I just read this amazing book on how the brain works called On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins. It outlines in simple language a comprehensive and detailed theory of the brain and a definition of intelligence that’s truly aw-inspiring. I’ll let him go into more detail personally in this TED talk, in which he goes over many of the most important points of the book.
Train your brain –> Get smart. Be lazy –> Stay stupid.
Simple as that.
[ Photo of Jennifer by Kunjan ]
Gen-Y’s are smart people, but unfortunately for them, their parents and teachers thought it was a good idea to shelter them from all of life’s difficulties… including the frustration of solving problems. It doesn’t help that these children were showered with empty praise growing up for mediocre ‘achievements,’ which took no effort, to boost their self-esteem. When everyone gets a trophy, the result is children who’s confidence is only exceeded by their incompetence. In this sense, former president Bush may just be the first of the Gen-Y’s (though he’s way too old). For more detail, read Narcissistic and Entitled to Everything! Does Gen Y Have Too Much Self-Esteem?
This is the story of how I helped Jennifer start to develop problem solving skills at 22 years old, by teaching her a little about programming. If you’re a programmer reading this, you’ll probably be tempted to laugh and call her stupid, but understand this — Jennifer is a smart girl. She graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA. Problem solving, however, is a different kind of skill which takes a lot of time and hard work to develop. Unfortunately, her education failed to teach this. Fortunately, it’s never too late. Read more…
Earlier when I covered talent, I transformed all of you commoners into virtuosos of all arts. Since I’m on a roll, it’s about time I tackled intelligence. Fascinating research publish by Dr. Carol Dweck in 2007 draws a clear distinction between the mindset that makes a person ’smart’ or ‘dumb’ backed by strong evidence. It’s a pattern I’ve noticed again and again, so I’m really glad to see my suspicions confirmed. I must be ’smart.’ (Yes! I got the label! Haha).
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/bingschool/rsrchart/dweck.htm
So please, avoid the trap of a false dichotomy between ’smart’ and ‘dumb’ people. You can conquer the world. Whether you actually do is entirely up to you.
Thoughts?
When my friend Steven Johnson was telling me about speed reading recently, I was skeptical. I assumed as conventional wisdom goes, that the faster you read the less you retain. Interestingly, research says the exact opposite. In general, the faster you read the higher your comprehension. This is because we have a limited short-term memory, and words have little meaning in isolation. When you read fast you can better access the full meaning of the sentence or paragraph.
So, I decided to do a speed reading test. I got 240 WPM at 80% comprehension. I’m only slightly above average. “Excellent” readers can read 7 times that speed with the same or better comprehension! Needless to say, I have a ways to go. I’m considering using zealog.com to track my reading speed daily. Improvement takes deliberate, sustained practice. I think measuring progress would help keep me on track. I need to practice perseverance, too, plus I would be learning whatever material I choose to use, so 3 birds with one stone. Perfect!
The question of talent is something that I’ve been grappling with for months now, ever since I became serious about guitar. However, this applies to much more than playing music. It’s just the best example of a skill in which most people tend to believe “either you have it or you don’t.” I was haunted by thoughts like ‘What if I’m not musically talented, and I’m wasting my time?’ After all, I have a friend who took guitar lessons for 5 years and today he never plays anymore. If he does, it’s mediocre at best. Then there’s the 16 year old guitarist from Black Oxygen, who has been playing for 2 years and can grind out the most shiver-inducing licks as if by divine (or perhaps, satanic) inspiration. I, myself, had one of the roughest starts imaginable, so you can see why I was concerned. So for months, I’ve thought, and researched, and experimented, and discussed, and thought some more (hence the blog title), and here’s what I came up with. Read more…
If you’e one of my millions of loyal readers (:D), you might be starting to think that this blog doesn’t have a topic. You’re partly right, after all, I did name it Tony thinks to keep my freedom of subject. But right now I’m going to tie in my first three posts, like a masterful drama with characters and events that seem unrelated, but come together in the end (Snatch and Slum Dog Millionaire come to mind). Don’t believe me? Read on!
I think successful people more often than not come up with metaphors for life to keep them going. My favorite example are my entrepreneur friends Yu-kai and Jun from FD Career. They say that corporate gets you donkeys; Entrepreneurship gets you the princess, haha. Yu-kai talks about what he calls his “Diablo epiphany” in high school. It happened at a time when he was had worked hard to achieve high skill and status in Diablo, but the game’s popularity was waning. He felt empty inside because all his hard work was for not, and now he would have to find a new game to start from square one. What’s a really great game, he thought, that you can get really high status, and people can’t just get tired of and quit? The answer is obvious — life! Overnight, he was transformed from a hardcore gamer with little to show in real life for his efforts, into an ambitious entrepreneur who lived life like a hardcore gamer. Since then he has started multiple companies, some of which are still around and successful, has an impressive roll-a-dex with thousands of friends and important connections, his blog gets nearly 2 thousand unique viewers a month with steady growth, and he is a powerful leader who people want to follow. I would say he’s made significant progress towards success on a grand scale. Not bad for an afternoon of thinking, huh?! Read more…
His skin was weathered and clothes were torn, but the feeling with which he played told me that he really was a street musician, and not just a bum. The music really mattered to him. I put the sandwitch next to him on the bench, and sat down tentatively, beginning to eat mine. When he finished his song, he thanked me kindly. We got to talking, and I found out he had led a very interesting life. His parents were in the millitary, so they moved around a lot. He said he never really had a home, instead he roamed around the country on buses and trains playing his music on the street to survive. Currently he had settled to Lawrence for the time being staying at the homeless shelter, which is relatively nice. It’s unconventional, but it’s an honest living and a lifestyle choice, and I see that as perfectly legitimate, and I told him so. He truly was content with life which is more than many of us home-ful (haha) people can say.
However, his life was by no means glamorous. Read more…
I ran across part of a very interesting conversation between Paul Ekman and the Dali Lama on Anger and Forgiveness. They discuss whether it is possible to forgive someone for a wrong-doing while still holding them accountable for their actions. It’s an interesting question because in the west we tend to think that if we forgive, we’re letting the perpetrator off the hook so there will be nothing stopping them from repeating the same misdeed without a thought to consequences.
The Dali Lama, and I think most practicing Buddhists, take a different perspective on the matter. I’ll preface this by saying there are at least 23 different documented interpretations under the Buddhist umbrella, but I think Buddhisms in the most general sense the understanding of the emotional impact of one’s thoughts and perspectives on oneself, and the application of this awareness to determine the most pragmatic viewpoint to adopt. In other words, buddhists realize that even if someone deliberately did wrong by you with no remorse, let’s say by lets say emotional abuse, holding on to negative feelings towards him is not productive. The only thing achieved by doing so is that you feel miserable when you’re reminded of the occurrence and usually do everything possible to forget that it happened, even scolding yourself for remembering it when you do. Also, keep in mind that the individual causing you the grief is completely unaffected by this. How can they be punished if you don’t interact with them, or if you do, do you think really think that they wayward evil eye in their direction is really going to affect them for more than an instant? The Buddhist solution, which I whole heartedly agree with, would be to forgive them, try to understand why they might do what they did, and if necessary feel sorry for them, but under no circumstances continue to hate and condemn for their actions. You can condemn the action without condemning the person, as the Dali Lama said.
In that case, where do we stand. You feel relieved and can stand tall with no chip on that shoulder. Every day seems just a little bit brighter. There’s no longer any need to repress any scorn, because you’ve delt with your emotions. The best part: it only took a couple of minutes of looking in the mirror and saying “What they did was terrible, but it’s not worth dwelling on. I forgive them.” Do it for yourself, not for them. After all, you’re the number one person that your attitudes affect, so doesn’t it make sense to optimize them to increase your happiness? I just saved you decades of grief, and thousands in therapy bills! If you’re in a giving mood, here’s a good charity (it’ll make you feel great 
.
Regardless or the details of Karma and rebirth, I see Buddhism as the deeply wise realization of our thoughts and perspective’s impact on our emotional state, in order to move towards inner peace and happiness.
I take this even a step further in my own life. I’ve been experiementing with the radical concept of “don’t condemn anyone for any reason” or even better to convert it to a positive, actionable view “accept and try to understand everyone I meet.” It seems simple at first glance, but after I truly implemented that perspective in every interaction I noticed a huge difference. I was the smart geek type in high school, who didn’t have any friends, so as a defense mechanism I used the “condemn everyone” strategy for a long time. I wasn’t completely miserable, but it’s no shock that I didn’t make many friends. After all, would you be friends with someone who with a look says “you’re a moron unworthy of my time”? The incredible simple act of showing interest and compassion to everyone I meet has transformed me into a social butterfly overnight. Everyone on the planet has negative as well as positive characteristics. It’s your choice which ones you focus on, but it should be a conscious choice. The advantages of seeing the good in people are immeasurable. Of course I don’t mean deluding yourself, there’s no need. It’s all a matter of perspective. If you can’t see the good, that’s only because you’re blinding yourself to it, and that really is willful ignorance. As soon as you open your eyes to the good, you will instantly feel a change in yourself.
Wonderful worlds of happiness and joy will open up with an nearly effortless change in perspective. Try it!
I would love to hear your thoughts about this in the comments. Do you condemn people? Is it every OK to? Do you agree with everything I’ve said, or are there parts you disagree with? Either way, let me know!
If you’re like me, you’re always getting flack for not being on time and adhering to a schedule. Well from now on, just tell your friends, relatives, and boss that you’ll meet them in Hawaiian time. From the Wikipedia article on chronemics:
Co-Cultural Perspectives on Time
While the clash between the monochronic and polychronic perceptions of time can rifle the best of intentions in international settings, similar challenges can occur within a co-culture. In the United States, the Hawaiian culture provides an example of how co-cultures can clash. Two times systems exist in Hawaii where “the Polynesians live somewhere between two time systems: Haole time and Hawaiian time. When you hear someone say “See you at two o’clock haole time,” that means that they will see you at precisely two o’clock. But if you hear someone say, “I will be there at two o’clock Hawaiian time” then the message has an entirely different meaning. This is because Hawaiian time is very lax and basically means “when you get there.”
After that there should be no doubt in your mind where I belong. The only question is how did a Hawaiian soul get born in Bulgaria?