Kodak - was busy in promoting film (old style camera for those who don't know). Do you know: Kodak invented the digital camera and the digital camera killed the company. That is because they did not want to release the digital camera as long as film was working.
Friday, February 14, 2020
A mind for numbers
HuTu
Barbara Oakley
Findings somethings here and there.
Find some in success plan:
Creativiy - do you have ideas or live creating things but are afraid to bring it out for fear of failure.
Overcome your fears
Are you doing something that can be attempted only once? If not then try it fearlessly and redo if you fall
Criticism and nay Sayers are welcome. Contemplate what they say, but whatever they say should not stop you from trying.
You don't have to be agreeable to everybody. If someone gets offended by your ideas let them be.
Paul's technique for limited time study. Page 83-84
Preventing procrastination
“The dread of doing a task uses
up more time and energy than doing the task itself. Rita Emmett, procrastination expert.
Is that system 2 of thinking fast and slow in working?
Thinking or even setting about doing the actual work actually triggers pain receptors.
Is that the goose bumps or anxiety attack you get before doing something new, meeting someone for the first time or give a public speech.
Procrastination is actually taking into the comfort zone
Zombies everywhere 92
Get into the Flow by Focusing on Process, 98
Chunking vs choking 106
Repetition and recall to memorize thoroughly
Also repeat skills to be expert.
Recall anywhere you are. Don't waste time.
Knowledge collapse. What is it? A sudden realisation nothing makes sense. After having learned some. In which case organise add neatly as possible.
Organise all your study material
Testing Is a Powerful Learning Experience, 111
The testing effect - for remembering better
Tools tips and tricks 117
Dressing up or prepping up, choosing a special place to do the work, planning helps in doing the work.
Buddha in blue jeans - Tai Sheridan
Looking forward to something positive in the day
Not Focus on why you can't do it. Focus on why you should.
Ultimate zombie alliance ,119
Planning. Making weekly goals and following then with daily goals. 5 to 10 not more. Write them down. Diary, app or whiteboard. Remember to Rick then off when you finish. Break down bigger tasks.
Distraction apps: freedom paid. Stay focused : Chrome app, Leechblock fire fox app. Meetimer
Goal setting sites:
43 things
Stikk
Coffee noises: coffitivity
The place you sit should be distraction free.
COPING WITH LIFE’S TOUGHEST CHALLENGES USING MAGICAL MATH
MARINATION, page 127
Let the problem marinate. Think about it and store it in the back of your mind.
No short bursts of energy and activity but a consistent planned calendar.
Adrenaline induced activities are ok under certain levels of stress, but high levels of stress can limit your ability to think clearly. So I work best under stress or with my back against the wall or when I am in the corner is a flimsy excuse to procrastinate.
What about rationality when choosing a passion career?
Procrastination FAQs, 133
Break down bigger tasks to smaller, even micro tasks to finish then easily.
You can be habituated into procrastination. It becomes hard to break out of the habit. The solution is creating other habits. Success habits.
It's easy to fool yourself into thinking you're good at something but something out and fear is holding you back. E.g. the fear of tests. You are good but don't do well in tests.
Always have backup plans in case of problems
In case of problems do a self study of what you could have done better.
Break down your larger tasks
Plan the night before
Reiterate in morning
Assessment in evening
Reward yourself
Delay rewards to you've finished
Punish-don't reward if you don't finish
East your frogs
Mind palace, songs and rhymes
SPATIAL ABILITIES CAN BE LEARNED, 147
Spatial = calculation about the direction,angle curvature of throwing a ball into a hoop
Spaced Repetition to Help Lodge Ideas, 150
New stuff for mnemonic
BEWARE OF MISTAKING A MEMORY TRICK , 154
The hand mind connection is strong and that's why many teachers recommend writing.
Note: this reminds me of Abdur Raheem use of hand. He used to call it tb something total body something. To learn hua huma hum.
Memory Tricks Help You Become an Expert, 157
Metaphors, stories, other than the usual repetition, music, mind mapping, writing.
Chapter 12
learning to appreciate your talent, 160
Expression in art Cajal the scientist - used to paint and photograph and he won a Nobel prize for neuroscience
Simplify and Personalize Whatever, 179
Transfer—Applying What You’ve Learned, 182
Poetry, creativity and imagination. You should know or learn about imagination and apply the concepts and formula you learned to other aspects, situations and subjects.
The Value of Great Teachers, 108
Niels Bohr lounging with Albert Einstein in 1925.,199
Group studies and group discussions are a great way to find mistakes.
test taking, 203
Test taking helps you remember.
Do not dive in to a test.
Start hard and jump to easy instead of starting with the easy problems.
Stress and anxiety breathing exercises and thinking about alternative reality instead of whatever is making you anxious.
unlock your potential, 214
Go deep. Be consistent.
End of book September 25, 2019
A mind for numbers
Active focussed mode / diffuse mode
In diffuse mode your mind is thinking sub conciously about your problems. As you go deeper into the diffuse mode you may get the answer to your problems. Sleep but not totally. Keep keys in your hand while sitting when they fall and wake you up you will be between diffuse and active mode and will remember the solution your mind thought of. Who was the guy who did this? 2 examples from the book.
Einstellong
Chunking memory
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Why do Indian Muslims oppose an Israeli partnership
It is a pertinent question. Why do Indian Muslims oppose an India-Israeli partnership? Is it in their religion? To an extent it may be. While the Quran acknowledges Jews to be the people of the book and in that sense a promotes brotherhood among every one of the people of the book including Christians. It also warns that the Jews will be the biggest enemies of the Muslims because the belief systems of these faiths are very much connected. But it's that the reason to hold back your country to partner with them?
Muslims greatest complain against Israel is the Palestinian conflict. There have been enough human rights violations in Palestine by Israel to boycott the country and levy sanctions on them. Yet the country enjoys visual relationships with many countries. India too had pleasant relations with Israel, but the Congress government always underplayed it to keep its Muslim voters happy. The BJP with their we don't care about Muslims attitude openly flaunt this relationship because they feel by doing so they can take this cordial relation to the next level.
Many Muslims believe that Israel had a big hand in BJPs win for the parliamentary elections and their consequent wins because Israel had the technology power and the EVM machines have no fans back home. The credibility of the EVM machines is being questioned by all parties except for BJP even as this article is being written.
There is enough evidence that most of the banking system the world over is controlled by the Jews. Leading to the belief that the country's economy and therefore the fate of its citizens lie in their hands.
Last but most important the Israeli defence system needs continuous checks. And there are rumors on the net that this warfare technology is used against the Palestinians to test it's work ability. If we look for a better place to test these weapons, India with its vast population comes to mind. Is it possible that the BJP will go so far out to target citizens- Muslim, Christian, Dalit and Sikh to gain technological advances and business of manufacturing? Is this rumor true that Israel's human rights violations are not just violations but deliberate targeting of humans for target practice and treating humans worse than animals? Gau Raksha anyone.
Concentrating in class
Another year another batch of students to tackle. Tackle did I say? But it's true. That is because I liked to show them the ropes they simply want me to come, give a lecture and leave.
I teach English to class 10 students. I also teach English to people who wanna learn to talk and communicate in English. And I teach skills to students getting ready to face the world and people who want to turn their lives around so my approach to all teaching is to teach skills.
So the English students of class 10 SSC stare at me when I tell them I want to be better at English.
cognitive bias
I teach English to class 10 students. I also teach English to people who wanna learn to talk and communicate in English. And I teach skills to students getting ready to face the world and people who want to turn their lives around so my approach to all teaching is to teach skills.
So the English students of class 10 SSC stare at me when I tell them I want to be better at English.
cognitive bias
Being successful. How do you achieve that?
That is a very relevant question, especially today since competition had increased in every field. The first question you need to ask yourself is what is success and what it means to you.
Choosing a field. Doing what is fun. Too much competition in all current designated fields. Creating your own path. Being relentless.
sas training in mumbai
SAS
Training
SAS is one
of the most sought-after programming languages by data scientists even after the
emergence of a number of other languages. Since the last two decades, SAS has
been in the market and has been at the forefront of development in data science.
Even though programming language such as Python and R are
gradually becoming popular among a large section of programmer and
professionals, SAS still has a prestigious place among the users, and it is a prerequisite for a lot of high-level jobs in the field of data sciences.
Skills in SAS are a necessity, and
several establishments offering such training are rising. One can find several
venues for SAS training in Mumbai.
Several institutes offering data science training in Pune also offer training in SAS programming.
SAS offers a
variety of features such as processing of data in RAM and parallel computation.
SAS is considered one of the best data
handling languages in the market, and
after undergoing an extensive SAS
training in Mumbai, one can become highly efficient in handling and managing data. SAS can be used for
simulations that are sufficiently complex and for calculating the probability for the distribution of data. Using
SAS for such operations are easy to attain from any institute for data science training in Pune.
SAS is a
programming language that has considerable graphical abilities and has a set of
very efficient functionalities. A thorough knowledge about SAS will help you in
unleashing a huge number of
possibilities. You will easily find an
institution that offers a comprehensive SAS
training in Mumbai. SAS being a popular
programming language, there are many
organizations that offer data
science training in Pune that offer
courses in SAS and walk you through all the ways to implement the functionality
of SAS.
SAS has been
the go-to programming
language for companies and professionals since it has been time tested. The
only drawback of SAS is the fact that it is a closed
system which hinders any evolution making it lag behind in the fast-paced world of technology. However,
companies choose this due to its adaptability and the reliability brought to
the projects. You will be fully prepared to handle projects on a large scale by
using SAS as soon as you go through any SAS
training in Mumbai. You will also find a
number of detailed courses from
any institution that offers data science training in Pune.
Author Bio: I am a passionately curious student
about data science and constantly
research tools and processes related to this field. I have gone through an
extensive course for SAS training in
Mumbai. I have also gone through several other courses from an institute that offers data science training in Pune. Apart from R, Python is also
something that I have expert knowledge in.
How to Understand and Techniques to Memorize what you study
This topic though tackled in many forums is a very vast topic and cannot be comprehensively covered in one blog post or article. That is because all parts of the topic studying effectively, understanding what you study and memorizing what you study each need dedicated explanation.
It seems so easy to remember the latest songs and dialogues of our favourite stars, but when it comes to remembering things in our study books our memory seems to fail us. In fact, I have had students who could remember complete songs and every dialogue of certain films,, but with regards to studies they were certified low memory. One of them even told me that he had been diagnosed as such. This behaviour begs the question: why does our memory fail us in some work. The catch word is interest. Without interest every effort will probably fail. However, if you would really like to remember what you study then read on.
It seems so easy to remember the latest songs and dialogues of our favourite stars, but when it comes to remembering things in our study books our memory seems to fail us. In fact, I have had students who could remember complete songs and every dialogue of certain films,, but with regards to studies they were certified low memory. One of them even told me that he had been diagnosed as such. This behaviour begs the question: why does our memory fail us in some work. The catch word is interest. Without interest every effort will probably fail. However, if you would really like to remember what you study then read on.
How does memory work
The forgetting curve
To briefly understand how memory works let me remind you of your favourite dish. I don't know what dish you love but I am sure when I say that you'll remember the taste and the aroma along with the way it looks. You will probably even remember when and where you ate it last. That's how memory works. With interaction. If you have no interaction with certain things there will be no memory of them.
I believe there is a road or Street you walk every day and pass many other people on the way. But you remember only those whom you noticed. A man who sings or talks to himself, a person who was involved in some accident or a beautiful face. What do they have in common with regards to your memory? They attracted your attention or interest. There are a hundred others who pass you everyday, but you won't even know them if introduced. If anyone one of the the people who you noticed, say the man who sings along on the road is only seen once by you, then you will forget him in a couple of days. His face, his voice and his manner of singing are the the touch points you may have noticed. You will need at least a couple of them to remember him some days later. If he comes in front of you, it will be almost impossible to remember. However, if he sings then your chances of recall can increase. Similarly, if you see the beautiful face almost everyday for a month, you will recognise it almost anywhere even after a month. If you help the person involved in an accident and thereafter you meet him or her almost everyday for a month, you'll remember that person even after a year. So you see when the level of interaction increases the chances of remembering something or some one increases.
Basically we have short term and long term memories. A small interaction will trigger our short term memory and we will be able to recall it inside approximately five minutes. As time goes by the chances of recall grow dimmer. For a memory to become a long term memory the interaction will have to be impactful and consistent.
This is illustrated properly by the forgetting curve. Plotted by Edward iEbinghaus n the 1885 the graph illustrates how you can forget something you have have remember. As time goes by the memory of something you thought you had memorized fades away. Slowly, but surely you will forget things unless you consciously review the thing you want to memorize.
Biologically speaking the brain has neurons that store memories. However, these neurons don't work alone. They need other sources of stimuli to activate the memory. Basically electrical charges. In layman's language we can say these are triggers to a memory
How do we use this principal for studies
One big challenge that has been identified by many educationists is cognitive load. Most students are studying because they have to and not because they want to. So interest levels vary. To make things difficult the explanation of concepts is not broken down for the weakest of the student. Most classrooms work on the strongest students. The strongest or the most intelligent students, according to the teacher, may in fact be a child who understands the teachers learning style. In most cases standing in front of the class, reading and explaining the concept. Some may take the effort to explain with the help of the black board. However, all students are not accustomed to understanding the teachers oratory style. Honestly it is nothing to do with the teacher. But it is about the student. Here we need to understand learning styles and how children understand things.
Understanding is key
So when we talk of reducing cognitive load it means the easiest way to explain a concept. This is because understanding is the key to remembering concepts. Once you understand a concept then remembering it becomes easy.
Write it down
.vak who proposed it.
Students can have one or more learning styles.
Visual
Most students are visual learners. That means if the concept is explained to them in drawing format like charts graphs or moving images they can understand better.
Visual
Most students are visual learners. That means if the concept is explained to them in drawing format like charts graphs or moving images they can understand better.
Auditory learners remember what they've heard. So if you narrate things to them they will remember better. If it is in story format even better. Song format will probably do wonders. That's one reason why we remember songs easily and we used to be taught songs and poems in our childhood. Auditory learners should use phrases or acronyms to remember stuff like facts. One example bring vibgyor for colours of the rainbow. Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red.
Kinaesthetic learners need to experience what they learn. Like do an experiment for themselves they need to be given real life examples. Keeping this in mind many schools recommend project work in class. The growing of potted plants, the cutting of potatoes to make colourful art projects and science experiments about physics and chemistry are loved by kinaesthetic learners. A simple act of writing down a definition or note will help a kinesthetic learner to remember longer.
Now you must have thought to yourself that these things happen in school and me or my child use more than one of these styles to learn. That's true. No person adheres to only one learning style. Although one of the learning style may be dominant.
Which brings us to the question if we understand something how do we make sure we remember what we understand.
Who is the adept method from??
.
.
The adept method.
Learn about Pedagogy and Dr Hubbard
Adept is an acronym for analogy, drawing, example, plain language and technical definition.
Analogy is to draw likeness to what you are explaining. Teachers need to do this when they are teaching and students need to do this while revising. For example
Example means you compare the explanation with the simplest and real life example that you can.
Plain language
When learning try to break down the concept to the simplest words possible. Like Einstein said If you can explain it to someone then it means you have understood it.
When learning try to break down the concept to the simplest words possible. Like Einstein said If you can explain it to someone then it means you have understood it.
Remember Understanding is key. This is also the Feynman technique. Richard Feynman a Nobel prize winning physicist also known to his friends and fans as the great explainer, used to keep a book where he used to add concepts he did not understand. He kept adding more information about the concept till he understood it. Ultimately he used to break it down so that his students would understand easily. That way he remembered the concept well. When two great scientists ask you to understand and explain a concept then I believe you should take the advice.
The protégé effect
The explaining method is so popular that it had another name. The protege effect.
The explaining method is so popular that it had another name. The protege effect.
Technical definition
You should also make sense of the technical definition and remember it. Technical definition is breaking for of an idea in a practical way. It may have jargon but it shows you how a concept can be used practically.
You should also make sense of the technical definition and remember it. Technical definition is breaking for of an idea in a practical way. It may have jargon but it shows you how a concept can be used practically.
Mind mapping
When trying to understand concepts mind mapping can be really helpful. Remember Feynman's book? Mind mapping is something like that. You write down the name of the concept you want to learn and understand in the middle of a page. Once you've done that you start spider web style adding information to that name. You are allowed to draw stuff when needed. So you can write an explanation. Then you can connect another information to that information. Maybe the thing that you are trying to learn has parts or divisions. All of them come around the name you've written in the center. This way you break down the idea and you can see it at one glance.
Upar all understanding hai
However, whatever you do there are some concepts that are a little tricky to memorize. In which case you use methods that have been tried and tested by memory experts
Spaced learning
All things said and done, there are still things that you need to memorize. Like names and dates in history and geography. Actual facts, not concepts. List of things in civics and economics. Experts recommend the use of spaced learning technique. Spaced learning as the name signifies means you understand the concept and keep coming back to it after intervals. Like you read it in the morning. Then you read it the evening. Then again tomorrow morning and evening. Then day after maybe once in the morning then a couple of days after that. The time you revisit the concept you want to remember will increase as days go by until you actually remember it without going back to the book. There are apps that help in organising you spaced repetition learning. The one I believe is popular is ANKISRS. Or you can make a small diary to organise your timings. There is one easy way of doing this with flash cards.
Flash cards are a great way to make notes and understand concepts. When you make flash cards remember to make them in such a way they are self explanatory. There is no prohibition on using abbreviations, drawings or symbols. Whatever makes it easy for you to remember. Whenever you have the time view a flash card and make sure you remember it. Then move to the next one. Flash cards can be used in association with spaced learning also. Like it was explained earlier you need to space out your exercises. So you make boxes. The first box is urgent. The second can be named one day. The third should be named 4th day. The next one week. And the next 2 weeks. When you believe you have memorized one flash card you put it in box number 2 - one day. The next day you memorize the cards in the urgent box and revise the ones in one day box. Now if you believe your brain has cemented the memory of the fact or concept then it goes to the other box - 4th day. You will revise these cards 4 days after you had memorized it the first time. If you get it right this time too it goes to the next box and you look at it 3 days later or one week after you had memorized it first. And then one week later. Thereafter you can revise it at one week intervals. However, in the process if you think you forgot then it goes back directly to the first box regardless of which box you picked it from.
Flash cards are also used in a different manner. It is called the castle of LOCI technique. This method is specially helpful when you need to remember things in a sequence. So you make your flash cards and then arrange and stick them on furniture and walls in different rooms. This way whenever you walk around the house you remember what is written and after many repetitions you can then recall the cards in sequence when you imagine yourself walking through the house.
Mnemonics
Mnemonics is a system of using whatever memory triggers you have to help you remember stuff. This may include lists. For example VIBGYOR or the colours of the rainbow. Mother very dada for planets in our solar system. Image relation.
Phrases for lists
Number words for numbers like pi. Get from wiki
Number words for numbers like pi. Get from wiki
Flash cards
Cognitive load
ADEPT
Spaced learning
Feynman
Mnemonics
Check out some more in ever note
Brain mostly visual
VAK
Mind maps
ADEPT
Spaced learning
Feynman
Mnemonics
Check out some more in ever note
Brain mostly visual
VAK
Mind maps
Practice tests
Learning & Memory methods:
Feynman technique
Cognitive load
ADEPT - analogy, diagram, example, plain English, technical information
Spaced Learning
Mnemonics
Auditory, Visual, Kinaesthetic VAK
Flash Cards
Mind Mapping
Flash Cards
Keywords - triggers - flavours ?? can flavor trigger memories
How to improve your English
Why do you want for improve your English? What is your intenttions
Take your decision / initiative or somebody else will make the decision for you. Growth opportunity are in both there is a difference
Stimulus and response and the time in between is choice
memory techniques: Analogy : associations
flash cards
mind fort brain fort whatever
vocabulary and grammar
we cannot say this is grammar and this is vocabulary - now go play with it.
we cannot say this is grammar and this is vocabulary - now go play with it.
listening, reading, speaking
making idioms, building pronunciation
Hi my name is Sauban Pathan. I am a copywriter. Any body here knows what the copywriter does?
I teach English on the side. I love teaching English. Because honestly that's the one thing I know best within my skill sets. Other than sleeping of course.
How many of you came here with the intention of learning something new?
What did the rest of you come here for?
Intention is very important. What does intention give you? Focus.
Clear intentions are necessary. You should be clear where you want to go.
alpha, beta, theta and delta states of mind
variable reward, dopamine - how to use in learning
Research by yourself independent
training : you do not have focus or creativity. - you train yourself to be focussed.
you don't have great memory - you train yourself to get the best memory possible.
the story of that idiot who failed at school - memory champion.
learning curve
forgetting curve: 48 hours
self awareness
Fear
Social mirror: looking at ourselves from others point of view. Fear of laughter or embarrassed
Story: three years ago I had a revelation. This was one of the many revelations I had. One: not to go out of India and serve Indians. Two: that the computer had been made for me. Three I was a writer at heart and four I want to teach English to everyone.
writing down 3 things you want to do with your life:
keep a diary
happiness
empathy
things i want to talk about
english speaking
self awareness
effective communicaiton
public speaking??
memory
time management
mental health
knowledge is power when you apply
happiness?
laatteerr: marketing funnels
english speaking
self awareness
effective communicaiton
public speaking??
memory
time management
mental health
knowledge is power when you apply
happiness?
laatteerr: marketing funnels
Creative Problem solving
From the course of edx
Find out the actors
- owner
- stakeholders
- other actors
Find out the actors
- owner
- stakeholders
- other actors
Goals
- Problems
- Perspectives - Different actors have different perspectives and solutions. Similarly they want different solutions that give then more advantage
- criteria
- Problems
- Perspectives - Different actors have different perspectives and solutions. Similarly they want different solutions that give then more advantage
- criteria
Map structures of different solutions
Zero solution
What action influences criteria
+ For positive and - for negative
Make arrows to take from one criteria to the next and Mark whether the action will be positive or negative. Make a web of actions.
Zero solution
What action influences criteria
+ For positive and - for negative
Make arrows to take from one criteria to the next and Mark whether the action will be positive or negative. Make a web of actions.
scenarios - create - depending on future situations
spaced learning forgetting curve
Why do we forget?
Forgetting is important for remembering. Not because we have limited space, but because the brain needs to know what needs to be remembered. The brain has its own programming to remember stuff. So things that the brain believes is not important will slowly be forgotten. Now why and how will the brain decide what is important and what is not. Well the actual decision lies with you. YOU decide what is important and what is not by the way you pay attention to it. A chance meeting after many years with an old acquaintance will be easily forgotten as compared to a meeting with a dear old friend. That is obviously because you decided somewhere in your mind the dear old friend is more important than the acquaintance. You may even remember all that was spoken at the small chance meeting with your friend, unless of course the acquaintance says something that interests you and makes you remember it better. Similarly, you will remember something that you read if you decide to remember it or are really interested in it. If you've been made to sit down and study something your heart is not really into then the chances of remembering are low.
If I am interested will I remember it?
However, when you do decide to remember something there are still chances that you will still forget it after sometime. That all depends on the amount of information your brain is receiving, the way it is being received and the priority being given to the information. Research done by Hermann Ebbinghaus shows the amount of time it takes for us to forget information. If the information is revisited before your brain stacks it somewhere in the back, where it becomes difficult to retrieve, then it becomes fresh once again. Again revisiting the information at regular intervals will make the memory stronger and you will remember it like you remember nursery rhymes even today. Memory article: xyz
Hermann Ebbinghaus recommended two ways of learning so that memory becomes easy. One was mnemonic techniques and the other spaced repetition. Memory techniques popularly used by learners have been explained in another article: xyaz. Here we learn a little bit about spaced repetition.
What is Spaced Repetition?
Experts recommend the use of spaced repetition technique simply because it is an easy tool. Spaced repetition is not the same as spaced learning so do not confuse the two. I have covered spaced learning in another blog. Spaced repetition is a rote memorizing tool to help remember something by coming back to it after regular intervals. Like you read or study a concept in the morning. Then you revise it in the evening. Then again the next morning and maybe the evening. And it goes on. The time interval you revisit the concept will increase as days go by until you actually remember it without going back to the book. You can also understand the intervals of revisiting what you need to remember by the forgetting curve. As soon as you believe you start forgetting something you need to remember, you read it or watch the video again.
There are numerous smart apps that help you in organising your spaced repetition efforts. The one that I believe is most popular is ANKISRS. Or you can make a small diary to organise your timings. There is one easy way of doing this with flash cards or the 'Flash in the box' technique. I have elaborated this technique in another article.
There are numerous smart apps that help you in organising your spaced repetition efforts. The one that I believe is most popular is ANKISRS. Or you can make a small diary to organise your timings. There is one easy way of doing this with flash cards or the 'Flash in the box' technique. I have elaborated this technique in another article.
memory devices
Memory is a tricky subject. People forget just about everything, yet they have the uncanny ability to remember the smallest detail about useless stuff. Like the boy who could remember the lyrics of all the latest songs but not his lessons. The name of the memory game is reason and interest. Do you have a reason to remember something and if you do are you interested in doing it.
You can also use phrases to remember other lists. Like say pi. The sequence of numbers in pi can be remembered by memorizing the phrase 'Now I need a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics'.
If you want to remember hard words or unpronounceable names then you could make visual images of them in your mind or draw them out on paper. For example the two types of complexities of cell structures Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic, that you study in Std. 8 can be visualized by their phonetic syllables. So Pro can be a professional player, kary will be the the professional player carrying (something) and otic can be attic. The complete image is a professional (basketball) player carrying an attic. Pro-carry-otic. Similarly, Eu is you, kary is carry and otic can be attic which will make the image - You carrying an attic. You could visualize both you and your favourite professional player carrying attics on your backs.
To remember lists with images, you should try to get all the images into one frame. For example you want to remember your list of time in the ancient India. Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, neolithic, chalcolithic. You have to remember lithic that is the suffix to all the names. Then picture your pal sitting in a mess with his new charcoal. Remember to make images, whether in your head or on paper very specific. In this process don't worry if your images look ridiculous. This exercise is for you to remember and not for everyone to criticize. So be your most creative so that you remember your images.
Flash Cards
Using flash cards with spaced learning
Why do we memorize?
You have many reasons to remember anything. You want to remind someone of something like borrowed money or a birthday. Depending on your interests you try to remember what could be a good topic to discuss with your friends or a common interest like India's cricketing history. You usually do it to impress. But the reason is that you want to do it. So I will repeat what I said a couple of blogs ago. Interest is very important to remember.
How about the things we have to remember especially for exams. Names, dates, places etc. Sometimes remembering them can be tricky. In which case you use methods that have been tried and tested by memory experts.
Let me bring in another reminder from an earlier blog. The forgetting curve.
Let's get on to the techniques to memorize.
Mnemonics
Mnemonics is a system of using whatever memory triggers you have to help you remember stuff. We have memorized using mnemonics since our childhood, when we were just kinder garten students. Remember the 'one, two buckle my shoe' poem? We were taught the poem to remember numbers.
This also works with lists. For example VIBGYOR or the colours of the rainbow. Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. The colours are in sequence too. Similarly, 'my very enthusiastic mother just served us noodles' is a good sentence to remember the planets in our solar system and in order. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. This is just word play. You can bring in images.
Image relation.
Image mnemonics relies heavily on associating new stuff to the stuff you already know.
If you want to remember hard words or unpronounceable names then you could make visual images of them in your mind or draw them out on paper. For example the two types of complexities of cell structures Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic, that you study in Std. 8 can be visualized by their phonetic syllables. So Pro can be a professional player, kary will be the the professional player carrying (something) and otic can be attic. The complete image is a professional (basketball) player carrying an attic. Pro-carry-otic. Similarly, Eu is you, kary is carry and otic can be attic which will make the image - You carrying an attic. You could visualize both you and your favourite professional player carrying attics on your backs.
To remember lists with images, you should try to get all the images into one frame. For example you want to remember your list of time in the ancient India. Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, neolithic, chalcolithic. You have to remember lithic that is the suffix to all the names. Then picture your pal sitting in a mess with his new charcoal. Remember to make images, whether in your head or on paper very specific. In this process don't worry if your images look ridiculous. This exercise is for you to remember and not for everyone to criticize. So be your most creative so that you remember your images.
Flash Cards
Flash cards are a great way to make notes and remember concepts. They are another good way to remember things. When you make flash cards remember to make them in such a way they are self explanatory. There is no prohibition on using mnemonic devices like acronyms or phrases and images, drawings or symbols. Whatever makes it easy for you to remember. The first advice I would like to start with is that : Always make your own flash cards. Remember to use one concept or question per flash card and break complex questions down to simpler concepts. Say the answers out loud. One side of the card can be used to write the question and the other for the answer. So when you read the question you say the answer out loud - out loud and not in your mind. Then you turn the card to check your answer. The answer can be text, or an image or a mix of both (a mnemonic) that helps to memorize the answer. If you want to remember the names and symbols of elements you will have to memorize both sides of the card so that you can name the element that represents the symbol and vice versa.
Flash cards is used by many speakers during the speech for quick reference.
Using flash cards to to label and remember items.
Flash cards is used by many speakers during the speech for quick reference.
Using flash cards to to label and remember items.
This is specifically used by learners of language. I encourage my students to put up labels on various furniture to learn their English names. Many people use flash cards to remember other things which they draw on the cards. Like the names of things you do not find in the house including vehicles or animals. You will remember the picture books you used to learn from while in primary school.
Flash cards can be used along with the technique of spaced learning. In case you do not know about spaced learning visit my page spaced learning and the forgetting curve.
Letting imagination go wild with mind palace
When we were kids we had the ability to imagine situations and environments around us. We could become pilots and the corridors and grounds of our apartments became airports and skies filled with clouds or highways that ran forever if we imagined ourselves as truck drivers. Many of us played teacher or hosts having an imaginary party. The mind has the ability to imagine anything and we can use this ability to remember things and lists. In a classroom the green board can be the forest, the duster - the grasslands, the cabinet in the class can be the desert, the glass of water on the teacher's desk can be water or aquatic, the desk itself can be coastal and the chair marine. That could the different types of ecosystems that appear in the natural resources chapter.
Sometimes you have to remember stuff in sequence and there is a system that you can practice inside your house. As you enter the door of your house you could label each furniture with the items on the list you want to remember. Walk through the room as many times as you have to so that you can remember the list in sequence. The furniture of the room is embedded deep in your memory anyway and the association with the item on the list becomes strong to memorize the list in sequence. When you are taking the test or exam you can imagine yourself walking through the room and each furniture item you see can help you remember the item on the list.
Flash in the box
This is a nice trick I read someplace. Make boxes, envelopes or stacks to store flash cards (concepts/answers) you want to remember. This system of using storage of flash cards is called the Leitner System. Name the first box as 'Urgent' or 'Everyday'. The second can be named 'One Day' or 'Every Other Day'. You read and study the 'Everyday' flash card till you remember the concept or answer written on it. Once you are confident that you remember the answer, you can move that card to 'Every Other Day'. The cards in this box can be referred to in a couple of days. Once you are confident that you have memorized the answer, the card can be moved to a third box called 'Once a Week'. Refer to this card on one pre-decided day of the week. By this time you should have memorized the answer or concept pretty thoroughly and can answer the question if someone asks it to you randomly. At this time you move this card to the "Once in 2 weeks" box and then after that to "Once in a month". In this procedure if you forget the concept or are not able to answer the question on the card then that card goes back into the 'Urgent' or 'Everyday Card' and you start over again with that card.
Flash cards can be used along with the technique of spaced learning. In case you do not know about spaced learning visit my page spaced learning and the forgetting curve.
Letting imagination go wild with mind palace
When we were kids we had the ability to imagine situations and environments around us. We could become pilots and the corridors and grounds of our apartments became airports and skies filled with clouds or highways that ran forever if we imagined ourselves as truck drivers. Many of us played teacher or hosts having an imaginary party. The mind has the ability to imagine anything and we can use this ability to remember things and lists. In a classroom the green board can be the forest, the duster - the grasslands, the cabinet in the class can be the desert, the glass of water on the teacher's desk can be water or aquatic, the desk itself can be coastal and the chair marine. That could the different types of ecosystems that appear in the natural resources chapter.
Sometimes you have to remember stuff in sequence and there is a system that you can practice inside your house. As you enter the door of your house you could label each furniture with the items on the list you want to remember. Walk through the room as many times as you have to so that you can remember the list in sequence. The furniture of the room is embedded deep in your memory anyway and the association with the item on the list becomes strong to memorize the list in sequence. When you are taking the test or exam you can imagine yourself walking through the room and each furniture item you see can help you remember the item on the list.
Flash in the box
This is a nice trick I read someplace. Make boxes, envelopes or stacks to store flash cards (concepts/answers) you want to remember. This system of using storage of flash cards is called the Leitner System. Name the first box as 'Urgent' or 'Everyday'. The second can be named 'One Day' or 'Every Other Day'. You read and study the 'Everyday' flash card till you remember the concept or answer written on it. Once you are confident that you remember the answer, you can move that card to 'Every Other Day'. The cards in this box can be referred to in a couple of days. Once you are confident that you have memorized the answer, the card can be moved to a third box called 'Once a Week'. Refer to this card on one pre-decided day of the week. By this time you should have memorized the answer or concept pretty thoroughly and can answer the question if someone asks it to you randomly. At this time you move this card to the "Once in 2 weeks" box and then after that to "Once in a month". In this procedure if you forget the concept or are not able to answer the question on the card then that card goes back into the 'Urgent' or 'Everyday Card' and you start over again with that card.
Music, flavour and fragrance to remember
Another way scholars usually use to remember concepts is playing a certain music or song when they study something. For each concept there is a different song or piece of music. It can help you remember the concept when you hear the same song. Similarly, some students use differently abled chewing gum while studying certain concepts and when they taste flavour they remember the concept clearly. Fragrance or smell too triggers memory in similar ways. Unfortunately, most institutions do not allow you to eat, drink and hear music during examinations. And at the same time if you have keep smelling for different cans of fragrances the supervisor is going to have his suspicions about you.
Another way scholars usually use to remember concepts is playing a certain music or song when they study something. For each concept there is a different song or piece of music. It can help you remember the concept when you hear the same song. Similarly, some students use differently abled chewing gum while studying certain concepts and when they taste flavour they remember the concept clearly. Fragrance or smell too triggers memory in similar ways. Unfortunately, most institutions do not allow you to eat, drink and hear music during examinations. And at the same time if you have keep smelling for different cans of fragrances the supervisor is going to have his suspicions about you.
flavour - chewing gum
Flash cards are also used in a different manner. It is called the castle of LOCI technique. This method is specially helpful when you need to remember things in a sequence. So you make your flash cards and then arrange and stick them on furniture and walls in different rooms. This way whenever you walk around the house you remember what is written and after many repetitions you can then recall the cards in sequence when you imagine yourself walking through the house.
Using flash cards with spaced learning
Experts recommend the use of spaced learning technique. Spaced learning as the name signifies means you understand the concept and keep coming back to it after intervals. Like you read or study a concept in the morning. Then you revise it in the evening. Then again the next morning and maybe the evening. And it goes on. The time interval you revisit the concept will increase as days go by until you actually remember it without going back to the book.
There are apps that help in organising you spaced repetition learning. The one I believe is popular is ANKISRS. Or you can make a small diary to organise your timings. There is one easy way of doing this with flash cards.
Gaming addiction, disorder
Disraction
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/12/6/18050680/video-game-addiction-gaming-disorder-who
WHO has recognized gaming disorder as a disease.
What is addiction?
Compare to drug addiction?
Compare to gambling disorder?
Should Gaming Disorder be qualified as addiction?
If many people are falling victim then it is something to be vary of.
Why would anyone fall into this addiction:
1. Does income make a difference
2. Environment?
What's the rush? What is the gratification they get when they play the game? Improving the mood. relaxation after a hard day's work.
In a game you havea to build a character, build a story, building a reputation, socialization with other players. Spending time together with other like minded individuals.
Could Gaming lead to gay-ness?
Could gaming be good??
Radboud University’s Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab in the Netherlands
article ::
https://techliberation.com/2018/11/26/on-isolation-inattention-panics/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=To+achieve+excellence%2C+seek+failure+%5BBest+Reads%5D&utm_campaign=Weekly+Digest+%28Jan+6%29
addiction has been around in new technology since years:
around 1840s it was books - people thought books were addictive
the newspapers - 1880 -
1910 - it was magazines
1960 - television
1980 - the SONY walkman
somewhere in between - computers???
2015 - smartphones
Today inattention and distraction have become normal.
“What information consumes is rather obvious,” Nobel Prize-winning economist and psychologist Herbert Simon remarked in 1971: “the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.”
normal
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/12/6/18050680/video-game-addiction-gaming-disorder-who
WHO has recognized gaming disorder as a disease.
What is addiction?
Compare to drug addiction?
Compare to gambling disorder?
Should Gaming Disorder be qualified as addiction?
If many people are falling victim then it is something to be vary of.
Why would anyone fall into this addiction:
1. Does income make a difference
2. Environment?
What's the rush? What is the gratification they get when they play the game? Improving the mood. relaxation after a hard day's work.
In a game you havea to build a character, build a story, building a reputation, socialization with other players. Spending time together with other like minded individuals.
Could Gaming lead to gay-ness?
Could gaming be good??
Radboud University’s Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab in the Netherlands
article ::
https://techliberation.com/2018/11/26/on-isolation-inattention-panics/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=To+achieve+excellence%2C+seek+failure+%5BBest+Reads%5D&utm_campaign=Weekly+Digest+%28Jan+6%29
addiction has been around in new technology since years:
around 1840s it was books - people thought books were addictive
the newspapers - 1880 -
1910 - it was magazines
1960 - television
1980 - the SONY walkman
somewhere in between - computers???
2015 - smartphones
Academics, social critics, religious leaders, politicians and even average parents tend to panic over the same problems time and time again. The only thing that changes is the particular medium or technology that is the object of their collective ire.
Isolation and inattention panics are some of the most common “fear cycles” that we have seen repeatedly play out through the ages
Today inattention and distraction have become normal.
“What information consumes is rather obvious,” Nobel Prize-winning economist and psychologist Herbert Simon remarked in 1971: “the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.”
normal
Distraction and focus
What is Distraction ?
Distraction is an addiction, although most of us would not agree. However, consider this scenario. We are sitting down for studies or finishing our latest blog that we have been planning for sometime or simply completing the calculation of our monthly bills when suddenly we remember we haven't seen the latest episode of our favorite serial on Netflix. Our friends were raving about it last evening. We cannot keep our hands away from our laptop or phone even if it is simply to watch it for a couple of minutes. We will watch in fast forward we convince ourselves. But sometime later when we remember the reason we had set aside the couple of hours, we realize we have put in that time to watch the serial. This scenario is so common. The distraction could be our emails, or whatsapp or youtube or our favorite game or _______ name your favourite distraction here. The work we want to do is kept aside for later and kept on being putting off until it becomes an emergency.
I guess the above example is enough to realise that we look forward to our distractions and are willing to give up our important work or delay them so we can cosy-up with distractions. We hardly realise that we are truly addicted to them.
Why do we get distracted?
Nir Eyal (author of the book Indistractable) says that we are usually distracted because of our comfort zones and our habit of staying inside them. There are external and internal triggers that distract us. External triggers include our phones, the doorbell, email, and television. Even a television that has not been turned on will distract us with its presence. Internal triggers are feelings like hunger, cold, stress etc.
Barbara Oakley, the author of 'A Mind for Numbers' says something similar. She calls Eyal's triggers as cues and cues make us procrastinate the work we would like to do by reminding us of other stuff that we find comfortable doing. Accordingly to Oakley if we want to stop procrastination then we should get out of our comfort zone. Trying something new is not comfortable. Even breaking a bad habit or simply trying to finish what we started is uncomfortable. There is a strong desire to escape discomfort. The easiest escape is the small chores. Checking messages or emails. Watching small videos.
Talking about comfort zones, Dr Daniel Kahneman the author of 'Thinking Fast and Slow', writes in his book that if we are doing something that may be necessary but requires us to think more than usual, then we start feeling uncomfortable. Dr Kahneman has elaborated this in his book through various experiments he and his colleagues conducted and says that instead of applying our mind on complex calculations we would rather give up and find something easy to do. In other words we are looking for distractions because our brain is crying out for us to find something easier or something more pleasurable to do.
Unfortunately, abstaining from your desire will distract you even more and the reward of getting to it ultimately becomes stronger. Nir Eyal quotes Dr. Jonathan Bricker, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle who has developed techniques to reduce distractions through behavioral changes.
He says you should become self aware. Identify the trigger or reason to become distracted. Why do you feel distracted? Maybe, you are not qualified for the job at hand or it confuses or overwhelms you. Dr. Bricker recommends writing down our anxieties, what we think is causing the distraction internally or externally, and what time did it happen. Keep a log of our activities and our distractions. The time we were distracted and the time we were able to focus and why. Also observe the sensations that precede such distractions and urges.
How to solve this problem
Eyal nicely modifies the 'If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail' phrase to 'If you don't plan your day. Someone else will!' There are many potential distractions already existing to take us away from our important work. These potential distractions may succeed if we do not plan our day or in other words we never prioritize.
Eyal proposes converting values into time. Many of us value family, health, friends etc. However, we don't allocate enough time for them. If you value something then you should definitely make time for it. Maybe you would like to become a great parent, but you don't allocate quality time to your kid. The goal according to Eyal is eliminating any free time. Which does not necessarily mean giving yourself free time, but it means that you plan your free time too.
Eyal's book "Hooked" states that the things that distract us are able to do it because they reward usin certain ways. Email, Social Media and Gaming are designed to give us rewards for our efforts. Social Media gives you content based on your interests, games give you levels and Email gives you answers to suspense about what is new in your friend's message. You can use this to reward yourself when you actually sit through a time based plan. If you sit for half hour of work, then you could reward yourself a five minute social media break.
Limited Time, Lots of Work
Use the following tips to organize and prioritize work.
There should be no white space in your planner
Use apps to time and schedule.
Remove unwanted and useless apps.
Adjust notifications accordingly.
Use time that is seemingly useless. Like your commute to and from work or school.
Synchronize your schedule with people who matter. Once you have decided to give them time make sure you are not imposing yourself.
Use apps to help you make the effort like Selfcontrol, Forest, Freedom
Ask someone to be your accountability partner and mentor - make him remind and penalize you when you fail - Eyal too has an accountability partner too
Use Positive psychology to focus on your goals. Like labeling yourself.- When you say you are vegetarian then you never touch meat.
- in-distract-able - you will have to call yourself that instead of calling yourself a person with short attention span or easily distract-able, or procrastinator.
Eyal says: The difference between traction and distraction is intent
Dr ABC claims something similar regarding procrastination. She says on her book a mind for numbers that humans fall into the habit of comfortable responses for not doing the work on hand. Sometimes for students even thinking about the subject they hate gives them pain.
Distraction: mind for numbers- the cue,the routine, the reward and the.bellief.
I guess the above example is enough to realise that we look forward to our distractions and are willing to give up our important work or delay them so we can cosy-up with distractions. We hardly realise that we are truly addicted to them.
Why do we get distracted?
Nir Eyal (author of the book Indistractable) says that we are usually distracted because of our comfort zones and our habit of staying inside them. There are external and internal triggers that distract us. External triggers include our phones, the doorbell, email, and television. Even a television that has not been turned on will distract us with its presence. Internal triggers are feelings like hunger, cold, stress etc.
Barbara Oakley, the author of 'A Mind for Numbers' says something similar. She calls Eyal's triggers as cues and cues make us procrastinate the work we would like to do by reminding us of other stuff that we find comfortable doing. Accordingly to Oakley if we want to stop procrastination then we should get out of our comfort zone. Trying something new is not comfortable. Even breaking a bad habit or simply trying to finish what we started is uncomfortable. There is a strong desire to escape discomfort. The easiest escape is the small chores. Checking messages or emails. Watching small videos.
Unfortunately, abstaining from your desire will distract you even more and the reward of getting to it ultimately becomes stronger. Nir Eyal quotes Dr. Jonathan Bricker, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle who has developed techniques to reduce distractions through behavioral changes.
He says you should become self aware. Identify the trigger or reason to become distracted. Why do you feel distracted? Maybe, you are not qualified for the job at hand or it confuses or overwhelms you. Dr. Bricker recommends writing down our anxieties, what we think is causing the distraction internally or externally, and what time did it happen. Keep a log of our activities and our distractions. The time we were distracted and the time we were able to focus and why. Also observe the sensations that precede such distractions and urges.
How to solve this problem
Eyal nicely modifies the 'If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail' phrase to 'If you don't plan your day. Someone else will!' There are many potential distractions already existing to take us away from our important work. These potential distractions may succeed if we do not plan our day or in other words we never prioritize.
Eyal proposes converting values into time. Many of us value family, health, friends etc. However, we don't allocate enough time for them. If you value something then you should definitely make time for it. Maybe you would like to become a great parent, but you don't allocate quality time to your kid. The goal according to Eyal is eliminating any free time. Which does not necessarily mean giving yourself free time, but it means that you plan your free time too.
Eyal's book "Hooked" states that the things that distract us are able to do it because they reward usin certain ways. Email, Social Media and Gaming are designed to give us rewards for our efforts. Social Media gives you content based on your interests, games give you levels and Email gives you answers to suspense about what is new in your friend's message. You can use this to reward yourself when you actually sit through a time based plan. If you sit for half hour of work, then you could reward yourself a five minute social media break.
Limited Time, Lots of Work
Use the following tips to organize and prioritize work.
There should be no white space in your planner
Use apps to time and schedule.
Remove unwanted and useless apps.
Adjust notifications accordingly.
Use time that is seemingly useless. Like your commute to and from work or school.
Synchronize your schedule with people who matter. Once you have decided to give them time make sure you are not imposing yourself.
Use apps to help you make the effort like Selfcontrol, Forest, Freedom
Ask someone to be your accountability partner and mentor - make him remind and penalize you when you fail - Eyal too has an accountability partner too
Use Positive psychology to focus on your goals. Like labeling yourself.- When you say you are vegetarian then you never touch meat.
- in-distract-able - you will have to call yourself that instead of calling yourself a person with short attention span or easily distract-able, or procrastinator.
Eyal says: The difference between traction and distraction is intent
Distraction: mind for numbers- the cue,the routine, the reward and the.bellief.
What Eyal calls trigger she calls cues
Trigger or cure.
Does amigdala fit in here somewhere?
If you want to stop procrastination then get out of your comfort zone. Trying something new is not comfortable. Even breaking a bad habit or simply trying to finish what you started out start something that you want to do. There is a strong desire to escape discomfort. The easiest escape is the small chores. Check the messages or emails. Watch one small video.
You can stay with making a list of closures that the work you are planning will do.
Tim Urban's lecture on tedx. Procrastinators and non procrastinators. Procrastination has a monkey 🐒 that distracts you from your job. And deadlines wake up the panic monster. The panic monster scares away the mischievous monkey. But what if you don't have a deadline. An outside trigger or cue. Like a life goal, or writing a book. Setting up a video channel.
English speaking TEFL from dummies
Page 127
Organising your classroom
Using What’s at Hand
Having a progress sheet.
Change the tense
Retell a story without using certain words
Learning with graphs and drawings.
Research
Leading to Self Correction
Moving to the Production Stage
Chapter 6
Activities like find the item by one blond folded student and other classmates helping the student to find.
And writing a paragraph from memory
And writing a paragraph from memory
Holding the Reins and
Letting Them Loose
Letting Them Loose
Presentation, practice and production
Presentation is the teachers lecture or presentation or new point. This should be minimal. The teacher should present and analyse the point being presented with everyday examples. Structure and organise it properly.
Ask why and how? Open ended questions
Presentation is the teachers lecture or presentation or new point. This should be minimal. The teacher should present and analyse the point being presented with everyday examples. Structure and organise it properly.
Ask why and how? Open ended questions
Aaj eliciting questions and avoid prompting. Types of learners VAK.
Flash cards,
Flash cards,
What the course covers
A weekend TEFL course follows similar lines as a full TEFL certificate because
it touches on most of the same course components but in a very brief way.
A weekend course should include:
✓ Basic grammar: There’s far too much grammar in the English language
to teach everything in such a short time, but the course should make
you aware of different tenses (you may think that there’s a past, present
and future tense and that’s it, but believe me, the truth is a little more
complicated).
A weekend TEFL course follows similar lines as a full TEFL certificate because
it touches on most of the same course components but in a very brief way.
A weekend course should include:
✓ Basic grammar: There’s far too much grammar in the English language
to teach everything in such a short time, but the course should make
you aware of different tenses (you may think that there’s a past, present
and future tense and that’s it, but believe me, the truth is a little more
complicated).
You usually touch on the different kinds of words you use
in a sentence too – nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives.
in a sentence too – nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives.
Beginner
Beginner-level students aren’t necessarily children. Many people discover a
need or desire to study English later in life. Students at beginner level can’t
speak or write accurately in the present simple and present continuous
tenses. Those who know some words in English but aren’t ready to join ele-
mentary level are called False Beginners. When there’s no distinct beginner’s
class, beginner level is absorbed within the first 15–20 hours of an elemen-
tary course. This is a difficult level to teach as you have so few words to work
with when explaining things but it’s also very rewarding because every new
word marks significant progress for the class.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ The subject pronouns: I, you, he, she and so on.
✓ Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those.
✓ Question words: what, who, where and how.
✓ Possessive adjectives: my, your, his and hers.
✓ Singular and plural nouns.
✓ Expletives (not the naughty ones): there is, there are.
✓ The verb to be in positive, negative and question form: I am, I am not, am I?
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ The alphabet.
✓ Numbers 1 to 100.
✓ Jobs: doctor, teacher, taxi driver.
✓ Countries and nationalities: ‘He is from the UK. He’s British.’
✓ Basic food: fruit, vegetables, meat.
✓ Days of the week.
✓ Everyday objects: bag, pen, telephone.
✓ Immediate family: mother, son, husband.
✓ Rooms in the house: living room, bathroom, kitchen.
Beginner-level students aren’t necessarily children. Many people discover a
need or desire to study English later in life. Students at beginner level can’t
speak or write accurately in the present simple and present continuous
tenses. Those who know some words in English but aren’t ready to join ele-
mentary level are called False Beginners. When there’s no distinct beginner’s
class, beginner level is absorbed within the first 15–20 hours of an elemen-
tary course. This is a difficult level to teach as you have so few words to work
with when explaining things but it’s also very rewarding because every new
word marks significant progress for the class.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ The subject pronouns: I, you, he, she and so on.
✓ Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those.
✓ Question words: what, who, where and how.
✓ Possessive adjectives: my, your, his and hers.
✓ Singular and plural nouns.
✓ Expletives (not the naughty ones): there is, there are.
✓ The verb to be in positive, negative and question form: I am, I am not, am I?
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ The alphabet.
✓ Numbers 1 to 100.
✓ Jobs: doctor, teacher, taxi driver.
✓ Countries and nationalities: ‘He is from the UK. He’s British.’
✓ Basic food: fruit, vegetables, meat.
✓ Days of the week.
✓ Everyday objects: bag, pen, telephone.
✓ Immediate family: mother, son, husband.
✓ Rooms in the house: living room, bathroom, kitchen.
Elementary
At elementary level, students learn to use many more verbs instead of only to
be (I am, you are, it is). This is because with other verbs you have to use ‘to
do’ as an auxiliary verb, which is rather strange for them and quite different
from other languages (Do you like apples? No, I don’t). At this level students
learn to talk and ask about matters related to daily routines. They also begin
to refer to past and future time.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ Basic verbs in the present simple positive, negative and question forms:
I live, I don’t live, do I live?
✓ Simple adverbs of frequency: usually, sometimes.
✓ Quantities: How much, how many? Some, any.
✓ Showing ability: using can/can’t.
✓ The past simple tense with to be: was/were.
✓ Future simple tense: I will go.
✓ Past simple tense with regular verbs: I looked, I listened.
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ Simple adjectives: opposites, colours.
✓ Language for telling the time: What time is it? It’s half past three.
✓ Language for shopping: types of shops, asking for what you want.
✓ Asking for directions: straight ahead, turn left/right.
✓ Months and years.
✓ Weather: What’s the weather like? It’s raining.
✓ Comparative adjectives: bigger, nicer, and so on (superlatives wait until
the next level).
At elementary level, students learn to use many more verbs instead of only to
be (I am, you are, it is). This is because with other verbs you have to use ‘to
do’ as an auxiliary verb, which is rather strange for them and quite different
from other languages (Do you like apples? No, I don’t). At this level students
learn to talk and ask about matters related to daily routines. They also begin
to refer to past and future time.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ Basic verbs in the present simple positive, negative and question forms:
I live, I don’t live, do I live?
✓ Simple adverbs of frequency: usually, sometimes.
✓ Quantities: How much, how many? Some, any.
✓ Showing ability: using can/can’t.
✓ The past simple tense with to be: was/were.
✓ Future simple tense: I will go.
✓ Past simple tense with regular verbs: I looked, I listened.
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ Simple adjectives: opposites, colours.
✓ Language for telling the time: What time is it? It’s half past three.
✓ Language for shopping: types of shops, asking for what you want.
✓ Asking for directions: straight ahead, turn left/right.
✓ Months and years.
✓ Weather: What’s the weather like? It’s raining.
✓ Comparative adjectives: bigger, nicer, and so on (superlatives wait until
the next level).
Pre-intermediate
At pre-intermediate level students learn to discuss their experiences and
future plans. They learn vocabulary related to travelling. In addition they’re
able to discuss leisure activities and explain their preferences.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ Modal verbs: These give more meaning to the main verb in a sentence.
Two examples are: can/can’t and must/mustn’t. I can’t wait any more
because I must get to the shops.
✓ Possessive pronouns: mine, yours and so on.
✓ To be going to: This isn’t a tense but you use this structure to talk about
plans. I am going to study medicine at university.
✓ Present perfect tense: I’ve eaten.
✓ Past simple tense with irregular verbs: I ate, I thought.
✓ Past continuous tense: I was eating.
✓ Adverbs: slowly, well.
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ Types of films: comedy, western, thriller.
✓ Clothes: trousers, shirt, coat.
✓ Hobbies and interests: jogging, eating out, reading.
✓ Language for booking hotels and restaurants: Can I book a single room
please?
✓ Landscape words: mountain, river, field.
✓ Parts of the body: shoulder, knee.
✓ Superlatives: the best, the most wonderful.
At pre-intermediate level students learn to discuss their experiences and
future plans. They learn vocabulary related to travelling. In addition they’re
able to discuss leisure activities and explain their preferences.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ Modal verbs: These give more meaning to the main verb in a sentence.
Two examples are: can/can’t and must/mustn’t. I can’t wait any more
because I must get to the shops.
✓ Possessive pronouns: mine, yours and so on.
✓ To be going to: This isn’t a tense but you use this structure to talk about
plans. I am going to study medicine at university.
✓ Present perfect tense: I’ve eaten.
✓ Past simple tense with irregular verbs: I ate, I thought.
✓ Past continuous tense: I was eating.
✓ Adverbs: slowly, well.
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ Types of films: comedy, western, thriller.
✓ Clothes: trousers, shirt, coat.
✓ Hobbies and interests: jogging, eating out, reading.
✓ Language for booking hotels and restaurants: Can I book a single room
please?
✓ Landscape words: mountain, river, field.
✓ Parts of the body: shoulder, knee.
✓ Superlatives: the best, the most wonderful.
Intermediate
At this level students tend to lose their initial enthusiasm for learning
English. They already know how to make sentences that refer to the past,
present and future and they have a basic vocabulary for everyday situations.
However, at this level the language you teach adds sophistication and flu-
ency, instead of basic communication. It becomes harder for students to mea-
sure their progress so you need to work hard at maintaining interest by using
topics they really enjoy.
At this level students tend to lose their initial enthusiasm for learning
English. They already know how to make sentences that refer to the past,
present and future and they have a basic vocabulary for everyday situations.
However, at this level the language you teach adds sophistication and flu-
ency, instead of basic communication. It becomes harder for students to mea-
sure their progress so you need to work hard at maintaining interest by using
topics they really enjoy.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ More modal verbs: (should, may, might). Too many modal verbs exist to
teach at once so you teach a few at a time.
✓ Zero conditional: If it rains, I use my umbrella.
✓ First conditional: If it rains, I’ll use my umbrella.
✓ Second conditional: If it rained, I’d use my umbrella.
✓ Non-defining relative clauses: The man, who I thought looked great, was
at the office.
✓ Gerunds and infinitives: going and to go.
✓ The verb will for spontaneous decisions: I’ll pay!
✓ Present perfect continuous tense: I have been singing, he has been dancing.
✓ Past perfect tense: They had seen it, you had not watched it.
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ Comparing and contrasting: both, neither, whereas.
✓ Polite forms: Would you mind? I’m afraid I can’t.
✓ Expressions for generalising: On the whole, in general.
✓ Stages of life: infancy, childhood.
✓ Reviewing films, books and so on: describing the plot, characters,
strengths and weaknesses.
✓ More modal verbs: (should, may, might). Too many modal verbs exist to
teach at once so you teach a few at a time.
✓ Zero conditional: If it rains, I use my umbrella.
✓ First conditional: If it rains, I’ll use my umbrella.
✓ Second conditional: If it rained, I’d use my umbrella.
✓ Non-defining relative clauses: The man, who I thought looked great, was
at the office.
✓ Gerunds and infinitives: going and to go.
✓ The verb will for spontaneous decisions: I’ll pay!
✓ Present perfect continuous tense: I have been singing, he has been dancing.
✓ Past perfect tense: They had seen it, you had not watched it.
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ Comparing and contrasting: both, neither, whereas.
✓ Polite forms: Would you mind? I’m afraid I can’t.
✓ Expressions for generalising: On the whole, in general.
✓ Stages of life: infancy, childhood.
✓ Reviewing films, books and so on: describing the plot, characters,
strengths and weaknesses.
Upper-intermediate
At this level students can speak and write with reasonable fluency using a
range of tenses and expressions for linking ideas. They can use appropriate
language in a variety of situations demonstrating an understanding of formal
and informal language.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ To have something done: students are used to speaking about actions
they do themselves. With this grammatical structure they can express
the idea of paying or instructing other people to do things. For example,
I had my house painted.
✓ Third conditional: If I had known, I wouldn’t have done it.
✓ Reported speech: She said that she . . .
✓ Defining relative clauses: The man who is standing over there is nervous.
At this level students can speak and write with reasonable fluency using a
range of tenses and expressions for linking ideas. They can use appropriate
language in a variety of situations demonstrating an understanding of formal
and informal language.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ To have something done: students are used to speaking about actions
they do themselves. With this grammatical structure they can express
the idea of paying or instructing other people to do things. For example,
I had my house painted.
✓ Third conditional: If I had known, I wouldn’t have done it.
✓ Reported speech: She said that she . . .
✓ Defining relative clauses: The man who is standing over there is nervous.
✓ Modal verbs in the past: I could have come.
✓ Passive verb forms: The room was cleaned.
✓ The verb to wish: I wish I could go, you wish you were me (after wish you
use a verb in one of the past tenses, so students have to learn this verb
separately)
✓ To be used to/ to get used to: I’m used to London now but I’m still getting
used to my new job. Students easily confuse these two grammatical struc-
tures for familiar activities and activities that are becoming familiar .
✓ Past perfect continuous tense: I had been working.
✓ Future perfect: I will have written it.
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ Adjectives of personality: generous, manipulative.
✓ Medical problems: ache, bruise, sprain.
✓ Crime words: to arrest, fraud, mugging.
✓ Feelings: hurt, fascinated, relieved.
✓ Science and technology words: software, appliance.
✓ Media and communications words: broadcasting, the press
✓ Passive verb forms: The room was cleaned.
✓ The verb to wish: I wish I could go, you wish you were me (after wish you
use a verb in one of the past tenses, so students have to learn this verb
separately)
✓ To be used to/ to get used to: I’m used to London now but I’m still getting
used to my new job. Students easily confuse these two grammatical struc-
tures for familiar activities and activities that are becoming familiar .
✓ Past perfect continuous tense: I had been working.
✓ Future perfect: I will have written it.
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ Adjectives of personality: generous, manipulative.
✓ Medical problems: ache, bruise, sprain.
✓ Crime words: to arrest, fraud, mugging.
✓ Feelings: hurt, fascinated, relieved.
✓ Science and technology words: software, appliance.
✓ Media and communications words: broadcasting, the press
Advanced
Students at this level are able to communicate with native speakers without
much difficulty. They get the gist of most texts and conversations and have
sufficient vocabulary to express themselves on a wide variety of topics. The
grammar and vocabulary they use is similar to that of native speakers even
when it’s not strictly necessary to be understood. Question tags, which I
show in the following grammar list, provide a good example of this.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ Prefixes and suffixes: unlike, likeable.
✓ Compound nouns: tooth + paste = toothpaste.
✓ Ellipsis and substitutions (words you can leave out or replace with
something else): This one is bigger. One represents another noun so it’s
a substitution. Sometimes you leave words out completely because the
meaning is clear. For example: This one is bigger (than the other thing).
When I leave out the words in brackets it’s an example of ellipsis.
✓ Question tags: You like that, don’t you?
Students at this level are able to communicate with native speakers without
much difficulty. They get the gist of most texts and conversations and have
sufficient vocabulary to express themselves on a wide variety of topics. The
grammar and vocabulary they use is similar to that of native speakers even
when it’s not strictly necessary to be understood. Question tags, which I
show in the following grammar list, provide a good example of this.
Grammar to cover includes:
✓ Prefixes and suffixes: unlike, likeable.
✓ Compound nouns: tooth + paste = toothpaste.
✓ Ellipsis and substitutions (words you can leave out or replace with
something else): This one is bigger. One represents another noun so it’s
a substitution. Sometimes you leave words out completely because the
meaning is clear. For example: This one is bigger (than the other thing).
When I leave out the words in brackets it’s an example of ellipsis.
✓ Question tags: You like that, don’t you?
✓ Active and stative verbs (actions and conditions): She bought (active) a
motorbike and also owns (stative) a car.
✓ Future perfect continuous tense: I will have been working.
✓ Detailed rules on phrasal verbs: Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a
preposition or two that together make a new meaning. For example: to
get on with someone, to put up with something.
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ General idioms. An idiom is a phrase that has a meaning quite different
from the individual words within it. For example, students may under-
stand all the words: it + is + a + pain + in + the + neck. However they won’t
get the point unless you explain what the whole expression means.
✓ Newspaper headlines. There are a number of words that are favourites
for newspapers but hardly used elsewhere, for example, Minister Rapped
After Expenses Probe. Journalists also like to be very playful with the
language. They use nicknames, rhymes, and slang and students want to
be in on the joke so that they can understand the press for themselves.
However, it sometimes takes a great deal of explaining and a detailed
analysis of the language for students to get the point.
✓ Words with different connotations. Old and elderly have basically the
same meaning. However, elderly is more polite than old when referring to
people, so the connotation (attitude behind the word) is different. When
students understand that words have similar meanings they also need to
know the subtle but important differences between them.
✓ Metaphors and similes. You use metaphors when you say that one thing
is another because they’re somehow similar. There was a storm of pro-
test. Storm is a word that describes violent weather conditions but here
it means a violent outburst.
motorbike and also owns (stative) a car.
✓ Future perfect continuous tense: I will have been working.
✓ Detailed rules on phrasal verbs: Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a
preposition or two that together make a new meaning. For example: to
get on with someone, to put up with something.
Vocabulary to cover includes:
✓ General idioms. An idiom is a phrase that has a meaning quite different
from the individual words within it. For example, students may under-
stand all the words: it + is + a + pain + in + the + neck. However they won’t
get the point unless you explain what the whole expression means.
✓ Newspaper headlines. There are a number of words that are favourites
for newspapers but hardly used elsewhere, for example, Minister Rapped
After Expenses Probe. Journalists also like to be very playful with the
language. They use nicknames, rhymes, and slang and students want to
be in on the joke so that they can understand the press for themselves.
However, it sometimes takes a great deal of explaining and a detailed
analysis of the language for students to get the point.
✓ Words with different connotations. Old and elderly have basically the
same meaning. However, elderly is more polite than old when referring to
people, so the connotation (attitude behind the word) is different. When
students understand that words have similar meanings they also need to
know the subtle but important differences between them.
✓ Metaphors and similes. You use metaphors when you say that one thing
is another because they’re somehow similar. There was a storm of pro-
test. Storm is a word that describes violent weather conditions but here
it means a violent outburst.
Proficiency
It’s pretty difficult to come up with a syllabus for proficiency level as many
of the questions are more like A-level English for native speakers. Proficiency
has more exercises based on inference (reading between the lines).
It’s pretty difficult to come up with a syllabus for proficiency level as many
of the questions are more like A-level English for native speakers. Proficiency
has more exercises based on inference (reading between the lines).
Who's the boss
Plan ahead
Be strict at the start, ease later
Welcome feedback
Start and finish on time
Sense of humor
Respect students
Keeping Order 152
Self awareness
What is self awareness and how did I get self-aware. Bourne Identity where he can remember every detail. The computer from Terminator that becomes self aware.
Feelings
Happy
Sad
Angry etc
Happy
Sad
Angry etc
Start a diary
Peak performance - time of day - tune after getting up.
Peak performance - time of day - tune after getting up.
You are the one who is stopping yourself from achieving your full potential.
Thinking from the heart, gut or head
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Thinking fast and slow
Two voices in our heads. One good one bad. One slow one fast. Short term memory long term memory. Do we rationally think what we like about one set of ideas and quickly about another set of ideas. Calculation and quick understanding _- about the angry woman photograph.
System 1 and 2 of Daniel kahneman book thinking fast and slow. You either know ur, believe you know or give up if it takes a lot of time.
Things that need attention are harder to do. And may not be done if you are not paying attention.
How easy is it to recall stored memory?
System 1 and 2 are always on. System 1 reacts fast and automatically. Impressions, intuitions, intentions, and feelings. These are for system 2 to react. But system 2 is just too lazy. It wants to be in the comfort zone.
If endorsed by System 2, impressions and intuitions turn into beliefs, and
impulses turn into voluntary actions.
The Gorilla experiment. The Gorilla crossed the basketball court but nobody noticed.
Only while doing complex calculations or making embarrassing mistakes did system 2 come into action for damage control.
Word tasks like upper case and lower case words, but in a different format, like the word upper in lower case format. And the word lower in upper case format. Similarly, right and left. Right written on the left of the page and left written on the right of the page. Similarly, red written in blue, green written in red etc. The brain's automatic response system gets confused with this seemingly simple tasks that lead you out of your comfort zone.
System 2 is in charge of self control
The Muller Lyer illusion shows that the brain is willing to accept what it sees. The illusion has two identical lines with fins or arrows, but one appears longer.
/______\
\. /
\______/
/ \
This shows your your system 2 accepts whatever your system 1 dishes out unless someone points out the mistake.
Similarly, if someone is all praise about you without even knowing you, say because of his instinct, then he is most likely lying.
30 - useful fiction
Making routine decisions?
The slow brain and fast brain or slow system and fast system.
Daniel talks about things that you comprehend fast, not easily but fast. You latch on to easy. Like somebody who tells you I have talked to many people but nobody understood my problem but I think you can help me. You will easily like the person and want to help him. But the slow system will ask why couldn't others help him? And try to think rationally. - something we attribute to educated and non educated.
That is why we can recognise other people's mistakes easily.
Why system 1 and system 2? Why not call them the automatic system and the effort system? Because our brains like easy things. Automatic is much hard to say even remember. Similarly, our brains like stories. So when we explain things with stories it becomes easy to comprehend. That's why Daniel kahneman uses easy words to remember and makes the two words into characters of a story.
Attention and effort 33
Dr kahneman setup an experiment where he observed the pupils of the volunteers when they were given increasingly difficult mental tasks. The more difficult the mental tasks became the more dilated the pupils became and the heartbeat increased. Pupils dilation upto 50% and heart beat upto 7 beats faster was the most the volunteers would take before giving up.
Sales people can find out about the clothes you are interested in by your pupil dilation.
Page 35.
Mental multiplication takes efforts so the pupil dilates as long as someone is doing the task and contacts when s/he finds a solution or gives up.
Casual conversation doesn't take effort. Is like a stroll. Multiplication is like a sprint. You have to pay attention. Paying attention makes you concentrate on certain things only. You may miss something obvious unless you are looking for it. Like the invisible Gorilla.
36
System 2 and the electrical circuits
Laziness is built into our nature. So is fear and getting away from tasks which we find complex. Consistency in doing something, mental or physical, makes the task a skill we can acquire. Once a tak becomes part of our skill set it becomes easy to do and takes less brain space to think.
It's hard to keep many things at once in the working memory. Also, it's difficult to do more than one focused task at a time.
41 the lazy controller
Strolling can be very refreshing and you can have a meaningful conversation too.
However, when you increase your speed you cannot do complex thinking. Multiplication of two digit numbers becomes difficult. Recalling memories tucked away for a long time specially informative and not experience is difficult.
Flow- every individual has his own speed and flow that helps him do stuff like hobbies. A speed of walking, a speed of writing or painting. Here even the most complex of works becomes effortless.
People who experience flow describe it as
“a state of effortless concentration so deep that they lose their sense of
time, of themselves, of their problems,” and their descriptions of the joy of
that state are so compelling that Csikszentmihalyi has called it an “optimal
experience.”
The busy and depleted
If you are given a memory task like remembering a 7 digit number, and offered 2 desserts one more indulging than the other you will choose the more indulging one i.e. because your system 1 if now in charge since system 2 is busy remembering the numbers.
Roy Baumeister’s group has repeatedly found that an effort of will or self-
control is tiring; if you have had to force yourself to do something, you are
less willing or less able to exert self-control when the next challenge comes
around. The phenomenon has been named ego depletion.
If difficult tasks are given to a person successively it becomes easy for that person to quit. Also, it will provoke him to do something that he has specifically been asked to avoid. Like being on a diet or not thinking about something, even not being emotional during a tear jerker movie. In other words decision making abilities may be effected.
Effortful mental activities use up more glucose and can be refreshed by intake of glucose. It is the glucose depletion that increases pupil size and heart rate - as mentioned earlier.
On an experiment judges who were going over papers for parole were found to be more observing and lenient right after a meal. The parole applications were rejected more when the last meal time had passed for some time.
The Lazy System 2 pg 45
Although system 2 is supposed to control and monitor system 1 it is usually very lazy. This is highlighted by a small experiment question:
If a bat and ball are worth 1.10 dollars and the bay is worth 1 $ more than the ball how much does the ball cost?
It costs 5¢ but most would guess 10¢ because 1$ more is 1.10$.
Similarly -
All roses are flowers.
Some flowers fade quickly.
Therefore some roses fade quickly.
And the Detroit Michigan question about number of murders
Intelligence, Control, Rationality pg 48
Walter Mischel experiment
Children were given a choice between a small reward (one Oreo), which they could have at any time, or a larger reward (two cookies) for which they had to wait 15 minutes. They were to
remain alone in a room, facing a desk with two objects: a single cookie
and a bell that the child could ring at any time to call in the experimenter
and receive the one cookie. About half the children managed the feat of waiting for 15 minutes, mainly by keeping their attention away from the tempting
reward. Ten or fifteen years later The resisters had higher measures of executive control in cognitive tasks, and especially the ability to reallocate their attention effectively. As young adults, they were less likely to take drugs. A significant difference in intellectual aptitude emerged: the children who had shown more self-control as four-year-olds had substantially higher scores on tests of intelligence
A team of researchers at the University of Oregon explored the link
between cognitive control and intelligence in several ways. During
five 40-minute sessions, they exposed children aged four to six to various
computer games especially designed to demand attention and control.
Other
research by the same group identified specific genes that are involved in
the control of attention, showed that parenting techniques also affected this
ability, and demonstrated a close connection between the children’s ability
to control their attention and their ability to control their emotions.
Shane Frederick experimented with impulsive people and showed they had little patience. They tended to take smaller graduations that would come immediately rather than wait for a larger reward. Similarly, they were willing to pay higher for immediate gratification like a delivery of an item they ordered rather than wait.
Keith Stanovich - the bat ball question.
The core of his
argument is that rationality should be distinguished from intelligence. In
his view, superficial or “lazy” thinking is a flaw in the reflective mind, a
failure of rationality.
The Associative Machine 52
Associative action
Associative coherence
Word or words that evoke a response mostly physical
The Marvels of Priming 54
Word association - so_p is soup if you've eaten and soap if you've had a bath.
John Bargh experiment: students of new York University to read paragraphs that were primed with words related to old age. Later when they were asked to walk across the corridor to another room they were acting like old people.
Idea motor
In a German university people were asked to move around slowly like old people and they were quick to recognise words related to old age is a mirror effect of the new York University experiment.
Forcing some people to smile by making them hold a pencil in their mouths reachers found they treated cartoons funnier than those who were forced to frown by holding the pencil in their mouths from the eraser end.
Similarly, studies suggest that people e who were told to nod their heads while listening to people saying something tended to agree with them while others who were told to shake their heads disagreed more.
Primes that guide us 56
In an experiment it was shown that images of a school and classrooms greatly influenced people to vote for more funding for schools.
Money phrases or screensavers made people money minded.
Money primed people were self dependent and perserverent, but they were also very selfish, they preferred being alone and refrained from helping others.
People who felt they had 'stabbed someone in the back' wanted to wash their hands. People who had lied to someone wanted mouth wash. People who had lied on email or writing preferred soap.
Last Macbeth effect.
In an experiment where tea drinkers voluntarily paid for their cup of tea researchers placed posters of eyes staring directly at the drinker. Alternatively after a week a poster of flowers was hung. Every alternative week the posters were changed, but with different pair of eyes and flowers. It was noticed that whenever the eyes' poster was hung the tea drinkers paid more and they paid even more when the eyes looked like they were staring.
This similar effect is used by tyrants and dictators by installing their posters every where possible so that the public feels they are constantly being watched.
Cognitive Ease, 61
Cognitive ease is when you don't feel the need to think too much. You feel whatever has been presented to you is easy, familiar or give done it before.
Alternatively, cognitive strain is when your mind is forced to compute maybe when the information presented to you is complicated.
During chinite ease you'll believe things easily and you are more trusting. During strain you are suspicious and vigilant. You may make less mistakes. On the flip side you are less creative.
Illusions of remembering
Sometimes you read a word or a name - this word is clearly written - and feel it is a familiar word or name. This may happen during cognitive ease.
Illusions of Truth
An emphatic factually wrong sentence cunningly mixed with facts can seem correct. This happens during cognitive ease. You can experience it during multiple choice questions you don't remember the answer to. Also if something is repeated continuously at regular intervals it may seem correct.
How to Write a Persuasive Message, 64
Since system 2 is lazy it is easier to fool by making up believable fiction. Any lie will work as long as the reader or listener doesn't know the truth.
Some more tips to make message believable:
Use expensive paper
Use ref green or blue colour
Write in verse/rhyme
Write in simple language
Strain and Effort, 66
Trick questions:
If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?
100 minutes OR 5 minutes
In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch
doubles in size.
If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half of the lake?
24 days OR 47 days
The clearer the font the more the mistakes.
40 Princeton students were given the test.
The more illegible the font the right answers increased. That means the clarity or the lack of it forces the students to think.
The Pleasure of Cognitive Ease, 67
If names or words are hard to read people usually don't like them and similarly if they are easy to pronounce, people like.
The chicken egg experiment. Before some of the eggs hatched a certain sound was played. After hatching the chicks of the eggs that had played the sound were less distressed than the one where the sound was not played.
Ease, Mood, and Intuition
Prefix or suffix of words - remote association test - cottage, Swiss, cake - the common word is cheese
Norms, Surprises, and Causes, 72
When you see, experience something once you may not be surprised by it again. Meeting a friend someone abroad. Seeing an accident in the same place.
Aside:
Does that mean based things can happen and go unnoticed because they are recurring. Crimes against women, murder of certain communities.
Similarly, we don't notice anomalies of it happens in the same category. Like the question : How many animals did Moses take on the ark? Moses did not take any, but Noah did. However, we miss the point because both are prophets.
If there is no relation in the anomaly then we can catch it quickly. How many animals did George take on the ark?
What if a male voice says: I think I am pregnant.
Or someone says in polished language: I have a large tattoo on my back.
Earth revolves around trouble every year.
The large mouse climbed over a very small elephant.
What do you envision?
Seeing Causes and Intentions, 75
Headlines can be cleverly crafted putting together two completely contrasting and unrelated things to make the readers think about something. Giving seed to thought which can be denied as being said clearly.
Nassim Taleb’s The Black Swan
Investors were apparently seeking safer assets that morning, and the Bloomberg News service flashed this headline: U.S. TREASURIES RISE; HUSSEIN CAPTURE MAY NOT CURB TERRORISM. Half an hour later, bond prices fell back and the revised headline read: U.S. TREASURIES FALL; HUSSEIN CAPTURE BOOSTS ALLURE OF RISKY ASSETS.
The aristocratic Belgian psychologist Albert Michotte published a book in 1945 (translated into English in 1963) that overturned centuries of thinking about causality, going back at least to Hume’s examination of the association of ideas.
Michotte had a different idea: he argued that we see causality, just as directly as we see color. he created episodes in n ttiowhich a black square drawn on paper is seen in motion; it comes into contact with another square, which immediately begins to move.
Headlines can be cleverly crafted putting together two completely contrasting and unrelated things to make the readers think about something. Giving seed to thought which can be denied as being said clearly.
Nassim Taleb’s The Black Swan
Investors were apparently seeking safer assets that morning, and the Bloomberg News service flashed this headline: U.S. TREASURIES RISE; HUSSEIN CAPTURE MAY NOT CURB TERRORISM. Half an hour later, bond prices fell back and the revised headline read: U.S. TREASURIES FALL; HUSSEIN CAPTURE BOOSTS ALLURE OF RISKY ASSETS.
The aristocratic Belgian psychologist Albert Michotte published a book in 1945 (translated into English in 1963) that overturned centuries of thinking about causality, going back at least to Hume’s examination of the association of ideas.
Michotte had a different idea: he argued that we see causality, just as directly as we see color. he created episodes in n ttiowhich a black square drawn on paper is seen in motion; it comes into contact with another square, which immediately begins to move.
In 1944, at about the same time as Michotte published his demonstrations of physical causality, the psychologists Fritz Heider and Mary-Ann Simmel used a method similar to Michotte’s to demonstrate the perception of intentional causality. They made a film, which lasts all of one
minute and forty seconds, in which you see a large triangle, a small triangle, and a circle moving around a shape that looks like a schematic view of a house with an open door. Viewers see an aggressive large triangle bullying a smaller triangle, a terrified circle, the circle and the small
triangle joining forces to defeat the bully; they also observe much interaction around a door and then an explosive finale.
The psychologist Paul Bloom,
writing in The Atlantic in 2005, presented the provocative claim that our
inborn readiness to separate physical and intentional causality explains the
near universality of religious beliefs. He observes that “we perceive the
world of objects as essentially separate from the world of minds, making it
possible for us to envision soulless bodies and bodiless souls.”
A Machine for Jumping to Conclusions, 79
How do you react to doubt?
A13 C and 12 B 13 written in hand could look the same but in the former instance you would say B and later as 13. Even if you had a doubt you would overlook it.
Ann approaching the bank would mean Ann going towards the back to withdraw money and not the river bank.
Unless you have been river rafting it holidaying near a river.
Experiments show that you could confuse someone with nonsensical sentences and expect them to recall it as true if the person's cognitive abilities have become overloaded. Like in the experiments they asked the people to remember certain digits while answering.
Also the mind becomes confused if questions are asked with a twist. Is Sam friendly? Or is Sam unfriendly?
Is it possible that prime time is at 9 when the mind is really tired and stressed so that it can accept all the nonsense commercials handed over the idiot Box.
Exaggerated Emotional Coherence (Halo Effect), 81
What You See is All There is 84
We often jump to conclusions like calculating the average size of lines or a person's intelligence by some capability.
System 1 takes over and gives us the answer.
Substituting easier questions. 97
When faced with difficult questions people tend to answer the easier question or give comparative answers.
Most probably people well answer an emotional question first and then answer the difficult question.
Example: what will you contribute for dying or animals going extinct. Alongwith what do you feel about dyiing dolphins.
Substituting vizual - the three men in a corridor. Just because a 2D drawing is represented in 3D the figures of the three men look different sizes.
The mood heuristic
Answering questions in sequencing like earlier. If you're asked how happy you were and then about the number of dates you've been to in the last month, then there is no correlation. But if the date question is asked earlier then people gauge their answers according to the dates they've been on in the last month.
The Affect Heuristic, 106
An active, coherence-seeking System 1 suggests solutions to an
undemanding System 2.
Characteristic of system 1
generates impressions, feelings, and inclinations; when endorsed by
System 2 these become beliefs, attitudes, and intentions
operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort, and no
sense of voluntary control
can be programmed by System 2 to mobilize attention when a
particular pattern is detected (search)
executes skilled responses and generates skilled intuitions, after
adequate training
creates a coherent pattern of activated ideas in associative memory
links a sense of cognitive ease to illusions of truth, pleasant feelings,
and reduced vigilance
distinguishes the surprising from the normal
infers and invents causes and intentions
neglects ambiguity and suppresses doubt
is biased to believe and confirm
exaggerates emotional consistency (halo effect)
focuses on existing evidence and ignores absent evidence
(WYSIATI)
generates a limited set of basic assessments
represents sets by norms and prototypes, does not integrate
matches intensities across scales (e.g., size to loudness)
computes more than intended (mental shotgun)
sometimes substitutes an easier question for a difficult one
(heuristics)
is more sensitive to changes than to states (prospect theory)
*
overweights low probabilities
*
shows diminishing sensitivity to quantity (psychophysics)
*
responds more strongly to losses than to gains (loss aversion)
*
frames decision problems narrowly, in isolation from one another
The Law of Small Numbers, 108
When sample size is small it might throw up extreme numbers. Large size samples are more accurate.
The Law of Small Numbers
A Bias of Confidence Over Doubt
Again the reference to WYSIATI - What you see is all there is.
People pick up what they want to see our believe. A sample size of 300 elders support the President. You will conclude old people support the President. The sample size is ignored.
Cause and chance
We look for patterns. We usually believe that a perfect sequence will be deliberately orchestrated by someone.
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