A real grab bag of ideas

A quick look at This Will Make You Smarter: New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking. This volume is very different from any other book that I have read. I will admit that I have not read the entire book. But in this case, that is not necessary. This is a collections of articles, most only 1-3 pages in length. They answer the question posed by the editor to an online (as far as I understand) community of scientists and general big thinkers. The question was "What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit?".

The answers, and there are 152 of them, are mind boggling far reaching. Some are just mind boggling, like the following from Stefano Boeri, a professor and architect.


A PROXEMICS OF URBAN SEXUALITY


In every room, in every house, in every street, in every city, movements, relations, and spaces are also defined with regard to logics of sexual attraction-repulsion between individuals. Even the most insurmountable ethnic or religious barriers can suddenly disappear in the furor of intercourse; even the warmest and most cohesive community can rapidly dissolve in the absence of erotic tension. To understand how our cosmopolitan and multigendered cities work, we need a proxemics of urban sexuality.

That selection, which is the entire article by that author, is at one end of the spectrum. Most are more prosaic. Such as the one by Stewart Brand, about our interconnectedness and dependance on Microbes, or by Robert R. Provine about TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch). Others choose the concept of the Double Blind experiment, because they feel the general public is too dependent on stories and anecdotes instead of hard scientific procedures to make decisions.

As a logical thinking engineer, I can follow and agree with a lot of the concepts suggestion, though some take a decidedly anti-religious stance. Despite that, I find this is a worthwhile book, to at least pick up in the library or bookstore to browse. The greatest benefit I find is the opportunity to meet some contemporary authors. Their current job, and at least one of their published books is listed with their short article.


How would you answer the question at the heart of this book?

A Witty Financial Travelogue

I just finished listening to the audio version of  Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World. It is advertised as a humorous account of the author's experiences researching the financial crisis of 2007 to the present.
I must admit that I have read very little about the financial crisis of that time period, but my general impression was that the United States had some very sketchy financial practices which very nearly took down the entire world economy. While there was some truth to that, there was also a lot of really imprudent happenings around the globe.

Michael Lewis, a financial journalist with a long string of best sellers, starts his account in Iceland where the global financial crisis bankrupt an entire nation. He talks to individuals who are coping with the aftermath. He also touches on the national character that led them to such a mess. It reminds me about the internet bubble where everyone thought that they were a savvy investor, because everything was moving up. A small number of Icelanders took advantage of cheap credit and created their own bubble.


Michael then goes to Greece, that has been making a lot of headlines these days.  The characters he talks to are fascinating, including a group of savvy monks that bartered themselves up from being ancient owners of an obscure lake to being billionaires. The cautionary note is to be careful to whom you confess your sins.

Ireland is the next stop where we find that cheap credit caused a property development boom that was entirely unsustainable. The government, in trying to prevent a popping of that bubble, also guaranteed the loans made by their banks. The resulting burden to Ireland's taxpayer was awesome but also accepted in a good-natured manner.

Next Michael visits Germany. This stalwart financial bastion of hard work and prudence played the moronic straight man to America's sub-prime loan escapades. Michael tries to explain the national mindset that led to such a seemingly unexpected break from character. He makes the point for a national anal (in both senses of the word) fetish with all things scatological. The pristine exterior of the national character, hid a fascination with some very "dirty" financial dealings. Caution: the language here is a bit strong at times.

Lastly Michael visits the good old U. S of A where he looks at how the crisis affected the States and municipalities. There is an interesting visit with the former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, where we learn a few things, such as that his jumping into the race for governor was apparently a last minute gag on Leno. The trip through the ravaged financial landscape goes through San Jose, and then to Vallejo, where the burden of government employee pensions is so great the entire government has ground to nearly stopped.

In all this was more of a financial travelogue that entertains while it educates. The strong language is fortunately localized and not persuasive, but you need to be careful if you are going to play the audio in the car with the family. The actor that read my version sounded a little like Jim Gaffigan, whom I call the bacon  comic. It makes me want to explore more about the financial crisis and read more or Michael Lewis' books.

Four tips to keep off the extra pounds

I just finished an amazingly interesting book by Brian Wansink, Ph.D. Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. Wansink has conducted hundreds of experiments to find what affects our eating habits. This book ties in well with the Willpower book I reviewed here. That book recommended that you not try to diet. In this book it shows how we mindlessly eat more that we know.

Instead of needing to diet we can avoid the extra 100 calories or more that we consume when mindlessly eating more than  we need. Here are some of his strategies that he covers in more interesting detail in his book.

1. Dish out 20% less main course, and 20% more veggies before you think you will want to eat. You will barely notice what you are missing.
2. Dish out your food on your plate once, instead of making multiple smaller trips, or eating out of a box or carton.
3. Use tall thin glasses and smaller plates and bowls to limit that amount of food you will eat.
4. Make overeating a hassle, by leaving serving dishes in the kitchen, not on the dinner table (except when it's salad).

There are even more suggestions that will make people enjoy more the food you prepare, and will make your home more healthy.

The last section of the book compares different popular diet plans. The book will help you eat better without making you suffer.

Use the Latest Science to Organize your Mind

Jill was a patient of Dr. Hammerness who was plagued by the consequences of her disorganization and forgetfulness.  She was helped by the creation of a launch pad, where she could empty her pockets upon arriving,  and find her keys when she was preparing to leave the apartment. This was example of the application of simple principles. 

In Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life: Train Your Brain to Get More Done in Less Time. Paul Hammerness, MD, a Harvard Psychiatrist and Margaret Moore, an Executive Coach have authored a guide to curing mental distractions, forgetfulness and much more. John Hanc also contributed as a coauthor (though his contribution might have been as an editor, because there was no visible footprint of his in the reading).

The approach taken suits the expertise of both Hammerness and Moore. The steps to getting control of our crazy life are introduced as Rules of Order as explained below:

1. Tame the Frenzy - Acknowledge and manage emotions
2. Sustain Attention - Maintain Focus and ignore distractions
3. Apply the Brakes - Inhibit or stop actions or thoughts, when appropriate
4. Mold Information - Capitalize on working memory to focus, analyze and process
5. Shift Sets - Nimbly move from one  task or thought to another (NOT multitask)
6. Connect the Dots - Bring together and apply all the rules.

Each section covers one of the Rules. It starts with a case study of someone struggling with the mentioned principle and Hammerness reviews the latest science about brain structure and behavior as relates to the principle. Finally Moore calls upon her experience as a professional coach, helping people make the necessary changes.

This approach seems in line with recent self help books that reference the latest brain science. The recent progress in brain imaging has been remarkable and seems to do a lot to explain more about why we act as we do. There are references included in the back of this book that allow the reader to probe deeper, though the number of references seem a little light for a book of this scope.

There are good ideas shared by Moore to implement change, but the connection between the science and rules seems a little contrived. As if the book started with the rules and then the science was added to give it credibility, or to make it an interesting read. "Mold Information" was an example of a concept that did not completely make sense to me. The case study is of a man who is very busy, but suffers from forgetfulness, and the section concentrates on Working Memory, but does not fully make the connection between that and Mold Information. The science referred to is gone over very lightly and includes mention of a Japanese study about the plasticity of the brain, but offers few details about it. The tips in Meg's section make good sense and are worth considering.

I like one piece of guidance given for the Rule "Sustain Attention". We are encouraged to look at the moments in life where we are in Flow. We need to analyze what is it that causes the Peak Attention at that moment. Maybe it is when we are addressing our specific strengths. She recommends taking a strengths assessment if we have not already. Such as :

• viacharacter.org
• strengthfinder.com
• strengths2020.com

She gives some tips to convert regular moments into flow activities.

The section of Mold Info also has some good ideas where work by Dr. Marie Pasinski  author of Beautiful Brain, Beautiful You: Look Radiant from the Inside Out by Empowering Your Mind is referenced.

The Appendix 2 of Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life: Train Your Brain to Get More Done in Less Time shares the Top 10 Disorganizational Complaints and their solutions. The solutions are simple and serve as a nice reminder of guidance shared by the book.

I recommend taking a look that this book and its practical guidance to get control of your disorganized mind.