David > Recent Status Updates

Turns out that converting a spoken language into something written is complicated, and has historically lead smart people down dead-end paths that it would be best to avoid having students replicate. Whoddathunkit?

Some misperceptions about written Chinese are also dispelled (it's really NOT just a bunch of pictographs for each word, as some US sight-reading advocates might think).

Finished the section on getting feedback (quickly, and at the right level - not all success and not all failure). Now on to retention and strategies for remembering what is studied.

In ch 3 the author examines the idea of whether students will naturally learn to read, essentially "intuitively", by reading interesting stories and trying to wring clues from the context. Short answer: it doesn't work that way. And recounting of the tedium of Sumerian writing classrooms provides good evidence of this.

Lots of info about lobster hierarchy and dominance rituals, and noting lobsters have been around about 350 million years when humans didn't exist yet 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs died out.

Actually still in the foreward pages, at xxv, with x to go to get to p. 1.

We did watch a couple lectures by the author on YouTube. Interesting ideas, though the presentation seemed at times dense (as in thick, not stupid!).

Retrieval seems best improved by attempting to retrieve the info directly, i.e rather than, say, flipping through pages of the book being studied and nodding in assent to its contents, attempt to recall as much of the text as possible without looking.

Drills can be useful, but probably depends on the situation.

I feel so bad for truckers now. Especially the women trying to do the work as 5% of truckers, suffering the harassment and other cruelties, but really all of them after reading more about the debt servitude and other ploys that reduce them to cogs in the machine of large shipping companies.

More details about the prescient things Trader Joe's did, including "2 buck Chuck," wine for $2 per bottle. Joe wsomehiw saw trends coming long before others and capitalized.

The first 2 technique chapters covered metalearning (learning about what it is you want to learn) and focus (directing your attention to a specific task and keeping it there).

I have no specific suggestion for how the metalearning chapter should've been different but it seemed rather unhelpful. I expected it to fill out my thought if "write an outline" but it didn't feel like much more than that.

More of what I'd call "motivation" of the material to come - how accessible it may actually be, what benefits you might reap, how possible it really is - that sort of thing. The coming chapter title is promising: How to Become an Ultralearner.

Getting a lot of the history and analysis of Trader Joe's, which is pretty interesting. His own background is interesting (get into Stanford on a whim, drop out right away, join the military, come back and go to school), and his methods are cunning (scouting SoCal neighborhoods where his early stores were to try to predict trends). Also good guessing on the affecrts of the new 747 on air travel & expectations.

Intriguing introductory examples, of trying to become adept at 4 new languages in a year (via immersion), or to replicate all the course learning of a 4 year college degree in a single year, among others.

Still waiting for more detail about a "method" that accompanies this beyond just crash studying a topic!

Already the writing has drawn me in, with its specificity and interesting turns of phrase. And we're only through the introduction! :-)

Any review I have read mentions the description of the smell of the fresh fish case at a Whole Foods when it's getting its thorough cleaning. That happens in the introduction, and I agree the description is, yes, "strong." :-)

This last chapter exposed the lengths to which scientists of the past would rationalize outside or unaccounted for influences when their data did not align with what they "knew" to be true. For example when German brains were found to be heavier than French brains, the French doing the research made up new criteria to adjust the German sizes (e.g. height, body weight, diet, etc.), evidently without cog. dissonance.

Seems wild now, but people tried to explain away differences by saying POC were actually separate races, descended from separate "Adams." That could mean "all men are created equal" didn't apply to them, for example. And the "objective" skull measurements didn't stand up to scrutiny, either - the evidence points to unintended manipulation to support a priori biases.

The past couple chapters focused on events of the Arab Spring, especially activities in Libya - the protests of citizens, the signals of planned repression from the military, the behind-the-scenes attempts to prevent tragedy. All these things are typically condensed in pop media as "Benghazi!" or, when they're attempting eloquence, "But what about Benghazi?" Who knew it was complicated? /s

I don't expect I will get to read every page of this before I let my kindle unlimited trial expire, but it has been a positive text with interesting suggestions for personal growth. I thought it would be laid out with a value per day, but any calendar association is left for the reader to provide themselves.

Ch 1 seems reminiscent of the forward, talking about things that will be explored in the rest of the book. The cases of deliberate misleading about human measurement (ie fraud) are not the interesting ones, as the interesting cases are really the ones where unconscious bias caused errors or adjustments in the supposedly objective results.

It’s not a coincidence that we have a 2party system that divides us in half and urges us to channel all of our anger/frustration against the people in the other party.... It’s a system that’s designed to make the emotions we justifiably feel about this mess as counterproductive as possible! It’s designed to get us outraged so that politicians, businesses, and the media can benefit from the anger we fling at ea.other.

In chapter 6 we start to get at some idea of the "how" that could make the movement being described a reality. It's still not very concrete (supposedly more of that will be in ch 7), but it's getting closer, w 3 hi level practices:
1 do the opposite of what the corrupt system wants
2 start with unity, not "right thinking"
3 be willing to be a follower

I appreciate the optimism of the author, describing how we might end our 2 party system in the US and institute some kind of global government with teeth (unlike the current UN). Also explaining how corporations have too much power, what that looks like, and how we can start to limit them. I'm not yet convinced these ideas are workable or what efforts might move us toward these ends.

If the forward is any indication, I think I shall appreciate this work and simultaneously find it a challenging read. He says straight up he doesn't want to water down the arguments.

Also it's probably an indication of much knowledge assumed of the reader when he makes a joke about his _Nunc Dimittis_, a text I know from singing settings of it ("Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.").

Quite a bit managed to get done during the lame duck session after the midterms, including repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, Michelle's childhood nutrition legislation, and more, in exchange (with McConnell) for extension of the Bush tax cuts for 2 years. The DREAM act failed, getting only 55 votes in the Senate, but Claire McCaskill voted for it (we're not sure if this is part of the reason she loses later to Hawley).

As we know, Dems got crushed in the midterms, and we got to see some of the lead up and feel the disappointment of the actual election.

Currently they are on a trip to India, after a number of close staffers have left the WH or announced they'd be leaving. It seems that snares are waiting around every corner.

I appreciate the connection with Joseph Campbell near the end, with his admonition to "follow your bliss," with bliss here being understood as more of a deep joy (or satisfaction?) and not just some superficial happiness.