How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Daniel Smith

The book, How to Think Like Sherlock: Improve Your Powers of Observation, Memory and Deductionby Daniel Smith uses examples from the fictional detective to offer guidance for improved skills of observation and reasoning.

Some of the exercises are old riddles borrowed from other texts.  Many of the exercises require extensive knowledge of the books by Arthur Conan Doyle.

His admonition to gather facts, bounce your ideas of your own personal Watson, and test hypothesis makes sense.  He offers up examples of the educated guesses that Holmes uses in his books.  We need to be careful when we do this as there may be alternative explanations.  Do not become overly enamored of a particular explanation until all the facts are in.

 

Brainworks by Michael S. Sweeney

Michael S. Sweeney's book,Brainworks: The Mind-bending Science of How You See, What You Think, and Who You Are, breaks down the subject into Seeing, Thinking and Being. The first section offers an inside look at how the brain processes visual information.  Our visual processing system makes complex visual corrections that alter the actual perception of reality.  I found the photos illustrating the brain color corrections to be the most surprising.  My brain's ability to color compensate for shadows is amazing.   

The book discusses the difference between a human brain and a computer.  The computer does a really good job at computational skills and retrieving information.  Computers and robots have a very difficult time with simple motor tasks like walking up a staircase.

It is also very easy to create false memories in people.  Several exercises in the book provide actual examples.  

The book describes the vast difference between the activities of the conscious brain and the part of the brain that works without conscious thought.  Unconscious activities outnumber conscious thought by at least 100,000 to one.  It is important to not let the conscious brain be distracted during activities requiring concentration such as driving as there is a very limited space in the brain for that activity.

Cognitive distraction while driving from AAA (click to enlarge)

The OSPAN task involved mentally working on math problems while doing sequenced single syllable word recall. 

The book is a companion to the National Geographic television program Brain Games. The book also contains a DVD illustrating information from the test.   

Brain games - illusion of full color 2.5 minutes.   

Brain games - mental tricks 2.5 minutes

The Writer's Daily Companion by Amy Peters

The Writer's Daily Companion: 365 Inspirations and Writing Tips by Amy Peters offers daily inspiration to writers of all types.  Each day of the week focuses on a different aspect of writing.

Monday: Writers on writing - Writers talk about their craft
Tuesday: Motivation - Tips for writer's block and production
Wednesday: Writing class - A writing assignment
Thursday: Editing - Tips for focused review of writing
Friday: Biography - Background on famous authors
Saturday: Books to read - Great books illustrating writers demonstrating excellence
Sunday: Writing prompt - Ideas for short essays.

Week 35: Biography - George Lucas.  I read this page while watching the Kennedy Center honor George Lucas for his contribution to the arts on the television. George Lucas suffered an accident and changed the focus of his life from cars to college/movie making.  I write these blogs because of a similar situation that temporarily reduced my mobility.  I often go back to the adage that we can not control the cards we are dealt in life but we can control how we play them. 

I enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about the background of specific authors and get their writing tips.  With only one page per day, the information comes in nice bite sized nuggets of inspiration.

George Lucas - Car accident changed life - 6 min.

Language learning

After taking a Coursera class on learning difficult subjects I have been working on learning French and Spanish. 

Audio recordings from the library work well while driving.  The added risk of accident is slightly more than listening to music on the radio but less than have a conversation with a passenger. This is according to the Minnesota Safety Council. 

I have been using the free Duolingo App for both French and Spanish.  It has some features of a game app. showing daily progress giving out rewards and estimating the percent fluency for the language.  It also points out when past learning is getting weak and needs a refresher.  The spaced learning works well to combine both focused and diffuse learning.  Fifteen minutes of focused learning each day allows for 24 hours of diffuse learning to occur in the brain as it rewires the neural circuits during sleep. 

Online help is available from the Living Language lab - French.  It complements the French Living Language audio course available at beginner through advanced for less than $35 US. I've been listening to the beginner's version for several weeks.  It has been helpful but frustrating as it lists a several essential phrases needed for the beginning French speaker in rapid succession with no repetition and full speed.  It is helpful giving exercises in social contexts for the home and the restaurant. 

Duolingo introduction - 2 minutes

Luis von Anh - The next chapter in human computation - 17 min.

Learning How to Learn - Coursera

This is a small list of the Universities offering free online courses through Coursera

I've always wanted to take an online learning course but had not set aside the time.  I recently completed the UC San Diego Coursera class, Learning How to Learn, taught by Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski.  The course provides excellent tips on how to master difficult subjects.  It was well worth the effort and it increased my understanding of the learning process.

Topics include:

• Focused vs Diffuse learning
• Chunking information
• Procrastination
• Renaissance Learning 

The focused versus diffuse learning provided very helpful information on learning and problem solving. The instructors advocate focused spaced learning of a subject.  This allows time for the brain to make connections when you are asleep, engaged in physical activity or taking a shower.  Diffuse learning allows the brain to produce moments of insight when you wake up in the morning or finish a walk.  A recent study on exercise and memory(KTBS) indicates that exercise approximately four hours after studying improves memory retention.

The instructors advocate using the focused process of the Pomodoro technique (Reg. TM) to break through the initial discomfort that feeds procrastination.  

The free language learning app, Duolingo, uses many of the techniques advocated by this course.  I am using it along with free audio learning guides from the library to learn Spanish Living Language and French Living Language.

Improve studying and productivity with the 25 minute Pomodoro Technique - 6 min.

Dear Committtee Members by Julie Schumacher

The book, Dear Committee Members, by Julie Schumacher offers a humorous collection of letters from an English professor at a small US college. He pens letters of recommendation in the hopes of getting rid of a less than helpful IT professional or for students hoping to get entry level jobs in positions that often perfectly fit their talents and shortcomings.

This is also a portrait of a garrulous professor on the downhill side of a less than promising career. The professor documents problems with facilities, the institutional bureaucracy, a former wife and  lover.

While working at a University for over 25 years, I've known many people who match the description of the well drawn characters in this book.  I enjoyed the painfully accurate description of the irritated office employees suffering through a demolition and remodeling project while occupying a building.

This touching and humorous book reminds me of some of the best of Mart Twain.  The author accurately depicts the majority of human beings who achieve moments of modest success sprinkled with failures in part due to our own foibles.

Julie Schumacher - Dear Committee Members - 46 min. 

Leadership BS by Jeffery Pfeffer

The book, Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time, by Jeffery Pfeffer describes in detail the inauthentic culture of leadership consulting. The bar for entrance into this group is low.  The information provided by these leadership consultants is often aspirational but of little practical use.  Leaders must be inauthentic to be successful. They must get along with people they do not like. They must act confident when they are not. 

He also points to the altered reality of successful business leaders who pen books. The picture they paint is an idealized one that does not mesh with the actual reality of what happened in the company according to those that worked there. People want to use well crafted myths as guiding principals for leadership rather than embrace the messy reality that exists. The higher a position a leader reaches the fewer consequences for bad behavior.  

A significant majority of workplaces are toxic environments with leaders looking out for their own self interest at the expense of the company and the employees that work there. The author suggests that workers also proceed with the same clear eyed view that the company does not owe them at all for their past accomplishments but only for what they produce now and their potential future productivity.  He paints a picture of corporate culture similar to the parallel universe in the Star Trek episode: Mirror Mirror. 

Mirror Mirror - 2 min. 

If you want feel good inspiration this is not the book for you.  If you want a sober reality check on the culture of corporations and institutions of higher learning then this is the book for you. 

Leadership BS - Google Talk  - 55 minutes

Leadership BS - Stanford University - 77 minutes