Maria Popova: "In Praise of Walking: A Poetic Manifesto for Our Simplest Instrument of Discovery, Transformation, and Transcendence"

"When you walk, you move more than the body — you move the mind, the spirit, the entire system of being. As you traverse spatial distance, you gain vital spiritual distance with which to see afresh the problems that haunt your day, your work, your life. 

Ideas collide and connect in ways they never would have on the static plane. 

Pains are left behind in the forward motion. 

Doubts fall away by the footfall. I do my best writing on foot — the rest, what happens at the desk, is mere transcription. 

Nietzsche saw the link between walking and creativity. “There is nothing more revealing than to see a thinking person walking,” wrote Thomas Bernhard, “just as there is nothing more revealing than to see a walking person thinking.” A passionate walker herself, Rebecca Solnit has defined the act as “a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned.”

Continue reading Maria Popova's post -> 
https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/12/18/in-praise-of-walking-thomas-a-clark/

Art by Paloma Valdivia for Pablo Neruda: Book of Questions

MindShift: The image tells the four point story well

MindShift (@MindShiftKQED) tweeted on Sat, Apr 29, 2023:

"Creating something new and useful requires us to work in the realm of the unknown" - Greg Satell

Sketchnote by @tnvora https://t.co/0zfdHJoM1u

Shared from Twitter -> https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED/status/1652287867094454272

The image tells the four point story well

MindShift: The image tells the four point story well

Every Single Cognitive Bias in One Infographic

"The human brain is capable of incredible things, but it’s also extremely flawed at times.

Science has shown that we tend to make all sorts of mental mistakes, called “cognitive biases”, that can affect both our thinking and actions. These biases can lead to us extrapolating information from the wrong sources, seeking to confirm existing beliefs, or failing to remember events the way they actually happened!

To be sure, this is all part of being human—but such cognitive biases can also have a profound effect on our endeavors, investments, and life in general.

For this reason, today’s infographic from DesignHacks.co is particularly handy. It shows and groups each of the 188 known confirmation biases in existence.

What is a Cognitive Bias?

Humans have a tendency to think in particular ways that can lead to systematic deviations from making rational judgments."

Continue reading the article on cognitive bias here

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/every-single-cognitive-bias/

Every Single Cognitive Bias in One Infographic

Webinar: "Executive Function Strategies for Creating Successful Students" - April 26, 2023

Executive function skills have become increasingly important for students of all ages over the past several years. Join Engaging Minds to learn more about executive function and the skills it encompasses and gain actionable strategies to use at home to help strengthen these important skills. In an ever-changing world where more is being asked of our students, this webinar will help parents and caregivers keep their students on a successful path for this school year and beyond.

Register for this virtual webinar ->   https://engagingmindsonline.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MFzacLveSoCjQ1dBIwb4Ng

For more about Franklin SEPAC -> http://www.franklinsepac.org/

Webinar: "Executive Function Strategies for Creating Successful Students" - April 26, 2023

"Thinking like a scientist involves more than just reacting with an open mind. It means being actively openminded."

Amanda Dickson (@amandadickson) tweeted on Sun, May 16, 2021:

More from Think Again by Adam Grant https://t.co/n1e64VcTet

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/amandadickson/status/1393984790412419077

For more about the mental modes as explained by Adam Grant, you can get his book

or listen to one of his podcast interviews (there are others, I have listened to these and they are worthy of listening to)

• JJ Abrams switches to interview Adam  https://www.adamgrant.net/podcast/think-again-jj-abrams-takes-adams-job-2/
• Brene Brown talks with Adam  https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-adam-grant-on-the-power-of-knowing-what-you-dont-know/

"Thinking like a scientist involves more than just reacting with an open mind. It means being actively openminded."

Temple Grandin - "visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers"

We get our first view into the Schools budget during the School Committee meeting on 3/9/10. Apparently, the budget will initially focus on "level service" (based upon the update from the meeting 2/23/10).

Going from "level service" to "level funded" or less will be a challenge. This TED Talk by Temple Grandin is good at showing the different kinds of thinking we are capable of. The different kinds of thinking require different approaches.



Are we preparing a sufficiently challenging environment for all types of thinkers?

Are we prepared to fund it appropriately?

Foster systems thinking

Modern education systems deserve much of the blame, both for fostering the belief that education ends when a person leaves school and for its emphasis on being right rather than on how to learn from mistakes. This has encouraged caution rather than risk-taking, with individuals preferring to avoid mistakes when possible and hide them if necessary. The world’s four greatest statisticians never took a course in statistics, Mr Ackoff would point out, and three of America’s greatest architects (Henry Hobson Richardson, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright) never took a formal course in architecture.

Society urgently needs to find better ways of inculcating systems thinking in its decision-makers and public-policy experts in particular, he argued. It also needs to change how it accounts for mistakes. Currently, almost any accounting system you can think of records mistakes of commission, when a deliberate act goes wrong, but keeps no record of mistakes of omission: things not done that should have been. The result is a conservative, risk-averse culture that holds back the innovation that society needs.

Read the full article in The Economist here

Read more about the ideas of Russ Ackoff here and here