Hard-Wiring »»
Posted on Mar 24, 2010
Jargon is specialty vocabulary usually uniquely tied to a profession, trade or educational discipline. Occasionally words used in special fields are catchy enough to enter the generalized lexicon where they quickly become misapplied. In such cases they can also become misleading and hampering to true understanding. Imagine terms such as, hackers, benchmarks, deliverables and supply chains and you’ll see what I mean. Currently, the term, “hard-wired” falls into this sphere. To an electrician, when a circuit is hard-wired, a tangible wire carries power directly and without interruption; there are no choices, no alterations and no variables. In the last few weeks I’ve heard that “Google is hard-wiring the Internet,” banking regulation is “hard-wiring moral hazards,” and male and female brains are “simply hard-wired differently.” Enough!
As appealing as it may be to simplify life, living systems and especially the human brain into a hard-wired network, it is not possible. Actually, one of the more remarkable things about the human brain is just how LITTLE of it is hard-wired. If brain function, physiology and our resulting behaviors were truly “hard-wired” we would be functioning purely upon instinct. Clearly, little of human behavior is really instinctual. Furthermore, the attempt to ascribe gender differences to demonstrable brain differences is as old as the study of physiology itself. While there may be regions within the brains of men and women whose size is gender related (gray matter vs. white matter) or areas of the human brain whose differences lead to gender-generalized characteristics (language processing vs. operations processing), these are still not hard-wiring issues. Frankly, many of the differences found between human brains seem related to the gaps or synapses between cell dendrites and not to the “wires” at all. Human brains are continually and repeatedly adding neurons, forming new connections and re-routing prior associations between neurons into an intricate highway of interconnectivity. In the language of electricians any house wired this way would be permanently “shorted.”
Our children should know that human brains are amazingly pliable and responsive to the stimulation and nutrition they receive. The guided study children experience at school is vital to brain health and development. Musical instruction seems to encourage cortical development and spatial reasoning. The manipulation of objects for sequencing, sorting and pattern analysis encourages gray matter development and interconnections. In turn, the learning of more than one language is a brain boosting activity long-associated with mental development that also accelerates other brain activity. In fact, every aspect of every day in an enriched curriculum such as that offered at RPDS has a direct effect on brain growth and maturity. In addition, issues such as stress, exercise, sleep, nutrition and daily peer relationships also uniquely impact brain health and development. It is time to drop the “hard-wiring” jargon. We should be celebrating the fact that human brains are NOT hard-wired, for this is truly great news for educators and for those receiving an education!
Brick Walls »»
Posted on Mar 17, 2010
What do you do when you hit a brick wall? Isn’t it interesting how the opportunities that seemed to exist just moments earlier can so suddenly evaporate? Whether young or old, how we face those walls and see beyond them is a hallmark of individual character. Philosopher William James said it this way,
”Man alone, of all creatures on earth, can change his own pattern. Man alone is architect of his destiny. The greatest revolution in our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the attitudes of their minds, can change aspects of their lives.”
R.L. Target’s essay “The Window,” makes the concept of human choice even more clear. In short, it is the story of two men, each bedridden and sharing a hospital room. One gentleman has the bed by a large window and the other lies at the far wall. The second man asks the other each day to tell him about the world beyond their room. “Oh,” says the window gazer, “it is a lovely world. Below there is a park with a wonderful pond. The grounds are lush, with people enjoying the warm sunshine. The swans are paddling gracefully. The children are playing and everywhere there is joy.” At first the man whose view from the window was hidden enjoyed these detailed descriptions, which seemed lovelier with each passing day. Soon however, he became jealous, envious and spiteful that only the other’s bed could see the wonderful world below.
Before long, the health of the man near the window began to grow weaker. The jealous roommate secretly hoped the roommate would just die and leave his bed so that at last the premier window perch would be available. Finally, one night the patient’s health reached a crisis. He began coughing violently and noisily choking in his sleep; he rasped so loudly that it awakened the other. Sadly, instead of signally the nursing team, he chose to let the man at the window die.
In the morning, when the nurses discovered the death and came to remove the body, the roommate asked if they would mind moving his bed to the window so he could enjoy the view. The nurses rearranged the room, placing his bed quite near the sunny window. However, when the bedridden man turned to focus for the first time on the scenery below, he was shocked to discover that the entire view was blocked by a blank brick wall.
We each are certain to encounter brick walls in life and these will always pose challenges; however, how we view those walls is always a matter of choice.
A Growing Vocabulary »»
Posted on Mar 11, 2010
The words of the English language make a fascinating collection. Of course, our lexicon is not stagnant but instead is continually expanding. Occasionally, our words themselves are a collection, as in the word Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis, which names the lung condition potentially arising from silicate dust inhalation. I saved an article from years ago by Brad Herzog he called, Geeks, Boob-tubers and Doohickeys in which he shared the history of some of his favorite words. Some of those words have become universal after being transferred to other languages. While working across the street from the UCLA campus, I discovered that the university student store was renowned to be one of the most popular tourist stops in the entire United States (especially for international travelers)! Apparently, people all over the world want to wear the UCLA acronym. In Mr. Herzog’s opinion, UCLA cannot hold a candle to “OK” in the universal words category. OK (as in AOK) surfaced in 1839 and became famous in 1840 for a different reason when President “Old Kinderhook” Van Buren ran for reelection. Today, you could almost carry on a meaningful conversation with a foreign tourist in the UCLA student store by repeating, “UCLA…OK” with a variety of well-timed inflections!
The American Dialect Society has been keeping track of words, phrases, acronyms and word usage for years. Their book, America in So Many Words , lists words back to 1750. The society has selected “tweet,” currently used to mean the act of posting on the website Twitter, as the 2009 Word of the Year; by the way their word of the decade is “Google.” Clearly, these are words among many others with alternate meanings, which make the English language a confusing one for non-natives. In light of the unusually snowy winter experienced by the eastern half of the United States this year, it would be small comfort to know that the word “blizzard” arose in 1825 to describe a knockdown blow, not a snowstorm. Of course the society associates “teddy bears” with President Theodore Roosevelt and “sideburns” with Union General Ambrose Burnside of Civil War fame. However, you may not have known that President Jefferson was the first to use the word “belittle” back in 1782 and he was apparently the first to re-apply the anatomical term “artery” to our nation’s rivers.
Often in the English language words evolve in meaning. “Deadline” really meant it when Civil War prison guards marked the dirt. “Skyscrapers” were birds and balls before they were buildings, and “pioneers” were advanced laborers who traveled in front of their army units before the pioneer spirit became more internally motivated. For children every day presents new words, new definitions and new spellings. Their task is especially difficult in today’s culture when lazy spelling and word usage is common. Sharing with your children the etymology of a word or discovering together the history of a word’s usage is a wonderful adventure, which also shares the message that one’s vocabulary is never finished growing. Together, may your words take on new significance and importance.
Bearing Fruit »»
Posted on Mar 03, 2010
There are times when, although we strain mightily, it is difficult to see the opportunities that abound in our everyday surroundings. Frankly, our minds gravitate toward order and structure, therefore when we finally have things organized and everything “is in its place” the natural inclination is to not entertain variations. It is a rare individual indeed that can buck the “but we’ve always done it this way” headwind and not only see possibilities but realize them as well. Hans Christian Anderson wrote a short story that he called Good Luck Can Lie in a Pin about the experience of a poor woodworker who quite accidentally discovered potential where none was imagined. He was then smart enough to let his discovery bear fruit.
Anderson’s story is of a young man raised in poverty who, though he became a capable wood turner, haplessly lived hand to mouth even after his marriage. The man’s stock and trade became making umbrellas with turned wooden handles. As life continued the simple craftsman was content with his work, an abundant supply of wild berries for food and the natural beauty of a single pear tree, which failed to produce pears. One day, after a violent windstorm, the woodworker noticed a large limb had fallen from the pear tree. As a comical diversion he brought the wood to his lathe and turned a number of wooden pears from the limb. Finally, the tree would bear pears! As luck would have it one day he chose to use one of these small wooden pears to make an emergency repair to a closure-button on an umbrella. When he saw that his solution was even more functional than the original button arrangement, he distributed a few umbrellas with the wooden pears installed instead of the typical buttons. The new system was an overwhelming success and he soon was no longer poor.
Whether you have the gift to see possibilities where others see none, or the gift to find order in a series of unrelated events that unlocks hidden potential, the world needs you! Keep sharing your gifts and believing that the world you imagine has the potential to be a better one than the world we now know.
Processor or Thinker »»
Posted on Feb 24, 2010
Chips comprised of tiny electronic integrated circuits are everywhere. CPUs reside on motherboards for our computers, laptops, notebooks and calculators. Chips add personalized messages within childhood storybooks and still others hammer out electronic tones when special greeting cards are unfolded. Recently, automotive chips controlling acceleration, breaking and airbags have made news. There is a reason the fundamental semiconductor chip on a motherboard is called a Central Processing Unit (CPU). Such chips and the computers they serve are processors; they are not thinkers. Computers follow a programmed set of instructions to process the data they are given and then post a response. The chips do not evaluate the response they are about to share to see if it passes “the smell test.” This is why with the emergence of the computer age it became popular to hear the saying, “garbage in, garbage out.” Although the media, and to a large extent Hollywood, enjoys ascribing anthropomorphic characteristics to computers, they remain processors. We are humans; it is our job to be the thinkers.
Contemporary students must understand the distinction between processing and thinking; fortunately God has designed our brains to do both. Calculators process numbers and word processors process words. Neither operation requires the computer to think, even once. Processing is simply no substitute for thinking. Anyone who has been spun in circles by a Hertz “Never Lost®” system will relate to the couple from Japan who proudly drove from the showroom in a new, GPS-equipped car built to decipher signals from the navigational satellite network. All the maps for a lifetime of journeys throughout Japan were at their fingertips. For their inaugural excursion the couple carefully entered their destination and smiled as the display plotted their route. The pair followed instructions precisely, even though this required driving through barricades, across an active construction site and off a bridge that had been demolished for repairs! Processing can be tidy and fast. Thinking is often messy and slow. It is safer too!
Throughout the course of history it has never been easier to process information. However, with each passing day the ability to THINK is an evermore important asset.
Co-pilot »»
Posted on Feb 17, 2010
One year ago last month, the name Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger was etched into the history books and added to the common lexicon. The captain’s miraculous landing of a powerless Airbus 320A on the Hudson River saved the lives of all 150 passengers and crew. This January, Captain Sully was the Grand Marshall for the 121st Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA.
God is My Co-pilot was a World War II movie made in 1945; most of us are more familiar with the slogan, bumper sticker or band of the same name. Leaving aside the issue of human ego placing God in Seat 2, the obvious conclusion is that co-pilots are indispensable! However, (God being the exception) co-pilots are rarely known by name and even more rarely celebrated. Jeff Skiles was also at the controls of that famous US Airways Airbus when it glided onto the Hudson. My guess is that he too played an essential role as the plane dropped toward the water below!
The world has celebrated Marie Curie, Mother Teresa, Henry Ford, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Drew, George Carver and Albert Einstein; rightly so. Regardless, none of these great men and women flew solo. For each Martin Luther in the glow of notoriety, there is a Philip Melanchthon. It was Rev. Melanchthon whose quiet reflection, scholarship and discretion strengthened and emboldened the loquacious Martin Luther. It is Philip Melanchthon buried in Wittenberg Chapel beside his more notorious friend. Although, few recall the names of such hidden heroes, it makes them no less important in life or history.
Although more contemporary singers made Roger Whittaker’s, You Are The Wind Beneath My Wings famous, the words and original recording are his. The song is a celebration of the hidden heroes who occupy the seat of “co-pilot.” Where are you located today? Are you a pilot or a co-pilot, on stage or in the wings, bigger than life or feeling a tad littler? Celebrate your gifts and remember, on January 14, 2009 only a select few had ever heard of a man named Chesley B. Sullenberger!
Time Travel »»
Posted on Feb 10, 2010
The newest installment of the Olympic Games opens this weekend; this time the winter games are being held in snow-starved Vancouver, B.C. The games, whether winter or summer are filled with contests judged by elapsed time. The older one gets, time vaults rung upon rung on the ladder of importance. With the passing of each friend and family member, and with each year’s repeat of a treasured event or holiday, I am reminded that time truly is a precious gift.
It is common to speak of never having “enough hours in the day.” This of course is fallacy. The number of hours in each day has been fairly constant for millions of years! When I reflect honestly, it is easy to notice that even if my days were 48 hours long, I STILL would not have enough time. My problem with time is a “priorities problem” not a “time problem.” Years ago now, the time-thoughts of an unknown author caught my attention; those thoughts went something like this:
Imagine that there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400; however, it will not carry over a single penny’s cash balance from day to day. Each morning the bank cancels whatever part of the credit you failed to use during the prior day. The bank provides a new credit and you must begin anew. What would you do? Draw off every cent every day, of course!
Everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning you are credited with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost whatever you have failed to use. No balance is carried forward. No overdrafts! Each day a new credit, each evening the account record is burned. If you fail to use the credit for the day, the loss is yours. You must live in the present on today’s deposit. Invest it wisely, the clock is running!
To realize the value of ONE YEAR, scan your family photo album in year-long increments;
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who has given birth to a pre-mature baby;
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly news journal;
To realize the value of ONE DAY, ask the day laborer with 5 mouths to feed;
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers waiting to meet;
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who arrives at the gate as their jet is pushing back;
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who has just survived a near-fatal car accident;
To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND, ask the Olympic athlete who is standing on the Silver or Bronze Medal Platform in Vancouver!
Use one of your seconds today to treasure the time you have been given!
Vision and Understanding »»
Posted on Feb 03, 2010
A friend of mine once had what you might call an eye-opening experience when it was time for her driver’s license renewal. That particular year she discovered that the process required that she appear in person at her local DMV office. Things were going well when she was asked to take the vision exam. The left eye exam went flawlessly and then the attendant requested, “Now, let’s move to the right eye.” “There is nothing on the right side,” she said. “Now, madam, there certainly IS a right side,” said the DMV agent sternly. “Really, come check your viewer, the right side is blank!” insisted my friend. After some apparently persuasive give-and-take, the DMV attendant walked around the counter to peer through the viewer herself. Voila! There WAS a right side; it was simply an indistinguishable blur to Susan. It seems that when Susan’s contact lenses were prescribed, she only required distance correction. To avoid confusion during close-up computer work she wore only one contact lens! After a doctor’s verification that all really was in focus, Susan was allowed back behind the wheel.
It is easy to recall individuals trapped by analogous situations. As Mark Twain famously observed, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” When we become so comfortable with a preconceived notion, a justifying explanation or a carefully crafted rationalization that they become our “vision,” we are at risk for one of Susan’s eye-opening experiences. At such times, we are tempted to believe that there is no need to check further; after all we are seeing things just fine. If we become too entrenched, even though the conflicting evidence supplied by external checks and balances screams that our “vision” is incorrect, we labor first to explain that it is the “machinery,” which is in need of repair. What we need is vision correction in each eye!
As we navigate our way through life we all have multiple opportunities to reflect upon our vision and understanding. It is helpful to have trusted observers verify our interpretations and to have cultivated enough personal humility to heed Mark Twain’s warning. It is also helpful to remember that we cannot make someone see an alternative view. What we can do is to explain how WE see it and then move on to tilt other windmills. Besides, there is safety in the vision of the group and with any luck we will not all see the same mirage at the same time!
Reaching Out »»
Posted on Jan 27, 2010
On the first Sunday in February the space shuttle Endeavor is scheduled to liftoff for the international space station. As the NASA program has matured and space travel has become routine, it is hard to remember that we are closing in on the 50th anniversary of the first manned, orbital space flight. Former Senator and astronaut John Glenn’s career at NASA included both that first orbital mission and a shuttle flight. In his public talks, Colonel Glenn often reflects with the audience about the elaborate planning that preceded his groundbreaking three orbit flight.
Due to the extremely limited history of manned space flight in the early 1960’s a great deal of crisis planning and “worst-case” thinking accompanied the preparation for each launch. John Glenn knew that the first minutes of his flight were among the most dangerous and that after launch his initial flight path would cross a number of primitive cultures. The astronaut approached his flight team with the suggestion that perhaps primitive tribesmen would be totally unprepared to see a silver-suited man fall from the heavens and he suggested that he’d like to carry some simple phrases to allow communication! The linguists immediately went to work to prepare the typical cliché phrases, which according to the astronaut followed the theme … “come in peace … take me to your leader … big reward!” In the process of working on the translations an interesting insight struck Colonel Glenn. In the languages of each primitive culture the words for “stranger” and “enemy” were always the same!
In our culture we sometimes approach strangers with skepticism as we attempt to discover our common interests and values; however, we seldom assume a posture of implied enmity. I’m thankful for our approach. It is difficult enough to be a stranger! As we gather tonight for our open house and dinner to support financial assistance needs at RPDS, let me encourage you to get to know a stranger in our school community. This habit is also easy to practice in the stores you frequent, in your neighborhood or within organizations to which you belong. The stranger you meet may become the best friend you are longing for.
To Be Yourself »»
Posted on Jan 20, 2010
One of the most difficult tasks in life is allowing others to be unique and to celebrate with them that uniqueness. The overwhelming temptation is to apply cookie-cutter molding. While shopping last week I overheard a mother lament to the younger of her two sons, “why can’t you be like Anthony?” A different teenager at The Gap cautioned her friend, “oh, you can’t pick that top, nobody is wearing those anymore!” Pick sports not music, pick Florida not Florida State, get a “real job” even though you love photography. I’m certain you can supply many more examples of the cultural squeeze that at its heart is really an attempt to say, “one size fits all.” Perhaps subconsciously we are merely attempting to validate our own choices by garnering like thinkers. I came across the following thoughts, written anonymously, (I hope the author wasn’t afraid of what others would think!) which comically challenge us to embrace differences.
A man went to the tailor to have a suit made cheaply, but when the suit was finished and he went to try it on it didn’t fit him at all. Complaining that the jacket was too big in back, the right arm was too long, one pant leg was too short and three buttons were missing, the man was justifiably upset. “No problem,” said the tailor. “Just hunch your back, bend your arm, walk with a limp, and stick your fingers through the button holes and you’ll look just fine!” Momentarily duped by the tailor, the man contorted his body to fit the suit and he left the shop. The fellow had not walked one block when he was approached by a stranger. “Who made that suit for you?” asked the stranger. “I’m in the market for a new suit myself.” Surprised, but pleased at the compliment, the man pointed out the tailor’s shop. “Well, thanks very much,” said the stranger, hurrying off. “I do believe I’ll go to that tailor for my suit; he must be a genius to fit a cripple like you.”
A Hasidic teaching summarizes the moral of this Headliner, “If your child has a talent to be a baker, don’t ask him to be a doctor.” It can be crippling to artificially remold important components of life merely to fit external desires and demands, but be careful; this is not a license for “anything goes.” What I am saying is that every child we teach, every person we befriend and each stranger we encounter is unique and deserves to be approached with wonder, not with a mark-up pencil for alterations.
