society featuring the most available information, the fastest modes of communication, and the highest level of education in the history of the world. The world population, thought by some to represent a higher number of living people than the total that have died throughout human history. At 8 billion, there are more people living on Earth than ever before, and of these 8 billion, more people live in urban areas than ever before as well (up to roughly 50%). All these modes of communication - cell phones, the internet, and person-to-person - have been used today to put more people in touch with others around the globe that it's difficult to imagine functioning without instant access. We are able to access - at our fingertips - to have a conversation with someone on the opposite side of the PLANET.
I labelled this post "Common Sense" not only in reference to Thomas Paine's opus, but also because I find it frightening how people have grown to use this information and communication technology in such erroneous ways. On a social networking site, I was scrolling through posts and came across one from a friend lamenting that a new couch wouldn't fit through their front door. All I could think about was in what way was informing your hundreds of connections of this piece of trivia relevant or useful? Take a moment to scroll through your social network of choice and count the number of trivial posts and updates. I see these and wonder why.
In a world of unprecedented growth, revolution, change, and advances, how much are we taking for granted? We've corrupted it into an incessant buzz of random thoughts in the heat of moment, void of value or thought, consumed, indeed, asked for on a minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day basis. Snooki has almost 5 million followers on Twitter but I'm the one people gawk at when they learn I don't have cable or even a smart phone. When did so much interaction become just noise?
1852 witnessed the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. A best-selling abolitionist novel, the book eventually led President Abraham Lincoln to reference Stowe as "the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war" - the American Civil War.
In our present day, the fires of revolution are still stoked by the spread of the written word. Egyptian revolutionaries successfully disposed of long-time president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, aided by significant use of social networking sites such as Twitter to coordinate efforts and disseminate information.
We currently live in a globally-interdependent society featuring the most available information, the fastest modes of communication, and the highest level of education in the history of the world. The world population, thought by some to represent a higher number of living people than the total that have died throughout human history. At 8 billion, there are more people living on Earth than ever before, and of these 8 billion, more people live in urban areas than ever before as well (up to roughly 50%). All these modes of communication - cell phones, the internet, and person-to-person - have been used today to put more people in touch with others around the globe that it's difficult to imagine functioning without instant access. We are able to access - at our fingertips - to have a conversation with someone on the opposite side of the PLANET.
I labelled this post "Common Sense" not only in reference to Thomas Paine's opus, but also because I find it frightening how people have grown to use this information and communication technology in such erroneous ways. On a social networking site, I was scrolling through posts and came across one from a friend lamenting that a new couch wouldn't fit through their front door. All I could think about was in what way was informing your hundreds of connections of this piece of trivia relevant or useful? Take a moment to scroll through your social network of choice and count the number of trivial posts and updates. I see these and wonder why.
In a world of unprecedented growth, revolution, change, and advances, how much are we taking for granted? We've corrupted it into an incessant buzz of random thoughts in the heat of moment, void of value or thought, consumed, indeed, asked for on a minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day basis. Snooki has almost 5 million followers on Twitter but I'm the one people gawk at when they learn I don't have cable or even a smart phone. When did so much interaction become just noise?
Monday, April 9, 2012
Can technology keep pace with the times?
Evolutionary biologists have argued a system of growth known as "punctuated equilibrium" has been the pattern of human evolution: new species and macro-evolutionary changes happening in swift, steep inclines, followed by a relatively calm period devoid of macro changes, followed by another swift, punctuated change, and then another relatively calm period. There also comes a time when biological evolution tapers off as cultural evolution takes off (we can now adapt to our environments using clothing, housing, and the like rather than physically change). Looking at the cultural progression of humankind, however, punctuated equilibrium can be noticed as well: our technological advances have been made in bursts - the Paleolithic Era, the Neolithic Era, and the Iron Age, the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and the Internet Age defining the major technological advances of mankind.
It is also true that technological advances have been accelerating at an astounding rate - referred to as the "law of accelerating returns". The Paleolithic Era lasted over one million years. The Neolithic Era lasted less than 7,000. The Classical Age - rife with Greek philosophy, Egyptian building accomplishments, Chinese gunpowder, and the earliest uses of wind and water energy - lasted less than 1,000 years. The Middle Ages stayed for another 1,000 while the Renaissance gave this world many of the historical structures and works of art in less than 300. A brief period of global expansion and imperialism populated the planet, leading to multinational trade, building to the eventual Industrial Revolution - a 150 year period of migration, expansion, growth of urban areas, and mass production. one hundred years later, the IT Revolution has grown, burst, and regrown in less than 30 years.
It is also true that technological advances have been accelerating at an astounding rate - referred to as the "law of accelerating returns". The Paleolithic Era lasted over one million years. The Neolithic Era lasted less than 7,000. The Classical Age - rife with Greek philosophy, Egyptian building accomplishments, Chinese gunpowder, and the earliest uses of wind and water energy - lasted less than 1,000 years. The Middle Ages stayed for another 1,000 while the Renaissance gave this world many of the historical structures and works of art in less than 300. A brief period of global expansion and imperialism populated the planet, leading to multinational trade, building to the eventual Industrial Revolution - a 150 year period of migration, expansion, growth of urban areas, and mass production. one hundred years later, the IT Revolution has grown, burst, and regrown in less than 30 years.
It took mankind 50 years to go from the first powered flight to launching a man-made unmanned satellite into orbit, yet less than 17 years after that we landed on the moon.
Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876 and Zach Morris was walking around the halls of "Saved By The Bell" with a "modern" cell phone in the early 1990's - 120 years. By the mid-2000's, internet had been added to a completely different mobile phone - less than 20 years.
My first flashdrive less than 8 years ago held an incredible 512 megabytes. Three years ago I picked up a 4GB drive for less than a dinner out. And since then I've seen 1 terabyte external hard drives for under $100. That's one million million bytes - more information than many people will ever save to a computer in a lifetime.
I recently read that if automotive technology had advanced at the same rate as computing technology, cars would drive somewhere around 6 times the speed of sound, make 1,000 miles to the gallon, and cost consumers about a dollar to purchase...
Now, the reason I bring this up is because I wonder how far technology can go. How far can we sustain growth? The coming 20-30 years will bring about greater technological advances, greater population growth, and greater cultural shifts than the world has ever seen. By 2050, the world population will grow to over 9 billion people (by 1800, that number was cresting one billion). Some 60% of people will be living in cities, and the developing nations of today will be outgrowing (both economically and in population) the current developed world.
So what will tomorrow look like? And how far will mankind be able to grow, spread, and develop before we hit the ceiling? Business has the minimum efficient scale - the point at which greater output doesn't lead to additional cost reductions per unit. The point where the system levels out and growth is stagnant. At what point will the current system fail to meet our needs (as stone tools, bronze weapons, indentured servants, and rotary phones have already) and a new system becomes necessary?
When will the bubble burst? After all, empires collapse, they don't just fade away...
I recently read that if automotive technology had advanced at the same rate as computing technology, cars would drive somewhere around 6 times the speed of sound, make 1,000 miles to the gallon, and cost consumers about a dollar to purchase...
Now, the reason I bring this up is because I wonder how far technology can go. How far can we sustain growth? The coming 20-30 years will bring about greater technological advances, greater population growth, and greater cultural shifts than the world has ever seen. By 2050, the world population will grow to over 9 billion people (by 1800, that number was cresting one billion). Some 60% of people will be living in cities, and the developing nations of today will be outgrowing (both economically and in population) the current developed world.
So what will tomorrow look like? And how far will mankind be able to grow, spread, and develop before we hit the ceiling? Business has the minimum efficient scale - the point at which greater output doesn't lead to additional cost reductions per unit. The point where the system levels out and growth is stagnant. At what point will the current system fail to meet our needs (as stone tools, bronze weapons, indentured servants, and rotary phones have already) and a new system becomes necessary?
When will the bubble burst? After all, empires collapse, they don't just fade away...
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Thinking and Learning
Reading some articles of Daniel Willingham (check out some of his work here), one incredible fact sticks out to me: the more you know, the more you can learn. Think of any random joke that happens across your mind. Take, for instance, if there's H2O on the inside of a fire hydrant, what's on the outside? K9P
First of all, that's hilarious.
But think of all the previous knowledge you need to connect the punch line with the joke. You need to know that the chemical makeup of water is two parts hydrogen (designated by an "H") and one part oxygen (the "O"). And there's a good chance you already knew the function of a fire hydrant so the assimilation of "H2O" and "hydrant" was already apparent in your mind. As for the punch line, this may have a taken a second to understand (I know it took me a second) because it's not immediately applicable to all people to refer to a dog as a "K9". As our mind was already focused on interpreting chemical formulas, it may have taken a second to change gears into a new route of thinking. But that second was undoubtedly just a second. The connection was swiftly made for "K9" = dog and "P" = urine, drawing on past experience that dogs are known to pee on fire hydrants.
And those connects were made in less than a second. You undoubtedly didn't have to put any thought into understanding the joke at all, it just clicked. This is because you already had those requisite concepts stored in your long-term memory, drew them out into your working memory and complied previous knowledge with new information to arrive at the conclusion that the joke is phenomenal. Without any effort.
Now apply that to reading a book or magazine, following instructions, or having a conversation. If you're already well-versed in (or at least knowledgeable of) the basics of the Vietnam War, having a cocktail party conversation with someone about the merits and validity of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, the Domino Effect, and proxy battles of the Cold War shouldn't be an issue. However, knowing absolutely nothing about it may leave you blindly searching your memory for 10th grade history class to retrieve any useful tidbit to avoid standing there staring blankly. But this ability to retrieve such information is made possible by the fact that you already knew about differences between capitalism vs. communism and understood the opposing view points. And now, with this prior knowledge, you're able to better understand the delicate nature of the Vietnam War, the incursions into Cambodia, and the confrontation with China regarding proximity to their border. You're able to understand how photography offered those back home a look at the harsh realities of war and helped turn popular opinion against the war. You'll be better able to understand the ramifications of the draft, and apply that to a conversation as we ventured into Iraq in the early 2000's regarding another one.
Similarly, the more you know about computers (of which I am not nearly as informed!), each experience, each method, or each upgrade lays the foundation for future situations. Perhaps not exactly the same issue, but the previous knowledge serves as a building block, a stepping stone to understanding this new situation.
The more you know, the more you can learn...
So really, regardless of WHAT you're learning, just get out there and learn something new today!
First of all, that's hilarious.
But think of all the previous knowledge you need to connect the punch line with the joke. You need to know that the chemical makeup of water is two parts hydrogen (designated by an "H") and one part oxygen (the "O"). And there's a good chance you already knew the function of a fire hydrant so the assimilation of "H2O" and "hydrant" was already apparent in your mind. As for the punch line, this may have a taken a second to understand (I know it took me a second) because it's not immediately applicable to all people to refer to a dog as a "K9". As our mind was already focused on interpreting chemical formulas, it may have taken a second to change gears into a new route of thinking. But that second was undoubtedly just a second. The connection was swiftly made for "K9" = dog and "P" = urine, drawing on past experience that dogs are known to pee on fire hydrants.
And those connects were made in less than a second. You undoubtedly didn't have to put any thought into understanding the joke at all, it just clicked. This is because you already had those requisite concepts stored in your long-term memory, drew them out into your working memory and complied previous knowledge with new information to arrive at the conclusion that the joke is phenomenal. Without any effort.
Now apply that to reading a book or magazine, following instructions, or having a conversation. If you're already well-versed in (or at least knowledgeable of) the basics of the Vietnam War, having a cocktail party conversation with someone about the merits and validity of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, the Domino Effect, and proxy battles of the Cold War shouldn't be an issue. However, knowing absolutely nothing about it may leave you blindly searching your memory for 10th grade history class to retrieve any useful tidbit to avoid standing there staring blankly. But this ability to retrieve such information is made possible by the fact that you already knew about differences between capitalism vs. communism and understood the opposing view points. And now, with this prior knowledge, you're able to better understand the delicate nature of the Vietnam War, the incursions into Cambodia, and the confrontation with China regarding proximity to their border. You're able to understand how photography offered those back home a look at the harsh realities of war and helped turn popular opinion against the war. You'll be better able to understand the ramifications of the draft, and apply that to a conversation as we ventured into Iraq in the early 2000's regarding another one.
Similarly, the more you know about computers (of which I am not nearly as informed!), each experience, each method, or each upgrade lays the foundation for future situations. Perhaps not exactly the same issue, but the previous knowledge serves as a building block, a stepping stone to understanding this new situation.
The more you know, the more you can learn...
So really, regardless of WHAT you're learning, just get out there and learn something new today!
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