Jetman - A Pioneer with Respect for the Forces of Nature

Practice makes Perfect: Neuromodulation , How a Fly Brain can Make You Smarter

Here is some fascinating information that discusses neurobiology of a fly's brain.  Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this video is how it relates to how the brain processes information.  From a purely biological perspective, Michael Dickenson's Ted Talk is fascinating because it demonstrates something electrical about the learning process;  establishing a neural pathway is how the brain 'learns.'  

Dickenson's  research seems to imply that repetitive processes rely on established multiplexes of neurons that fire in a set pattern.  To that end, it makes sense, that when a person learns something, part of that process involves practice until a neural pathway has been burned.  It explains why we practice makes perfect.

It also tells me that making mistakes is a critical component of the learning process.  Learning is about fine-tuning our mistakes until we reach a point considered to be satisfactory.  Thus, regardless of whether we are on  BMX bike, snowboarding, or memorizing PEMDAS, or memorizing y=mx+b, or even learning how to tie one's shoes, it all involves practice & making errors.  This tends to explain why wisdom tends to come with age and experience.  Old people have the potential to be wiser simply because they have had more of a chance to make mistakes!  Now that is a fascinating thought!

Here is the take-away; learning is the process of developing and establishing set neural pathways through trial and error.  Moreover, those who fine tune an action or thought process are neuromodulating.  

The better we neuromodulate is proportional to the amount of errors we make.  The more mistakes we make, the smarter we become.

Conclusion:  Make as many mistakes as you can, but make yourself aware of those mistakes, because when you do, you will fine-tune your ability to develop more refined neural pathways as you build on past experiences.  

In other words: You can only become an expert if you give yourself the opportunity to make mistakes.

Completely Changing the way we Think about Travel?

The Poetry of Science: We are All Africans & Extremophiles

The Cloud: Perspectives from a Young Enrerpreneur - Aaron Levie & Data Storage

 

In a world full of people, only some want to fly...

"...My best friend gave me the best advice.  He said, 'each day's a gift and not a given right.'" - Nickleback - If Today Was Your Last day

This video was filmed by three pilots having fun on a weekend.  Watching the landscapes unfold was a treat by itself.  But it took me to completely different space.  It triggered me to think about the relationship between teachers and students.  

For example, there was a point where the camera captured the image of one plane is flying just below the other, and below them their shadows were cast in tandem on the ground.  What I found most striking was that both pilots were flying independently of one another while their shadows appeared next to one another as they traversed the landscape below, seemingly locked to one another in their frame of reference.  That image reminded me of what is teacher-student relationship is like; we meet somewhere in the intellectual realm and we fly in tandem over a given intellectual terrain.  And from our particular vantage point, we appear to be moving together as the sun casts our shadow on the terrain as we hover above.  

But it is really an illusion; I am there to guide the exploration.  In return for this exchange, my student progresses through dimensions of space and time, all the while developing mastery.  Since learning is such an individualized experience, the terrain covered is unique to each student on a his or her quest of discovery.  We can visit the same terrain, but the area we cover is as unique as the students who work to advance themselves.  Thus, while the shadows appear to move together, they are working independently.  And that reminded me, I can never work harder than my students because they are piloting their own flight.  I can guide them, I can watch them, but I cannot fly their metaphorical plane.  

"...Miracles happen as we trip."

My students have to do that all on their own.  It is amazing to see one of the planes as it rolls, and soars.  What I like the most is that regardless of wherever my proteges end up, my contribution will always be with them like the shadow cast upon the ground.  

"...In a sky full of people only some want to fly.  Isn't that crazy?"

My particular influence will not define my students.  However, it will carry its own significance, no matter where my students go, no matter the terrain, and  no matter how high they fly.  And that is an empowering thought.  It is why I teach and it is why I love my job.

"...In a world full of people, only some want to fly.  Isn't that crazy?"

If I can now take you into the symbolism of the propeller and its likeness to cognitive development; I watch the propellers bend, almost to a stop.  At one point they even seem to go backwards.  That is how it often is watching a student struggle with a concept, developing first understandings, and that miraculous instant when something begins to make sense.  Then, like the propeller as it begins to tumble forward in its paces & revolutions, I watch in awe as my students eventually master what they have come to understand through persistence and disciplined, higher-order thinking.

"...In a heaven of people, only some want to fly.  Isn't that crazy?"
 
In the second accompanying song, "Crazy," the artist, Seal sings, "In a world full of people, only some want to fly.  Isn't that crazy?"  The lyrics echo my sentiments about learning; once a person has been exposed to intellectual flight, s/he will always want to fly.  Any other form of existence pales in comparison.  I agree with Seal about those who don't want to fly, "... It is crazy.  Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is power. And flying requires power.

In closing, I want to revisit Nickleback's lyrics at the opening of the video, and their significance as related to living, and learning;

"...Leave no stone unturned. Leave your fears behind, and try to take the path less traveled.  That first step you take, is the longest stride." - If today was your Last Day - Nickleback

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. said, "Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."

Seal's lyrics seem to echo that sentiment as well;

"...The size of which you've never known before
They'll break it
Someday
Only child know
Them things
The size
Of which you've never known before,
Someday "

ps  Happy Birthday David

Time Lapsed Photography

Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy

Guest speaker,  Maribeth Fischer speaks at the UW School of Medicine about her novel, "The Life You Longed For" - a book about Medical Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy (Click here) .  As it turns out the mother who happens to be an Epidemiologist, appears to be guilty just may not be.

As you acquire your education, you will begin to see mathematics and science wherever you go - even in novels!

Keep challenging yourself and stretch your brain, because;

"The brain, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."
Oliver Wendell Holmes

A Good Overview of Emotional Intelligence

The University of Wisconsin offers a series of videos on seminars such as, the 'Art of Lecturing seminar', as part of the school's medical education.  Dr. David Rakel MD.

He discusses how the emotional brain works, and the importance of making connections.  Just as a an aside, he uses a clip from the movie, "Little Miss Sunshine" - one of my favorite movies.  He discusses how we communicate without words.  

He also talks about the importance of making meaningful connections and understanding those things that give life meaning and purpose - the importance of love.

Faster Than The Speed Of Light? Six More Dimensions?

For those of you students wrestling with the concepts of Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and the various hypotheses, laws and constructs you are faced with in Chemistry & Physics, here is the reason why you need to master them; ideas are being bandied, in the world of the mind are slowly progressing toward the notion of a Unified Field Theory - something that eluded Einstein and continues to escape scientists who have followed him.  

The world as we know it is changing rapidly - so much so - that, what we once found to be nuanced a century ago, even decades ago and more accurately, right now is the stuff science fiction didn't even come close to predicting; truth really is stranger than fiction.  

The world of the mind is where each of you will be far more suited to play. I happen to believe it is because the time you were born makes this possible - think of Malcolm Gladwell's arguments.  That said, I strongly adhere to the notion put forth by the scientist, Louis Pasteur who famously said, "Chance favors a prepared mind." 

I cannot come close to explaining what some of these concepts described in this video mean.  However, I have every confidence that there will be people among your generation that may in fact be able to get their heads wrapped around these topics.  To that end, this is why it is so critical that each of you endeavor to master the basic intellectual building blocks you are now studying because without them, you will be left behind, and our world will be the less for it.  

Rest assured, the assiduous efforts you make today will be rewarded in the future.  And, like a spinning bicycle wheel that comes into focus only instantaneously, thus will be your education.  Borrowing from that metaphor, as sure as we cannot see the wheel turning every moment, we none the less know that it continues in its motion. This is how your learning works as well; it turns and reveals itself - stingily at times - but it is building upon a base of knowledge that will serve its purpose in due time.

Now, conceptualizing the world in six more dimensions?  I hope we get there in my life time.

Always do your best and never quit.

Note: This video qualifies as a 5 point maximum extra credit paper for your semester's final Science grade - that's a half a grade added to your final grade.  

However, it must meet the following criteria:  1500 word minimum (to 10,000 words maximum) to include a summary of the video and an exposition that discusses a topic of your choice mentioned in the video.  Make sure it is copy edited, spell checked and set-up in a word document.  

Should you elect to take this challenge, your essay on this post ought to be fun, and rewarding for you.  If you take any other approach to it, or if it ceases to be fun, then you are doing something wrong.