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- | . | + | ======Correlations====== |
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+ | The following is my response to an e-mail a student sent to me, asking about ways they could pursue developing better problem solving and active thinking skills. I quote their content, and reply beneath: | ||
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+ | =====Hacking===== | ||
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+ | < | ||
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+ | I'd personally broaden the definition of hacking, and diminish the notion of security: hacking is merely the act of figuring something out. A carpenter, a seamstress, an electrician, | ||
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+ | That perception is the key. | ||
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+ | And I'll reiterate: I suspect the " | ||
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+ | ====Hacking vs. Security==== | ||
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+ | And this whole issue with ' | ||
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+ | ====Big picture thinking==== | ||
+ | Security is a problem because some hardware/ | ||
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+ | Yet it has become so easy to seemingly memorize current things and regurgitate them back in boxes. Technology X can have its attributes learned, but that only prepares one for dealing with technology X.. often times the idea or concept that underlies it is completely ignored... so when Technology X is replaced with Y, people need to get " | ||
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+ | =====Exposure to the uncomfortable/ | ||
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+ | < | ||
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+ | Yet (active) thinking is hard, especially when one has never been exposed to it; instead, there' | ||
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+ | ====Embracing the beginner mindset==== | ||
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+ | Something for everyone to keep in mind as I seemingly force unfamiliar (and at first glance, undesirable) things at you. *cough* vim *cough*. | ||
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+ | And remember: being a beginner at something does not imply it is easy. Usually far from it. Truly being a beginner means we are inexperienced in the thing. There are no habits based on experience, they haven' | ||
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+ | =====Advice on cultivating active thinking===== | ||
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+ | < | ||
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+ | ====Observation==== | ||
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+ | Yeah: work on being observant, in as many arenas as possible. | ||
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+ | What is there? How does it appear to work, or interact, or function? | ||
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+ | How long has it been there? Does it change? How does it change? | ||
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+ | Work on challenging (not for the sake of being difficult or causing others frustration; | ||
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+ | ====Asking (yourself) questions==== | ||
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+ | Challenging yourself is often best accomplished by learning to constantly ask (much of it to yourself) questions. | ||
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+ | If you cannot do something, or it seems hard: Why is that? How are you thinking it has to be done? What part of that seems to create an issue or perception of difficulty. | ||
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+ | Is the difficultly merely something unfamiliar (a cue for a learning experience- which one should consider diving into), or is it familiar but boring (a cue to challenge how you otherwise think about accomplishing the task-- finding some other way, even if it may not seem as efficient, provided it does not run counter to baseline requirements). Or even better, if certain steps are required... accomplish the task in the familiar way, then go back and specifically set about solving it in different ways. | ||
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+ | You'll note that largely reflects my advice about redoing past projects without asking for help or consulting your own notes. You want to be as on your own with your own skills as possible. The less you bring along, the less invested you are in going with familiar, comfortable solutions. | ||
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+ | ====Success is in the combination of all these skills==== | ||
+ | So observing, asking (yourself) questions (I emphasize this, because while it is good to ask others questions, and I wish people would do more of that, as you have been doing, recognizing the need to ask ourselves questions, and frequently, is often overlooked: the more one asks themselves questions, the better their questions to others become), seeking more information (sometimes basic operating knowledge isn't enough... learn more than you think you may need to know about a thing... like you know ' | ||
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+ | ====Focus on the long-term, not just the immediate task==== | ||
+ | The more you only learn when there' | ||
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+ | ====Avoid confusing short-sighted amusements for accomplishments==== | ||
+ | Be mindful of familiar actions. I see people all the time with an express interest in breaking things (because they can, because destruction invigorates some odd sense of enjoyment). But when you only go at something because you want it to break, your purpose is purposefully shallow and limited. Okay, something may be brittle, but do you know all it can do and how it operates? Sometimes NOT breaking it and learning about it is a lot more fun than breaking it (although perhaps not as enjoyable for that short term, direct, tangible rush). | ||
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+ | ====Spectrums of considerations==== | ||
+ | But remember, there' | ||
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+ | * **short term** vs. **long term**: humans are REALLY good at seeing the //short term//, and terrible at seeing the //long term//. The more we practice contemplating and trying to see the long term, the better our abilities become. With very rare exception, EVERYONE can stand to practice and focus more on the long term (outcome, possibility, | ||
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+ | * **direct** vs. **indirect**: | ||
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+ | * **tangible** (material) vs. **intangible**: | ||
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+ | ====Various practices to consider==== | ||
+ | So some practices to consider (reiterating some): | ||
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+ | * **observation**: | ||
+ | * **reading**: | ||
+ | * I'm so glad you made us do that. It seemed pointless then, but I have to do it EVERYDAY at $JOB now. | ||
+ | * Your projects are long and it is a LOT of reading, but once I sit down and take the time to read through it, I realize just how informative it is. So many of my questions are answered. | ||
+ | * This was so frustrating until I stopped and thought about it. Took a step back, read the instructions. Then an answer appeared; why didn't I see that before? | ||
+ | * **asking __yourself__ questions**: | ||
+ | * **asking questions**: | ||
+ | * **playing**: | ||
+ | * **repetition**: | ||
+ | * **eternal beginner**: embrace being an eternal novice. Clinging to a status of expert is self-limiting. It adds pressure. There' | ||
+ | * **cultivate awareness of the //long term//**: work to notice the longer term impact of things. You're not in this class to do projects and get a grade (that' | ||
+ | * **develop your skills of the // | ||
+ | * some good exercises for developing your indirect thinking skills include logic puzzles. Try to regularly do a logic grid puzzle, or a letter math division, or crossword, or sudoku (and don't shy away from the ones that seem less fun- again, not fun is your brain saying it isn't comfortable/ | ||
+ | * I have (off and on) utilized services such as **Lumosity** (brain games), to both measure my progress in certain categories, and also to induce some variety. The brain may like to autopilot, but it also enjoys stimulus. | ||
+ | * **intangible**: | ||
+ | * **write**: Reading is important, so is writing. Reading is informative, | ||
+ | * A good practice to consider taking up is to //develop your handwriting// | ||
+ | * **Embrace mistakes**: We learn from mistakes. Mistakes are an acknowledgement of a deviation from expectations. To make a mistake gives us an opportunity to reflect, and that leads to new insights. Chasing perfection just closes our minds to possibility (not that it isn't preferable to successfully do a thing: but the difference I am trying to point out is we shouldn' | ||
+ | * **Purpose**: | ||
+ | * For example: from an early age (elementary school), I found myself thinking "//I want to learn something new each day//" | ||
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+ | =====Discipline plus time begets success===== | ||
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+ | < | ||
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+ | Acknowledging the thing is important. Transforming the perspective is a next step. And we should always be on the lookout for acknowledging some new discipline or activity we may want to improve upon. For once we identify it, we can then choose to act on it. So, once again: we fall back on the critical need to be observant. | ||
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+ | Instead of feeling frustrated, work on seeing it as achieving some new insight from an observation. That's why we have literature, we tell stories, we have jokes. The more well-read we are, the more experiences we can draw from to better perceive things. And the wider our scope of experience, the more adept we will become at solving all kinds of problems. | ||
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+ | =====Suggestion: | ||
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+ | < | ||
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+ | Not necessarily (although not to say that this wouldn' | ||
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+ | So many tend to jump this gun (and " | ||
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+ | =====Suggestion: | ||
+ | < | ||
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+ | This is among the very core of reading and observation. Identify sources of information, | ||
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+ | Consuming information. Reading. Improving your input bandwidth will be of immense help. One of the stumbling blocks of so many right now is that they' | ||
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+ | And also of importance: do not just search for, and stop once you find some precise, short answer. Read into it and explore the background. The history. The evolution. Don't just focus on the thing as a means to an end in the present- get to know it for the problems it has solved, the approaches it has taken, and the paths it has traveled to arrive here in the present. | ||
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+ | =====Suggestion: | ||
+ | < | ||
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+ | A recurring mistake merely means you didn't adequately learn from it the first time. Don't obsess about making mistakes. Let them happen. Embrace the opportunity to learn from them. In time, they will vanish (but the more you want them to go away, the longer they will stay around). | ||
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+ | =====My experience===== | ||
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+ | We all have to make our valiant escape from the jails of conformity and indoctrination. I certainly was no different. Often times it occurs by accident: something in some previously established and " | ||
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+ | I wouldn' | ||
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+ | There may be a word or a description for this phenomena (I cannot think of any pertinent name at the moment... kudos to anyone who can offer up a name, and ideally a wikipedia article link for us all to read more about), but I've had a long history of realizing many things I perceive as everyday and normal are quite the exception. Even to this day, as I explore some new interest, or stumble upon some new notion I was previous unaware of (or didn't think to observe it as a particular instantiation of a distinct thing), I frequently find I am or have been naturally practicing many of its patterns, or can anticipate its progression. Sure, there' | ||
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+ | ====Genius? Or just consistent and refined normalcy? | ||
+ | I've definitely had my fair share of people claiming my various skills are above-average or " | ||
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+ | For example: there was a scenario where we were having a teaching demonstration by an interviewee for a position. They were giving a "mock lecture", | ||
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+ | ====Non-conformity==== | ||
+ | At the same time, I've also had a history of possessing quite a fiery non-conformist streak. I despise doing things "just because", | ||
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+ | ====Thinking about thinking==== | ||
+ | I've always thought about things: Numbers, doing simple math in my head, trying to find new/ | ||
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+ | ====Writing for fun and profit==== | ||
+ | As a discipline building/ | ||
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+ | ====Expression==== | ||
+ | I've been endeavoring to learn French for the past few years. Not so much to speak the language, but to read material if I encounter it. To listen to and understand a song. An underlying driving force is that it has propelled my understanding of English to new levels (they say about 60% of English vocabulary is from French). Talk about indirect patterns and insights. Etymology is also a mild hobby of mine (and you know what else it helps with? Programming. A heck ton.) | ||
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+ | ====Challenge myself with logic puzzles==== | ||
+ | I can often tear through one of those 7x7 challenging logic grid puzzles in under half an hour. Tons and tons of applied indirection skills at work to pull off a task like that. | ||
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+ | ====Become bi-layoutial on the keyboard==== | ||
+ | I learned the dvorak keyboard layout, and now am effectively bilingual in qwerty and dvorak (take a look at the keyboard at my pod sometime- there are stickers on they keys) | ||
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+ | ====Resist familiarity==== | ||
+ | I try to alternate the sides of various things each month to force the acclimation of the other hand (kitchen sink: I flip the side I wash and the side I put dishes to try), I alternate pockets where I put my phone when I'm out walking, I change the side of the keyboard I put my notebook I write in, so my body position has to adapt. | ||
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+ | =====In general===== | ||
+ | To be sure: I am not mentioning any of these things to brag. These are but a sampling of my amusements, things that entertain me. They did not develop overnight. I've been at them for SEVERAL YEARS. I mention them to provide some examples of things I've stumbled on, and some insights I've gained from doing these things. | ||
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+ | There are infinite paths one can take. So many avenues to discovery. These are some I stumbled on... be it from reading or just deriving some connection that felt like something to try. In each case, there was resistance: I wasn't used to cursive. Or writing with my right hand. Or writing in cursive with my right hand. Or French. Or using the dvorak keyboard layout. Or doing a logic puzzle. At one point, years ago, at each moment of inception, I thought to try this activity out. It was challenging. I didn't like it. It was easier doing the things I knew. But I knew I'd never advance that way. So I kept with it... forced myself to write a sentence... that awkward, ugly, and uncalibrated squiggle produced by my right hand become increasingly legible. What took half an hour and left me exhausted mentally became 15 minutes. 10. As I said, today I wrote 12 pages. 6 of them with my right hand. In cursive. I tore through them, in alternation. | ||
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+ | I maintain these disciplines, | ||
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+ | I'll get some new idea and set about exploring it. Deconstructing it, how I think about it, finding patterns, deriving new patterns. Testing anticipated patterns. Writing new scripts/ | ||
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+ | In the end, it ends up being a philosophy, an art. I don't look at these things as discrete activities. To me they are all related. New things I am doing now and becoming more familiar with will eventually integrate and become just as natural. I'll stop recognizing it as some unique thing, but increased flexibility and observation as I encounter yet more new things. | ||
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+ | And certainly: I look back at where I was in the past. A year ago. Two. Five years. Even longer. I pull out an old notebook I did my writings in... night and day difference. Even further back: woah. And even to read about the things I was thinking about, or moreso: HOW I was thinking about them. I was so inflexible back then. So limited in my way of seeing things. I was so much older then; I'm younger than that now. | ||
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+ | So again: one needs to embrace the eternal beginner. Embrace mistakes, so we can learn from them. Play. Keep playing. Allow for time. Consider things from multiple perspectives. Explore. Read. All those things I've mentioned above. In various combinations. It takes time. It takes practice. But while not necessarily immediate, results can start to be realized in a few weeks to a few months. One just needs the werewithal to keep at it, despite not immediately being able to see any short-term gain. | ||
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+ | I hope this ends up being helpful. In some capacity. I can certainly expand upon things as desired. | ||
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+ | Congratulations if you've made it to the end of this treatise. I don't expect many will. Certainly some who do will not appreciate the gist of what I just shared. But some will: a spark, perhaps. And that's all it takes to set to life an inspiration. And that's really what I seek from you: to inspire, and to share in that inspiration. That's why this is "the best class you've ever taken" | ||
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+ | One might say "but all I asked was how I could think better" |