The Brain and the Mind
Interesting chat with my friend KMan on "The Brain and the Mind"
**************
Gurudutt: Recently read a book called "The Emerging Mind" by an Indian NRI writing for the BBC Series on TV.
KMan: how was it and wht is it about ?
Gurudutt: Quote : "Mr X has the strange affliction that when he looks at his mother, he says 'this person looks like my mother but she's an imposter' i.e. He's able to identify the person but is unable to identify with her!!"
KMan: which is causing this ?
Gurudutt: Mr. X's brain has a part which is involved with identifying
images with people. This is working properly.
KMan: hmm
Gurudutt: However this part feeds info to the emotional part of his brain which invokes feelings about the person.
The linking part is damaged. Hence no emotional feelings even though identification is perfect.
KMan: cool
Gurudutt: Feeling is believing!!
KMan: yes
Gurudutt: I think You might be really interested in another story from the book.....
KMan: tell me..
Gurudutt: There are many people in this world who associate Numbers with Colours!!
KMan: hmm
Gurudutt: If you were to show such a person a number say 3 he would see it in say Red colour. This is known as Synaesthesia....
KMan: ok
Gurudutt: 2 or more senses.... Actually (the author) says to perform the kiki or boo-boo test on a person to find out if he's synaesthetic....
KMan: what's that?
Gurudutt: Imagine an image which is really spiky with sharp angles to it.
Now, imagine another image which is round with arms like an amoeba....
Each of these things has a name either Kiki or BooBoo. Choose the name.
KMan: just like that
Gurudutt: Yeah.
KMan: see, kiki has more edges and booboo is more smooth so natural inclination wud be to associate kiki with sharp and spikey
Gurudutt: Exactly!! Most people on this earth will answer the same. This is nothing but a kind of synaesthia. Audio and Video ....
The colored numbers are doing the same but with an abstract concept like a Number and Color.
KMan: so does it mean that we too are synaesthetic?
Gurudutt: Actually if you listen to the sounds for the words - 'sharp' and 'smooth' don't they indicate somewhat the concepts....
Definitely. It's just a property of the brain. (Not to be confused with the earlier story about Mr. X, which is an injury)
Gurudutt:
The Emerging Mind :
http://www.open2.net/reith2003/index.html
Purple Numbers and Sharp Cheese :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2003/lecture4.shtml
KMan: got it
***************
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Does Your Career suit your Temperament?
Are you happy in your career?
If you answered "No or Maybe" read on for info on how to fine-tune your efforts at work.
If you answered "Yes" you can still use the information in this article to fine-tune your efforts at work.
How can knowing your personality type help you be happy in your chosen career?
"Do What You Are" a book by Barbara Barron describes how you can use your personality type to find the right job/role most suited to yourself.
Knowing your personality type will help answer the below questions:
What things drive you and motivate you? -
How do you like to make your decisions - intuitively, snap-decisions, think-it-over etc.
What qualities come naturally to you?
What kind of job are you most suited for these qualities?
We NEED you here:
There are job-types and even roles within a given job-type which desperately need YOUR type of thinking. It may be difficult to change your job all at once. But you can always take up a different job role that is more suited to your way of thinking. Or find a way to make the job-change.
On the other hand not knowing your personality type can be quite uncomfortable or even harmful.
There are LOTS of people who're stuck in the wrong job-role.
It's like an athelete-type chained to a desk-job or a professor type trying to deal with business.
It might be much more fulfilling for the athlete-type to take a more people-oriented/travelling kind of job or the proffessor-type to take up the role of mentoring/training people in the business. But then there are different types of athletes and proffessors too. So how do you know which job-role to go for?
If you answered "No or Maybe" read on for info on how to fine-tune your efforts at work.
If you answered "Yes" you can still use the information in this article to fine-tune your efforts at work.
How can knowing your personality type help you be happy in your chosen career?
"Do What You Are" a book by Barbara Barron describes how you can use your personality type to find the right job/role most suited to yourself.
Knowing your personality type will help answer the below questions:
What things drive you and motivate you? -
How do you like to make your decisions - intuitively, snap-decisions, think-it-over etc.
What qualities come naturally to you?
What kind of job are you most suited for these qualities?
We NEED you here:
There are job-types and even roles within a given job-type which desperately need YOUR type of thinking. It may be difficult to change your job all at once. But you can always take up a different job role that is more suited to your way of thinking. Or find a way to make the job-change.
On the other hand not knowing your personality type can be quite uncomfortable or even harmful.
There are LOTS of people who're stuck in the wrong job-role.
It's like an athelete-type chained to a desk-job or a professor type trying to deal with business.
It might be much more fulfilling for the athlete-type to take a more people-oriented/travelling kind of job or the proffessor-type to take up the role of mentoring/training people in the business. But then there are different types of athletes and proffessors too. So how do you know which job-role to go for?
IQ and EQ
(post on orkut on IQ vs. EQ)
Emotions And Intelligence
The word Emotion describes itself. The thing that causes Action/Motion.
Intelligence seems to be more of an ability to form the right connections from an almost infinite no. of possibilities by using Reasoning/Logic or even Heuristics (the small set of "Good Moves" in any given field).
The Reptilian/Mid Brain is responsible for Emotions and the NeoCortex or New Brain is the Logical/Intelligent part. Emotions seem to lend weightage to our decisions.
That is why in highly emotional situations the weightage of the emotion may over-ride in favour of a not so good choice.
"Heroes also feel fear, they just don't let it stop them from doing what needs to be done"
Most things have a dual aspect,
"If you benefit from something, there's sure to be a loss involved somewhere too".
Emotions come in handy in many situations.
Fear adds the extra edge in dangerous situations (but also weakens us if not appropriate). Anger, Love/Passion, Shrewdness, Discipline each have their plus and minus aspects.
The person who can control his emotions is able to avoid the bad effects.
Intelligence tells us that emotions may not be appropriate in some situations.
"Fear and Anger, quick to join you in a fight..."
"Fear leads to Anger, Anger leads to Pain, Pain leads to Suffering..." -Yoda of StarWars.
If you look at it, emotions are necessary to guide our actions. If Intelligence allows us to screen and control our emotions, we'd be able to act correctly in any situation.The reason it is so difficult to control emotions is that they're related to the autonomic nervous system.
Meditation, Pranayama/Yoga seek to gain Conscious control of an otherwise autonomic system.
(post on orkut on IQ vs. EQ)
Emotions And Intelligence
The word Emotion describes itself. The thing that causes Action/Motion.
Intelligence seems to be more of an ability to form the right connections from an almost infinite no. of possibilities by using Reasoning/Logic or even Heuristics (the small set of "Good Moves" in any given field).
The Reptilian/Mid Brain is responsible for Emotions and the NeoCortex or New Brain is the Logical/Intelligent part. Emotions seem to lend weightage to our decisions.
That is why in highly emotional situations the weightage of the emotion may over-ride in favour of a not so good choice.
"Heroes also feel fear, they just don't let it stop them from doing what needs to be done"
Most things have a dual aspect,
"If you benefit from something, there's sure to be a loss involved somewhere too".
Emotions come in handy in many situations.
Fear adds the extra edge in dangerous situations (but also weakens us if not appropriate). Anger, Love/Passion, Shrewdness, Discipline each have their plus and minus aspects.
The person who can control his emotions is able to avoid the bad effects.
Intelligence tells us that emotions may not be appropriate in some situations.
"Fear and Anger, quick to join you in a fight..."
"Fear leads to Anger, Anger leads to Pain, Pain leads to Suffering..." -Yoda of StarWars.
If you look at it, emotions are necessary to guide our actions. If Intelligence allows us to screen and control our emotions, we'd be able to act correctly in any situation.The reason it is so difficult to control emotions is that they're related to the autonomic nervous system.
Meditation, Pranayama/Yoga seek to gain Conscious control of an otherwise autonomic system.
Insight into How and Why something works (or fails)
Insight Fundaas - (Annotated with Apprenticeship patterns terminology on 16-Oct-2010)
Insight into Why something works or fails across Different Domains
[Stretching]
Difficult Tasks are made of very Easy Parts. (TakeInsanelySmallSteps)
Half done for Years is better than Full Done Today and Abandoned Tomorrow, (TakeInsanelySmallSteps)
Concentrate on Today's Work/Result and not on Tomorrow's Success.
Enjoy the Calm that comes with not looking for Results.
Being-It is just Becoming-It many, many times.
Try to understand the anatomy of a failure. Address the sub-failures and the problems will resolve themselves. (LearnHowYouFail)
[Dieting]
New ideas need getting used to. (LetItGrowOnYou)
What seems alien today is because of never being in that situation.
Walk a few steps on that new path and see how it becomes familiar with time. (TakeInsanelySmallSteps)
Keep it simple. Don't try to achieve too many things at once.
Be Flexible, if you miss a step, catch up later.
Only when you get success with one thing, Add another. (LetItGrowOnYou)
Time limits are counter-productive, don't set targets if don't have to.
60% is the Target.
Don't be too hard on yourself. Follow the Bell-Curve. Try to average out your actions.
Match Feasts with light meals, moderate rest of the time.
1500 calories per day, cut in whatever way (by week or day).
Whatever you want to get rid of, first trivialize (mid-day light meal)
Understand opposites, use them to advantage by playing off one against the other. (fruits, corn flakes, sweet corn, sweets, biryani, curd & spice) (WisdomLiesInParadox)
Do something, anything. Count your blessings. (TakeInsanelySmallSteps)
Be happy with Whatever you can achieve Today.
Exercise is the last thing to do.
[C/C++]
The most abstract thing when concretised becomes very understandable. (MakePrototypes)
When someone is spouting mumbo-jumbo try to make a concrete example of it.
The devil lies in the details. A detail is just how closely you look at things.
"With Computers what takes Years can be done in seconds. With Computers what should take seconds can take days."
[Cricket]
Correct practise will help you stay the course in Pressure situations.
Understand the mechanics behind Technique. (DigDeeper)
There's more to cricket than technique. (Courage)
Concentrate on the ball. See only the ball.
If a skill involves many things. Pick the first and master it. One by one you'll be able to master the whole of the skill. [Bowling action] (TakeInsanelySmallSteps)
Observe yourself as you do something. Divide and conquer. (ReflectAsYouWork)
[Acupressure]
[Emotions/Intelligence]
[Work]
Don't get so involved with Details that you miss the forest for the trees. (ReflectAsYouWork)
Every once in a while,
step back and observe your actions and surroundings,
abstract the details and look at both,
put in the effort to reconcile both,
it'll make life easy and keep it easy.
Insight into Why something works or fails across Different Domains
[Stretching]
Difficult Tasks are made of very Easy Parts. (TakeInsanelySmallSteps)
Half done for Years is better than Full Done Today and Abandoned Tomorrow, (TakeInsanelySmallSteps)
Concentrate on Today's Work/Result and not on Tomorrow's Success.
Enjoy the Calm that comes with not looking for Results.
Being-It is just Becoming-It many, many times.
Try to understand the anatomy of a failure. Address the sub-failures and the problems will resolve themselves. (LearnHowYouFail)
[Dieting]
New ideas need getting used to. (LetItGrowOnYou)
What seems alien today is because of never being in that situation.
Walk a few steps on that new path and see how it becomes familiar with time. (TakeInsanelySmallSteps)
Keep it simple. Don't try to achieve too many things at once.
Be Flexible, if you miss a step, catch up later.
Only when you get success with one thing, Add another. (LetItGrowOnYou)
Time limits are counter-productive, don't set targets if don't have to.
60% is the Target.
Don't be too hard on yourself. Follow the Bell-Curve. Try to average out your actions.
Match Feasts with light meals, moderate rest of the time.
1500 calories per day, cut in whatever way (by week or day).
Whatever you want to get rid of, first trivialize (mid-day light meal)
Understand opposites, use them to advantage by playing off one against the other. (fruits, corn flakes, sweet corn, sweets, biryani, curd & spice) (WisdomLiesInParadox)
Do something, anything. Count your blessings. (TakeInsanelySmallSteps)
Be happy with Whatever you can achieve Today.
Exercise is the last thing to do.
[C/C++]
The most abstract thing when concretised becomes very understandable. (MakePrototypes)
When someone is spouting mumbo-jumbo try to make a concrete example of it.
The devil lies in the details. A detail is just how closely you look at things.
"With Computers what takes Years can be done in seconds. With Computers what should take seconds can take days."
[Cricket]
Correct practise will help you stay the course in Pressure situations.
Understand the mechanics behind Technique. (DigDeeper)
There's more to cricket than technique. (Courage)
Concentrate on the ball. See only the ball.
If a skill involves many things. Pick the first and master it. One by one you'll be able to master the whole of the skill. [Bowling action] (TakeInsanelySmallSteps)
Observe yourself as you do something. Divide and conquer. (ReflectAsYouWork)
[Acupressure]
[Emotions/Intelligence]
[Work]
Don't get so involved with Details that you miss the forest for the trees. (ReflectAsYouWork)
Every once in a while,
step back and observe your actions and surroundings,
abstract the details and look at both,
put in the effort to reconcile both,
it'll make life easy and keep it easy.
How to become a Master by Understanding How You Learn Best
How to become a Master!!
"Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every Rainbow,
Till you find your Dream" - [Sound of Music]
Do you want to be the best you can and like your work/life?
It takes around 7 years of daily doing something (pro-actively/interestedly) to become an expert at the world level.
So you could put in anything from an hour to 3 hours (your choice) and come out on top around 7 years later.
In the olden days people used to have Gurus to guide them through their learning and life.
Most people cannot afford to hire coaches for their work. They may not even be available if you could afford them.
So the oppurtunity to raise ones expertise lies with oneself.
"Geniuses don't do different things, they just do things differently"
How do I learn more in less time?
By using the right resources, tools and information.
Ask the RIGHT questions. Put effort in the right places.
"It's not how much you have, but how well you use it" -- Austin Powers Father
There is a person who got polio and lost the use of his legs. Today he's a Black Belt in Karate.
He fights by walking on his hands. How does he do it. He uses what he has. He has arms not legs.
So he chose to use those instead to walk.
So first we need to find out what abilities you don't and DO possess.
"Know Your Self" - [Anonymous]
1) Learning Style - Style of seeking information on a subject
2) Temperament -
What kind of environment do you prefer?
What kind of situations do you prefer or are best at?
These and many other choices define your temperament.
Why should I know my Learning Style?
Short answer: Knowledge is power.
Q) Are you left-handed or right-handed?
Have you tried NOT using your favored hand. Brushing teeth, putting-on shoes, opening doors becomes so unusually difficult.
This is what we do in many of the things we do. People choose careers, skills to master using the wrong hand.
Cognitive Science (The science of learning) has found at least 4 LEARNING STYLES:
1) Visual - use of pictures/graphs/observation, think in images,
2) Auditory - lectures, mnemonics, audio-tapes,
3) Kineaesthetic - experiments/lab, building things, do-it-yourself,
4) Symbolic - dealing with abstract symbols, formulae
If you know your own strengths and weaknesses, you can put your best foot forward in whatever you do.
No matter which field you're in you can always use these abilities to "LEARN DIFFERENTLY".
To be able to find your preferences there are a few tools that you can use.
There is a tool called BrainMap which has a questionnaire to find out how you learn:
Now that you know your learning style, how do you adapt it to your other qualities or preferences:
Which Areas of your work would you be best at or interested in.
Temperament Theory:
Carl Gustav Jung the renowned German/Austrian Psychologist proposed people have different temperaments.
Each temperament of the 16 temperaments has some unique characteristics.
A) Introvert/Extravert - ie looking inward or to the external world. (need not mean the usual meaning)
B) Sensory/iNtuitive - depending on info from the senses or from intuition.
C) Thinking/Feeling - depending on thought or feeling.
D) Perceptive/Judgemental - open to many possibilites or few.
This leads to 4*4=16 temperaments.
Imagine a slider which indicates say 60% Thinking + 40% Feeling. So everyone of us has different %age on each parameter.
MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) based on Carl Gustav Jungs work (the renowned Psychologist)
Many Corporates/Individuals are using these tests to match their talent to the right job.
This helps people understand strengths and weaknesses.
They can then align their learning/work with strengths, while working on making weak areas stronger.
This is a good freeware program to find out your personality type.
Personality/Temperament Test (DDLI) Download: http://www.ling.rochester.edu/~duniho/ddli/ddli341.zip
DDLI MainPage: http://www.ling.rochester.edu/~duniho/ddli/index.html
Note:
1) Download the .zip file,
2) Extract the program and other files into a folder.
3) Run the program. Its a non windows program and runs in DOS mode.
4) Answer the questions around 100.
Answers based on What you DO rather than what you Want to do/be.
5) Save the results to a file by providing the filename.
IMP: If you don't save the results into a file you'd be unable to access the test results. You'd have to give the test again.
6) Open the results file in wordpad or notepad.
Check the 4 Letter code say ESTJ or INTP against the text files describing the characteristics of that particular sub-type.
+ If the descriptions don't seem to match don't worry.
Maybe the test was lead astray by ambiguity in your answers or some other reason.
+ The test is only meant to "Describe" you better and doesn't try to fit you into any box.
+ You already know what you are and are not. This just helps put all those things into words.
Also the test may show what you ARE right now. You may grow and change as you adapt to different circumstances.
You can also go to a different website for more descriptions of a given type:
Personality/Temperament Descriptions: www.keirsey.com
I've got a book form of these descriptions and a paper test for the same called "Please Understand Me - II" by David Keirsey.
Finally don't take the results too seriously but with a pinch of salt.
Its not a science but a guideline and at worst makes for some good TimePass.
"Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every Rainbow,
Till you find your Dream" - [Sound of Music]
Do you want to be the best you can and like your work/life?
It takes around 7 years of daily doing something (pro-actively/interestedly) to become an expert at the world level.
So you could put in anything from an hour to 3 hours (your choice) and come out on top around 7 years later.
In the olden days people used to have Gurus to guide them through their learning and life.
Most people cannot afford to hire coaches for their work. They may not even be available if you could afford them.
So the oppurtunity to raise ones expertise lies with oneself.
"Geniuses don't do different things, they just do things differently"
How do I learn more in less time?
By using the right resources, tools and information.
Ask the RIGHT questions. Put effort in the right places.
"It's not how much you have, but how well you use it" -- Austin Powers Father
There is a person who got polio and lost the use of his legs. Today he's a Black Belt in Karate.
He fights by walking on his hands. How does he do it. He uses what he has. He has arms not legs.
So he chose to use those instead to walk.
So first we need to find out what abilities you don't and DO possess.
"Know Your Self" - [Anonymous]
1) Learning Style - Style of seeking information on a subject
2) Temperament -
What kind of environment do you prefer?
What kind of situations do you prefer or are best at?
These and many other choices define your temperament.
Why should I know my Learning Style?
Short answer: Knowledge is power.
Q) Are you left-handed or right-handed?
Have you tried NOT using your favored hand. Brushing teeth, putting-on shoes, opening doors becomes so unusually difficult.
This is what we do in many of the things we do. People choose careers, skills to master using the wrong hand.
Cognitive Science (The science of learning) has found at least 4 LEARNING STYLES:
1) Visual - use of pictures/graphs/observation, think in images,
2) Auditory - lectures, mnemonics, audio-tapes,
3) Kineaesthetic - experiments/lab, building things, do-it-yourself,
4) Symbolic - dealing with abstract symbols, formulae
If you know your own strengths and weaknesses, you can put your best foot forward in whatever you do.
No matter which field you're in you can always use these abilities to "LEARN DIFFERENTLY".
To be able to find your preferences there are a few tools that you can use.
There is a tool called BrainMap which has a questionnaire to find out how you learn:
Now that you know your learning style, how do you adapt it to your other qualities or preferences:
Which Areas of your work would you be best at or interested in.
Temperament Theory:
Carl Gustav Jung the renowned German/Austrian Psychologist proposed people have different temperaments.
Each temperament of the 16 temperaments has some unique characteristics.
A) Introvert/Extravert - ie looking inward or to the external world. (need not mean the usual meaning)
B) Sensory/iNtuitive - depending on info from the senses or from intuition.
C) Thinking/Feeling - depending on thought or feeling.
D) Perceptive/Judgemental - open to many possibilites or few.
This leads to 4*4=16 temperaments.
Imagine a slider which indicates say 60% Thinking + 40% Feeling. So everyone of us has different %age on each parameter.
MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) based on Carl Gustav Jungs work (the renowned Psychologist)
Many Corporates/Individuals are using these tests to match their talent to the right job.
This helps people understand strengths and weaknesses.
They can then align their learning/work with strengths, while working on making weak areas stronger.
This is a good freeware program to find out your personality type.
Personality/Temperament Test (DDLI) Download: http://www.ling.rochester.edu/~duniho/ddli/ddli341.zip
DDLI MainPage: http://www.ling.rochester.edu/~duniho/ddli/index.html
Note:
1) Download the .zip file,
2) Extract the program and other files into a folder.
3) Run the program. Its a non windows program and runs in DOS mode.
4) Answer the questions around 100.
Answers based on What you DO rather than what you Want to do/be.
5) Save the results to a file by providing the filename.
IMP: If you don't save the results into a file you'd be unable to access the test results. You'd have to give the test again.
6) Open the results file in wordpad or notepad.
Check the 4 Letter code say ESTJ or INTP against the text files describing the characteristics of that particular sub-type.
+ If the descriptions don't seem to match don't worry.
Maybe the test was lead astray by ambiguity in your answers or some other reason.
+ The test is only meant to "Describe" you better and doesn't try to fit you into any box.
+ You already know what you are and are not. This just helps put all those things into words.
Also the test may show what you ARE right now. You may grow and change as you adapt to different circumstances.
You can also go to a different website for more descriptions of a given type:
Personality/Temperament Descriptions: www.keirsey.com
I've got a book form of these descriptions and a paper test for the same called "Please Understand Me - II" by David Keirsey.
Finally don't take the results too seriously but with a pinch of salt.
Its not a science but a guideline and at worst makes for some good TimePass.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)