Thursday, June 29, 2006
Successful Social Networks
"5 reasons why social networks can succeed" /tnl.net/
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Neoteny and Evolving Creativity
"If you haven’t noticed, creativity is evolving.
"The perception of creativity itself is slowly but surely transitioning into a mutated and adapted life form. In the traditional world, a “creative” person usually meant someone with savant-like talents excelling in a specific creative discipline defined by fairly concrete parameters...
"Resist the urge to become defensive and territorial—put that energy into developing an acute sense of curiosity and optimism. Become like a child." /Logic Emotion:
"The perception of creativity itself is slowly but surely transitioning into a mutated and adapted life form. In the traditional world, a “creative” person usually meant someone with savant-like talents excelling in a specific creative discipline defined by fairly concrete parameters...
"Resist the urge to become defensive and territorial—put that energy into developing an acute sense of curiosity and optimism. Become like a child." /Logic Emotion:
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Coffee Break Brain
"'Crunch time' in our lives may mean no 'break time.' While some people feel like they don't have time between meetings, appointments, and chores throughout the day, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say regular breaks are key to forming memories.
"Perhaps we don't take breaks seriously enough," Foster says. "Perhaps we're wrong to expect all learning to occur on the job. Perhaps an important part of learning in general, and in jobs and at school, is occurring during breaks." /ScienCentral/
"Perhaps we don't take breaks seriously enough," Foster says. "Perhaps we're wrong to expect all learning to occur on the job. Perhaps an important part of learning in general, and in jobs and at school, is occurring during breaks." /ScienCentral/
"Unfinished" Minds
Timothy Leary used to warn of the dangers of "terminal adulthood" while favoring psychological neoteny: retention of child-like curiosity, receptiveness to new ideas, and cognitive flexibility.
Bruce Charlton, a professor at the University of Newcastle, argues that neoteny actually stunts psychological maturity, leaving adults (especially highly educated ones) with “unfinished” minds: "short attention spans, sensation and novelty-seeking, short cycles of arbitrary fashion and a sense of cultural shallowness."
He goes on to say that, "People such as academics, teachers, scientists and many other professionals are often strikingly immature outside of their strictly specialist competence in the sense of being unpredictable, unbalanced in priorities, and tending to overreact.”
According to Charlton, “child-like flexibility of attitudes, behaviors and knowledge” is probably adaptive to the "increased instability of the modern world" and an "increasing need for individuals to change jobs, learn new skills, move to new places and make new friends." /Discovery Channel/
Bruce Charlton, a professor at the University of Newcastle, argues that neoteny actually stunts psychological maturity, leaving adults (especially highly educated ones) with “unfinished” minds: "short attention spans, sensation and novelty-seeking, short cycles of arbitrary fashion and a sense of cultural shallowness."
He goes on to say that, "People such as academics, teachers, scientists and many other professionals are often strikingly immature outside of their strictly specialist competence in the sense of being unpredictable, unbalanced in priorities, and tending to overreact.”
According to Charlton, “child-like flexibility of attitudes, behaviors and knowledge” is probably adaptive to the "increased instability of the modern world" and an "increasing need for individuals to change jobs, learn new skills, move to new places and make new friends." /Discovery Channel/
Quality of Ideas
"(T)eams aren't necessarily so great. 'There are so many things people do in management because they think it's good, but there's no evidence for it,' says Paul B. Paulus, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington. 'Teamwork is one example. Brainstorming is another.' Prof. Paulus conducted research on the number and quality of ideas of four people brainstorming together versus four people brainstorming by themselves. Typically, group brainstormers perform at about half the level they would if they brainstormed alone." /Post Gazette/
Monday, June 05, 2006
Proposal to Implant Tracking Chips in Immigrants
"Scott Silverman, Chairman of the Board of VeriChip Corporation, has proposed implanting the company's RFID tracking tags in immigrant and guest workers. " /LiveScience.com /
