Steven Barnes's Blog, page 55
June 3, 2017
June 2, 2017
Hidden Figures, Ancient Secrets 6/2
I am working on the “STEM for Women” project, and central to the free webinar we’ll be doing is analysis of the movie “Hidden Figures” using principles from Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War” to create a framework to understand the emotions and behaviors exhibited by three exemplary women. Here is what I wrote today:
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“Generally in war, the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this….For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To...
What’s Up Today?
Just wanted to do a core dump this morning. Got to do that at least once a week, especially when I’m seeking to integrate new skills. Life changes when you do that, and so do perceptions.
I’m curious what the reaction to TWELVE DAYS will be. You never know. All you can do is the best you can do. “Art” is Self expression. Craft is the specific language that communicates that expression in a given modality: singing, poetics, writing, martial arts, whatever. If the audience feels the emotio...May 31, 2017
The Sands of Time
“When he is afraid, it is easy to capture him, when he is angry, it is easy to provoke him. When he is sensitive, it is easy to insult him. When he is emotional, it is easy to worry him.”–Sun Tzu.
You know what the #1 excuse I hear for why people don’t write, or exercise, or meditate to heal their hearts? Lack of time. And this is on Facebook. The irony is crushing.
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People talk about how the internet coarsens communication, removing cues that tell us the full spectrum of meaning, le...
May 30, 2017
The Alamo Draft House situation
A simple application of basic Lifewriting principles makes the Alamo Draft House Wonder Woman kerfluffle pretty clear. We use these principles in storytelling, but they work just as well with life. Dig it:
Anger is fear. The fear is that a women-only showing will lead to a loss of rights and privileges in other arenas.
There are three basic attitudes one can have behind this:
Women and men are equal. In which case the only fear would result from a sense that men have abused their powe...May 29, 2017
Hidden Figures, Ancient Secrets
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“Know your enemy and know yourself, and one can go through one hundred battles without danger.”–Sun Tzu
My dear friend Victoria Whitlock, a project manager at a major technology firm with a Masters in Information Security and a third degree black belt in Judo, is my partner in creating what we’re currently calling THE ART OF SCIENCE: the application of ancient and martial wisdoms to women’s success in STEM fields.
Chief among the researches is one might guess, Sun Tzu’s THE ART OF WAR, argua...
May 28, 2017
The Narcissism of “District Nine”
A few weeks ago, Tananarive went over to our local park to pick up Jason, and there were police there, and the kids were clustered around. Her heart was in her throat. She did not think “happy community outreach.” She thought Trayvon Martin. Jason is getting to “that age” where young black boys begin to look like threats. And it is typical for black parents to have to have “the talk” with them. A talk that very few whites I’ve ever met have any grasp of. To them, the police are basica...
May 27, 2017
My “men only” “women only” experiment
About ten days ago, I asked a “women only” question about STEM and despite my specific request that men stay out of it, more than 10% of the respondents were men. Heh.
Yesterday I asked a “men only” question about a different subject, and I’d reckon less than 5% of the respondents were women–and in one case, a second woman reminded her to be polite. And in the other case, the woman PM’d me and apologized.
While this is a very, very limited sample, I think it illustrates the whole “pri...
May 26, 2017
Being smarter than you are
The following was posted on the Lifewriting page:
“Wooosh!!! Anybody ever get that intense feeling of euphoria when a moment of insight from what you’ve just listened to or watched connected major parts of your story by growing a whole new thread and exposing a trait of your character you couldn’t quite put your finger on!? Man I love that!!!! I’m not even on anything and I’m so riding high right now lol!!!”
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I love it when my friends or students share insights like this. The energy...
Four basic principles
(From 2005)
There are four basic principles of THINK AND GROW RICH:
1) A definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment.
2) A definite plan expressed in continuous action
3) A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative input from friends, family, and acquaintances.
4) A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.
A huge amount of the rest of the book just tells yo...
