Rewiring Learning
“Experience is the teacher of all things.” - Julius Caesar
“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” - Pablo Picasso
Archive for July, 2010
Movies, Dreams, Minds and Mirrors
“All action is of the mind and the mirror of the mind is the face, it’s index the eyes.” - Cicero
Although the world and story of Inception are not as easy to follow as Keeping up Appearances or other sitcoms (for example), I found myself immersed in its world at the cinema on Sunday. In fact, I was so immersed that I lost track of time and my mind was completely focused on the flow of the film, undistracted by all those other concerns which normally creep in.
Rules that make the Inception
“It is the framework which changes with each new technology and not just the picture within the frame.” - Marshall McLuhan
“Every human mind you’ve ever looked at … is a product not just of natural selection but of cultural redesign of enormous proportions.” - Daniel Dennett
Kids Inspiring Creativty
“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” - Mary Lou Cook
“Stay young, stay foolish.” - Steve Jobs
The Importance of Feedback
“Champions know that success is inevitable; that there is no such thing as failure, only feedback. They know that the best way to forecast the future is to create it.” – Michael J. Gelb
The way in which our mind processes visual information is a miniature version of the way in which it processes all kinds of information, with multiple layers of processing and continuous feedback loops being used to construct an internal mental reality which most effectively helps us to maximize rewards from the external world. That is, consciousness is merely a system for using feedback to help us create the future.
Touching meanings
“To touch is to experience, but to feel is to live.” - Loren Klein
“For all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be.” - Pink Floyd
How language shapes the future
“Words form the thread on which we string our experiences.” - Aldous Huxley
Two interesting articles I read today focus on the impact of language on our behaviour, providing evidence that the way we frame choices and how we describe those choices shape our subsequent behaviour.
Monkey motives
“I’d rather be a climbing ape than a falling angel.” - Terry Pratchett
On my way home on the bus yesterday I spotted ‘a small fella’ driving a big black Hummer. Why did he feel the need to buy this I wondered? Surely the pleasure of acquiring and driving it can only be short lived at best. What makes someone spend almost US$150,000 on an unreliable, gas guzzling, hard to drive sport-utility vehicle?
Asking Why?
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” - Albert Einstein
“Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect.” - Steven Wright
I really enjoyed Dave Trott’s article “A creative mind is an enquiring mind” and recommend everyone to read it. He is right that curiosity is what makes us creative, having an open mind, pursuing diverse interests, challenging assumptions, and above all asking lots of questions. We are naturally born to be curious, and as children are enthusiastic in asking ‘why?’ (and just as importantly ‘why not?’). The key to creativity is to keep the child within us, the enjoyment of playing, and to never be afraid to ask ‘why?’. Albert Einstein was known for his playful side and his childlike enthusiasm for new ideas and challenges – similarly Dave Trott describes the sheer fun and enjoyment that four modern scientists had in talking about some of their favourite heroes and ideas.
