**spoiler alert** My notes and summary from the book:
Introduction -Parents do not need to have a consequence for a child’s every misdeed. -Family fun s...more**spoiler alert** My notes and summary from the book:
Introduction -Parents do not need to have a consequence for a child’s every misdeed. -Family fun should not be contingent on child behavior. -Expectations are more effective and powerful than lots of rules. -Parents must decide what information is private about the child. -Hurt children get better when their pain is soothed, their anger reduced, their fears quelled, and their environment contained. CH1: Who is the hurt child? CH2: Dare to parent -Hurt children are sensitive their own vulnerability and perceived weakness. They act terrified of losing control and fearful of control by others. -Hurt children often have unhealthy fears -They have survivor’s mentality and deny their vulnerability (think nothing can hurt them). -Healthy fear eventually leads to respect, empathy and love, and a child cannot arrive at one stage without going through the prior stages. -Vulnerability and perceived weakness -Being cooperative , compliant, and receptive translates to losing. -For healthy children, control over them equates to love. They believe their parents are all-powerful and it’s okay for them to be vulnerable. They can be weak without being unsafe, and this helps them develop a conscience (internalize morals based on fear of disapproval). CH3: What doesn’t work -Nurturing vs. rewards – Nurturing happens whether or not the child behaves well; rewards are more like bribery to achieve a particular behavior. Children should not be reward for doing what they are expected to do. -Should never withhold affection/love towards the hurt child. It is impossible to make them feel worse than they already have been made to feel. -Punishment: empathy and consequences are much better teachers than lecturing/words -Hurt need time-ins with parents instead of time-outs. Instead of grounding, it is better to require permission for everything so there are no assumptions about what is okay to do. -Deprivation: Taking things way from hurt children (who are used to losing everything) is ineffective. Instead, if something is going to be taken away, it needs to be taken away forever so they learn to believe what you say. For example, if they continually fail to take care of a toy/s, you can let them know that you are going to give them to a child who doesn’t have any of those toys (and make the child’s life easier because it will be less for them to clean up and take care of). -Anger: Must remember that anger is a hurt child’s best friend. In fact, they are often the most unhappy when parents are joyful. Anger helps them feel safe and distant, and when he sees it in others, he feels powerful. It brings the level of energy the child is accustomed to. -Equality: respond with “We’re all different, and the world doesn’t always treat us fairly or equally. It’s much better to learn this at a young age than on your first job assignment.” CH4: What works -Authors argue that the most effective ways to achieve attachment is through touch, smell, speech, motion, warmth, and eye contact. -Best not to tell hurt child consequences of their behaviors, instead, parents should alternate responses so the child is always guessing as to what you will do. -Be very careful in offering praise, it can easily make them feel as if they’ve lost control; should offer praise indirectly (let them overhear it). Also, don’t offer praise for expected behaviors (like using manners) -Negative behaviors: turn all negative behaviors into something that you control (act like it is what you wanted them to do anyway). E.g., rating a tantrum, ask them to scream louder, predict their negative behavior. -Work on training degrees of bad and good (e.g., “behave” to them means being perfect). Given them a rating scale, such as down to neck is not so bad, below belt is really bad -Make very clear to hurt children expectations of your family – our family does “x”; for example, we are “truthtellers” in our family – don’t rely on subtle cues, use explicit ones CH5: Cinnamon on applesauce -Eye contact is very important, mimic the way that you spend a huge amount of time starting at an infant. P84 has a whole list of games/techniques -p90 has list of techniques on how to do movement together, activities, etc.; nurturing through food is also important – see p95 -Enhancing communication – tell adoption story over and over, past experiences with kids, etc. -p99 has several techniques for physical closeness with children CH6: The school dance -Teach children phrases to help them survive in school and practice them: e.g., I need help, I can do difficult things, I always have a choice, I can learn from my mistakes, I like to try new things, I like school, I can solve this, I know I can count on myself, I know where to get help, I can solve problems, I need your help to understand. -Make sure you establish communication lines with educators early and often CH7: Rough waters – all about getting your child unstuck and how to handle tough times CH8: Life preservers – Lists of resources to get help from others CH9: Finding useful help – how to find the best therapist CH10: Ask an expert – Q&A for the authors for specific children -kids may try to recreate sensory memories (like smell of urination) for comfort -kids’ life book must represent reality of why they were removed from parents -p203 has several techniques about how to deal with lying CH11: Parents and children talk back – testimonials from parents and adopted children CH12: Reprinted articles written by authors -p256 good article on importance of holding and touch (less)
**spoiler alert** My summary and notes from the book: Book about how important it is to manage energy levels instead of time. One of their principles...more**spoiler alert** My summary and notes from the book: Book about how important it is to manage energy levels instead of time. One of their principles is to develop highly specific positive energy rituals that help sustain full engagement. The steps you have to take to build a habit are to 1. define purpose, 2. face the truth, and 3. take action
One of the guiding principles behind the book is that rest and recuperation must be built into training/work. Specifically, most people have a problem with either overtraining or undertraining in relation to their level of rest. The analogy is to live life like it is a series of sprints rather than a marathon (and train accordingly). A major part of this training regimen is to expending energy beyond our regular capacity and then recovering (short-term discomfort for long-term reward).
As with many similar books, they describe the 4 levels or areas in which we must oscillate our energy use and recovery: physical, emotional mental, and spiritual. They also argue that it is important to subject ourselves to build ourselves up in each of these areas just like we build up muscles. We must expose ourselves to stress beyond our normal limits and then recuperate in order to improve in our ability to cope.
For physical energy, they advise healthy eating, high levels of breathing, and 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. They also suggest 5 to 6 highly nutritious meals a day with lots of water. Energy breaks to recover every 90 to 120 minutes are important for productive and energetic days. Lastly, interval training (where you push yourself and then break quickly) are more effective than steady-state training (where you keep the same pace for long periods of time).
For emotional energy, they suggest learning to fuel our positive emotions with self confidence, self-control, interpersonal effectiveness, and empathy. Summoning positive emotions during periods of intense stress is at the heart of effective leadership. Again, they suggest pushing ourselves in these domains and then spending sufficient time recovering doing activities that allow us to relax and recuperate.
For mental energy, they suggest training mental muscles through mental preparation, visualization, positive self talk, effective time management and creativity. Taking mental breaks during the day from tough tasks is just as important as taking physical breaks. Extending work periods causes mental stagnation and breakdown rather than "powering through" slow periods.
Spiritual energy is less precisely covered, but the basic idea is to incorporate and attach deeply held values and beliefs to daily tasks (beyond our self interest). Expanding spiritual capacity involves pushing past our comfort zone in the same way that expanding physical capacity does.
One of the most important techniques they discuss for building up energy levels is through the development of habits and rituals. These allow us to free up important resources for self control and goal attention by allowing us to center ourselves when our energy gets depleted or we get stressed. Habits don't require resources, so we can use them to build us up on a regular basis. A simple ritual that connects us to our purpose (professional, personal, etc.) each day allows us to see the forest instead of just the trees from day to day. (e.g., quiet reading time in the morning, book of Proverbs, journaling, praying, meditation, reading over personal mission statement, etc.).
Our intentions should be framed as "doing" statements instead of "not doing" statements. We should also work in incremental changes since it is difficult to change entrenched behaviors quickly. "Charting the course" every day helps us map our vision and reminds us to build the components of our day around maintaining that vision. Charting our progress is part of this vision that builds us up and helps us to stay motivated over the long run. (less)
**spoiler alert** My summary and notes from the book: ***The author goes through several examples of how water is treated in different parts of the wor...more**spoiler alert** My summary and notes from the book: ***The author goes through several examples of how water is treated in different parts of the world, different cities, and in difference situations. Overall, he argues that our water supply is in such danger in so many places because people take water for granted. They don’t even think about it despite it being one of our most basic needs. This leads us to waste it, mismanage it, and fail to put resources into maintaining our water supply for the future. Only once crisis hits to we finally start to pay attention to how we use water and where it comes from.
***Chapter topics: In “Dolphins in the Desert”, Fishman covers the evolution of water policy in Las Vegas. Despite being in the middle of the desert and full of water extravagance, it has developed some of the most sophisticated water reusing systems in the world. - In “Water Under Water”, Fishman explains the complexity of making water supplies disaster proof as he profiles Galveston, TX, after Hurricane Ike. - In “The Money in the Pipes” he profiles several large companies that are at the forefront of water conservation and reuse because they use it in such a large scale. – In “The Yuck Factor” he profiles how important changing attitudes toward water can be when trying to implement new water reuse methods. One city in Australia nearly ran out of water because its citizens couldn’t accept the idea of reusing treated sewer water. – In “Who Stopped the Rain” he talks about Australia, which has been going through a great drought in the last decade or so. This has precipitated several water crises from farming to urban supply. The primary problem is overuse of its rivers and planning based on high-water years instead of the contemporary average. – In “Where Water is Worshipped, but Gets no Respect” he talks about India and how atrocious their water situation is for nearly everyone, rich and poor. Very few cities have 24/7 water supplies, even for well-off people, and the majority of the country suffers from huge productivity and education losses because so much time is spent hand-carrying water for daily needs. He also goes into the major health problems that result from contaminated water and ink-black rivers. E.g., There is so much dangerous bacteria and pollution that one eye-dropper of water from the Yamuna or Ganges River put into six bathtubs full of water would be enough to make it unsafe to sit in. – In “It’s Water. Of Course It’s Free” he summarizes the problem with most attitudes toward water. Unless we start to recognize it as a real resource that requires respect and serious attention, we will continue to stumble into major shortages and conflicts over water. Water is not a global problem in the sense that you can influence water problems across the world, but it is the combination of a million different local problems regarding water that makes it a global concern.
***The 300,000 gallons of water used during a space shuttle launch is not for cooling, but for sound dampening. Otherwise the sound shock waves would tear the shuttle apart.
***The biggest use of water in the home is toilet flushing. We flush on average around 5 times a day which is about 18.5 gallons
***The fundamental problem with water is that it cannot be used up, but it is not equally available in all locations. How and where it is available in usable form varies dramatically and can be very unpredictable. So what this means is that all water problems are local in the sense that saving water in your home isn't going to directly help water-started villages in India. This is very different from many other environmental issues, like carbon footprints or gasoline use.
***Patricia Mulroy (the Las Vegas water czar) suggested to Obama a huge public works program to create a series of canals to capture and divert Mississippi floodwaters so it would both reduce natural disasters and send excess water to places that need it.
***At IBM Burlington, they create what is known as "ultra-pure water" which is hundreds of times cleaner than distilled or purified water. They use complex filtration systems to remove every molecule from water so that the pure water can pull microscopic particles from microchips. The smaller the chip, the more pure the water must be. It is very expensive to create, and in fact, would be dangerous to drink in large quantities. Water is such a good solvent, its molecules are filled with all kinds of minerals, etc. If you remove the minerals, etc. it will try to pull molecules out of anything it comes in contact with, including the nutrients in our body.
***Celebrity Cruise ships have a huge ice expense to create enough ice to cool all of the food/beverages on a typical cruise. One way they have reduced the cost is to no longer use ice, but to cool rocks that retain temperature well enough to cool the food.
***The author details an economic model for water designed by Mike Young to better allocate water resources. In the shape of a water glass, each layer of water is designated for a particular purpose. The first layer is “maintenance water” that is just enough necessary to maintain the environmental system. This is already a problem in many rivers where dams have to be built to keep ocean water from heading back up dry river beds. The second layer of water is “critical human needs” such as drinking, bathing, and basic water services. These two layers are guaranteed, but the next two layers are determined by economics. The first is the high security layer, which demands a high premium cost, and the second is low security, which costs less. Then it becomes a risk calculation process about how much you want to invest in water and whether you want to take the risk that your water layer might run out. If water runs low, the low security customers lose it first, then high security. (less)
**spoiler alert** MY SUMMARY AND NOTES: The authors replicated Mischel’s marshmallow study and taught some participants to use distraction and distanc...more**spoiler alert** MY SUMMARY AND NOTES: The authors replicated Mischel’s marshmallow study and taught some participants to use distraction and distance techniques and showed that self regulation scores changed tremendously. They have footage of their experiments on changeanything.com/exclusive website.
***The authors argue that there are six sources of influence: 1. Personal motivation – interrupt your impulses by connecting actions to goals during crucial moments. 2. Personal ability – learn new skills to change persistent and resistant habits 3. Social motivation – if those around us model and encourage bad habits we are likely to maintain them; turn accomplices into friends 4. Social ability – deeply entrenched habits require real support from others (e.g., a coach). 5. Structural motivation – Make use of things; directly link short-term rewards and punishments to new habits 6. Structural ability – small changes in your environment can have a surprising effect on your choices; add a few visual cues that help you focus on your goals
***Social science of personal change: 1. Identify crucial moments – focus on the handful of moments when you’re most at risk; where do you face the most temptation 2. Create vital behaviors – create rules to follow when temptation pays you a visit (e.g., implementation intentions and contingencies for when you fail). 3. Engage all six sources of influence 4. Turn bad days into good data – use failure as a learning experience – note what happens when you fail and adjust methods accordingly (START TAKING NOTES).
***The authors mention the benefit of a “motivational interview” asking a person the future he/she would like to live, how they were going to get there, and so forth. This requires the person to create the default (where you’ll end up if you keep going this way) and desired futures.
***1. Personal/motivation: Visit your default future (how you will end up if you continue in this direction 1. Tell the whole vivid story - be descriptive about where you will end up so it sticks in your head 2. Use value words - connect your goal with a really important "why" for what standard you are adhering to 3. Make it a game - set up a time frame or small milestones or make it a competition 4. Create a personal motivation statement - during crucial moments reconnect with your motivation through your statement that incorporates all of the previous parts of your personal motivation
***2. Personal/ability: Do what you can't: 1. Start with a skill scan – figure out what skills you do have, and if you have the ones necessary to complete your plan 2. Employ deliberate practice – what are the component parts of the skill you are learning; break them down and practice each deliberately 3. Learn the will skill – determine your tempting scenarios and discover how to avoid them and practice withstanding them.
***Another famous obedience study: Orne & Evans (1965) JPSP – social control in the psychological experiment
***3.&4. Social motivation/ability: Summary of turning accomplices into friends: 1. Be aware of who is going to help encourage vs. discourage you towards your goals. 2. Redefine "normal" to fit with your new goals. 3. Hold a transformation conversation with close others about your new goals. 4. Add new friends, 5. and distance yourself from the unwilling.
***On loss aversion - study done by authors on iPhone - if you just bought one, it would take $1218 more than purchase price to sell, but if they hadn't bought one yet, they would only pay $97 more than purchase price in order to make sure they got one.
***When creating rewards for yourself when working towards a goal, make sure the rewards come during the pursuit (after achievement of small goals) rather than a reward for your final goal.
***5. Structural/motivation: invert the economy: 1. Use carrots and the threat of losing carrots, 2. use incentives in moderation and in combination (so you aren't doing it solely for the rewards), 3. and reward small wins (i.e., don't just have a reward for at the end of the goal, they are much more effective is used throughout).
***6. Structural/ability: control your space: 1. Build fences - set rules to keep you acting in healthy ways. Don't use fences as sole source for change or you will relapse when they are gone. 2. Manage distance - remove bad things from your immediate environment and keep good things closer. Your physical space determines a lot of how you behave. 3. Change cues - reminders for things you want to be doing and remove reminders of bad behaviors. Especially important where you crucial moments take place. 4. Engage your autopilot so the positive path is the path of least resistance (ie, it would take more effort not to follow the path). 5. Use tools like electronic reminders, etc. to help you stick to your goals. (less)
**spoiler alert** Foer is a journalist who covers the U.S. and world memory championships and consequently spends a year training to compete in the ev...more**spoiler alert** Foer is a journalist who covers the U.S. and world memory championships and consequently spends a year training to compete in the event himself. The book covers many of the basic memory techniques these “super-memorizers” use, along with giving a brief overview of the history of memorization and unusual cases of extreme memory. In the end, Foer ends up winning the U.S. championship and placing 13th in the world competition (Europeans dominate the world championship).
***The primary memorizing method comes from an ancient Greek poet named Simonides, and it’s called the “memory palace”. It requires that you turn anything you want to memorize into a physical and spatial representation. Specifically, you can use physical locations to place each item in memory (e.g., imagine a walk through the house you grew up in). Then, each item gets placed in a room (while doing uniquely memorable activities) so to recall the list all you have to do is stroll through the house/palace and you can see everything happen in order. This takes advantage of our brain’s superior spatial memory instead of trying to memorize arbitrary lists/names/digits by rote. There is an upfront cost of turning objects/lists into unique characters and memorizing various palaces, but once you do it, you can increase your memory exponentially.
*** One of the most common methods for memorizing numbers is the “Major system” invented by Johann Winkelmann in 1648. It is a simple code to convert numbers into phonetic sounds. The sounds can then be turned into words, which can become images for a memory palace. The code is: 0 = S, 1 = T or D, 2 = N, 3 = M, 4 = R, 5 = L, 6 = Sh or Ch, 7 = K or G, 8 = F or V, 9 = P or B. The number 32, for example, would translate into MN. To make the consonants meaningful, you’re allowed to freely intersperse vowels, so MN could be ‘MAN’. This system isn’t complex enough for memorizing competitions, but works well for less extreme memorization.
*** He has a section on competitive training as well, specifically when he reaches his “OK plateau” in training. That means that he has improved his memory a great deal, but he hits a wall where he doesn’t get any better. This happens with any kind of practice because all of the parts of the process become automatic. Once they become automatic (because you have become competent at the basic task/sport), then you no longer use your conscious mind to improve your performance (this is why most people don’t improve their typing speed after they reach their plateau). This is where deliberate practice comes in. In order to continue to improve, you have to turn training back over to your conscious mind. You can do this by putting yourself in more difficult situations or focusing on more difficult routines, etc. The author does this by forcing himself to memorize at a rate faster than he is comfortable with. Deliberate practice, by definitions, must be hard. This is also the difference between experts and amateurs in any given field. Disciplines with the best experts are going to be the ones who receive the greatest amount of feedback. This is why doctors who do mammograms don’t get better with time (too long of delay before they get feedback) and surgeons get better with time (immediate feedback).
*** On why knowledge (or basic memory) is so important for increasing one’s understanding of the world: “The more tightly any new piece of information can be embedded into the web of information we already know, the more likely it is to be remembered. People who have more associations to hang their memories on are more likely to remember new things, which in turn means they will know more, and be able to learn more. The more we remember, the better we are at processing the world. And the better we are at processing the world, the more we can remember about it.” P209.
*** Throughout the book, the author covers several unusual cases of memory. Some examples: HM, who could not develop new long-term memories (and EP, who is even more severe than HM, but who lost his brain structures to a virus instead of surgery like HM). The journalist “S” who in 1928 was shown to have an astounding memory for everything he experienced (he had synesthesia so he automatically turned letters, numbers, etc. into visual objects, and thus, had nearly perfect memory as a result). He also covers expertise and automatic processing through examples like “chicken sexers” who go through years of training to be able to detect the sex of a baby chick. He works with K. Anders Ericsson, who is a researcher on memory, for much of his scientific knowledge about memory. He also interview Tony Buzan, the self-help memory and mind-map guru who started the memory championships and markets his memory systems all over the world. He also covers savants like Kim Peek, who typically have a major neurological disorder (like autism), often in their left hemisphere. In fact, using the magnetic manipulation of the brain, people have been made to become more creative when their right hemispheres are suppressed. One exception is Daniel Tammet who does not suffer major social or physical disorders (although he used to have more severe Aspergers when he was younger). The author implies that many of Tammet’s feats could be done through training, and that he might not really be a savant. There is a documentary called “Brainman” about Tammet. (less)
**spoiler alert** Notes and quotes for me: Du Bois on Booker T. Washington and the importance to be critical on points of disagreement: “But the hushi...more**spoiler alert** Notes and quotes for me: Du Bois on Booker T. Washington and the importance to be critical on points of disagreement: “But the hushing of the criticism of honest opponents is a dangerous thing. It leads some of the best of the critics to unfortunate silence and paralysis of effort, and others to burst into speech so passionately and intemperately as to lose listeners. Honest and earnest criticism from those whose interests are most nearly touched, -criticism of writers by readers, of government by those governed, of leaders by those led, - this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society.” P.83
*** His specific criticism of B.T. Washington is that he 1. Strives to make black businessmen and property owners, but Du Bois argues that it is impossible without fair legal and voting rights. 2. Washington argues for thrift and self respect, but wants a silent submission to civic inferiority to the whites. Du Bois argues that no race can be in this position without it sapping the strength of men over time. 3. Washington advocated more vocational training and less training from higher institutions, but Du Bois argues that without higher ed training there would be no one to properly train blacks on all levels.
*** “No. The dangerously clear logic of the Negro’s position will more and more loudly assert itself in that day when increasing wealth and more intricate social organization preclude the South from being, as it so largely is, simply an armed camp for intimidating black folk. Such waste of energy cannot be spared if the South is to catch up with civilization. And as the black third of the land grows in thrift and skill, unless skillfully guided in its larger philosophy, it must more and more brood over the red past and the creeping, crooked present, until it grasps a gospel of revolt and revenge and throws it s new-found energies athwart the current of advance. Even to-day the masses of the Negroes see all too clearly the anomalies of their position and the moral crookedness of yours. You may marshal strong indictments against them, but there counter-cries, lacking through they be in formal logic, have burning truths within them which you may not wholly ignore, O Southern Gentlemen! If you deplore their presence here, they ask, Who brought us? When you cry, Deliver us from the vision of intermarriage, they answer that legal marriage is infinitely better than systematic concubinage and prostitution. And if in just fury you accuse their vagabonds of violating women, they also in fury quite as just may reply: The rape which your gentlemen have done against helpless black women in defiance of your own laws is written on the foreheads of two millions of mulattoes, and written in ineffaceable blood. And finally, when you fasten crime upon this race as its peculiar trait, they answer that slavery was the arch-crime, and lynching and lawlessness its twin abortions; that color and race are not crimes, and yet it is they which in this land receive most unceasing condemnation, North, East, South, and West. “ p.137
*** “Now it happens that both master and man have just enough argument on their respective sides to make it difficult for them to understand each other. The Negro dimly personifies in the white man all his ills and misfortunes; if he is poor, it is because the white man seizes the fruit of his toil; if he is ignorant, it is because the white man gives him neither time nor facilities to learn; and, indeed, if any misfortune happens to him, it is because of some hidden machinations of “white folks.” On the other hand, the masters and the masters’ sons have never been able to see why the Negro, instead of settling down to be day-laborers for bread and clothes, are infected with a silly desire to rise in the world, and why they are sulky, dissatisfied, and careless, where their fathers were happy and dumb and faithful. “Why, you niggers have an easier time than I do,” said a puzzled Albany merchant to his black customer. “Yes,” he replied, “and so does yo’ hogs.” P.180
*** “It thus happens that in nearly every Southern town and city, both whites and blacks see commonly the worst of each other. This is a vast change from the situation in the past, when, through the close contact of master and house-servant in the patriarchal big house, one found the best of both races in close contact and sympathy, while at the same time the squalor and dull round of toil among the field-hands was removed from the sight and hearing of the family. One can easily see how a person who saw slavery thus from his father’s parlors, and sees freedom on the streets of a great city, fails to grasp or comprehend the whole of the new picture. On the other hand, the settled belief of the mass of the Negroes that the Southern white people do not have the black man’s best interests at heart has been intensified in later years by this continual daily contact of the better class of blacks with the worst representatives of the white race.” P.190-191
*** “We must accept some of the race prejudice in the South as a fact, - deplorable in its intensity, unfortunate in the results, and dangerous for the future, but nevertheless a hard fact which only time can efface. We cannot hope, then, in this generation, or for several generations, that the mass of the whites can be brought to assume that close sympathetic and self sacrificing leadership of the blacks which their present situation so eloquently demands. Such leadership, such social teaching and example, must come from the blacks themselves.” P.194-195.
*** “What in the name of reason does this nation expect of a people, poorly trained and hard pressed in severe economic competition, without political rights, and with ludicrously inadequate common-school facilities? What can it expect but crime and listlessness, offset here and there by the dogged struggles of the fortunate and more determined who are themselves buoyed by the hope that in due time the country will comes to its senses?”p.202-203.
*** On his son's death: "We could not lay him in the ground their in Georgia, for the earth there is strangely red; so we bore him away to the northward, with this flowers and his little folded hands. In vain, in vain! - for where, O God! beneath thy broad blue sky shall my dark baby rest in peace, -where Reverence dwells, and Goodness, and a Freedom that is free? All that day and all that night there sat an awful gladness in my heart, - nay, blame me not if I see the world thus darkly through the Veil, -and my soul whispers ever to me saying, "Not dead, not dead, but escaped; not bond, but free." No bitter meanness now shall sicken his baby heart till it die a living death, no taunt shall madden his happy boyhood. Fool that I was to think or wish that this little soul should grow choked and deformed within the Veil! I might have known that yonder deep unworldly look that ever and anon floated past his eyes was peering far beyond this narrow Now. In the poise of his little curl-crowned head did there not sit all that wild pride of being which his father had hardly crushed in his own heart? For what, forsooth, shall a Negro want with pride amid the studied humiliations of fifty million fellows? Well sped, my boy, before the world had dubbed your ambition insolence, had held your ideals unattainable, and taught you to cringe and bow. Better far this nameless void that stops my life than a sea of sorrow for you." p231
*** On Du Bois’ chapter with the example of black man going off to college: “John,” she said, “does it make every one –unhappy when they study and learn lots of things?” He paused and smiled. “I am afraid it does,” he said. “And, John, are you glad you studied?” “Yes,” came the answer, slowly but positively.” P.257.(less)
They identify the high flying achievers, the stayers, the seekers, and the returners within rural schools. M...more**spoiler alert** Notes and quotes for me:
They identify the high flying achievers, the stayers, the seekers, and the returners within rural schools. Most of the resources go to the achievers in order to help them get out of the town, which ends up damaging the town in the future because of lack of qualified professionals.
*** The seekers are the middle-of-the-road students who lack the resources to go to top colleges so they often join the military in order to leave the state. They often become returners after they see some of the world and marry the stayers who never left in the first place. The achievers are usually groomed for adapting to the big city so well that once they get there they seldom want to go back to the small town. The exceptions are people who end up wanting their kids to grow up in a rural environment, but they have to accept lower pay and fewer professional opportunities as a result.
*** Featured a real place in northeast Iowa (fictionally named "Ellis"). The "best kids" are the high-achieving, most-likely-to-succeed students destined for highly regarded colleges, a group we have termed the Achievers. Their families, teachers, neighbors, and coaches have raised them with a sense of manifest destiny about how their lives will unfold. What makes the college-bound Achievers distinct from other Iowans who leave is that they generally do not come home except for Thanksgiving or to celebrate the occasional wedding. The longer they're gone, the harder it is to readjust because they become accustomed to another life, often one with tempting options such as diverse cuisine and more varied shopping. They start locking their front doors and forgetting to greet people on the street with a warm hello, and their ability to follow the rules of a small town evaporates, becoming just another habit from childhood they put aside. After significant time away, they can't recall how they ever lived out in the middle of nowhere. Worst of all, they may start to Ellis the way outsiders do: parochial and just a little redneck." p.29(less)
I'd heard about Mind Maps from several other sources before I finally read Buzan's book for myself, and I'm definitely glad I did. I was most impresse...moreI'd heard about Mind Maps from several other sources before I finally read Buzan's book for myself, and I'm definitely glad I did. I was most impressed by how well many of the ideas behind this technique map onto psychological concepts of spreading activation of knowledge and mental representations of ideas. Although I'm still grasping all of the potential behind the many possible uses for them, I really do agree that developing Mind Maps helps to organize and direct your thinking in ways that traditional linear notes and outlines do not. I can tell that a lot of practice would be needed in order to get really good at using them, but I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to become a more creative and generative thinker. (less)
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