Lateral Drift

Early this year, I read Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers, and have since become a avid believer in what he referred to as the 10,000 hour rule.  To my knowledge he was only the one to popularize the notion, not coin it.  The idea stuck with me possibly because I instinctively believed in the concept before I had heard of the rule.  The rule asserts that to become an expert in anything one must devote 10,000 hours of dedication to it’s study.  Gladwell points out a couple examples such as Bill Gates who likely logged in over 10,000 hours of programming experience by the time he entered college.  Obviously, this had much to do with his success.

To better understand what 10,000 hours entails in terms of a time scale, I have listed a couple examples:

Study 20 hours a week for 10 years

Study 6 hours a day for 4.5 years

These two estimates should clearly highlight an important fact.  Mastery takes time and lots of it.  Long-term goals and plans for how to achieve those goals through daily practice appear crucial for achieving mastery in any field.  I myself have realized the importance of daily micromanagement and goal setting to ensure I stay on track to accomplish my objectives.  Realistically, most people, myself included, do not commit 3 hours of daily study towards any one subject.  The amount needed to gain mastery within 10 years.  With this in mind, we must then become realistic about the level of knowledge we expect to achieve in any one time period.

The 10,000 Hour Rule and Modern Society

Today’s modern world, which revolves around information technology, allows many of us to spend much of our day wasting time; watching television and browsing the internet (something I am seeking to limit myself).  In fact, according to a federal study in 2008 men and women on average spent 3 hours and 12 minutes a day watching TV.  I think future studies will find increasing amounts of time being consumed by internet use as well.  The point I am trying to raise by pulling these numbers is that if we reallocated more of our time away from the television which I would argue offers little for personal growth, and into something more intellectually or physically stimulating, we would free ourselves up to become quite skilled.  The hours we put in at school just are not adequate.  We must be committed to putting in our own personal work efforts to achieve mastery.

I think the lessons learned from this idea of how much time it takes to become masterful at something illustrate that although it is good to think and plan long term, one must set these plans into our daily lives.  We need to analyze our goals and decide if we can put in the time necessary to achieve the skill level we are aiming for.  We also need to start looking at the amount of hours we spend doing idle mindless things such as watching TV and realize the long-term impact of opportunities lost.  To end on an inspiring note, I believe that this rule also illustrates that you don’t have to be a genius to become good at something; you just need to put in your dues.

On Feb. 15, 2010, Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote a great post in his column called, “Do the country a favor, Sarah Palin, and run for president.”  The article speaks for itself, but  I just thought I would pass it along to those who may have missed it.

“DEAR SARAH PALIN:
I hear you’re pondering a run for the White House in 2012. Last week, you told Fox news it would be “absurd” to rule it out.

I’m writing to ask that you rule it in. I very badly want you to run for – and “win” – the Republican nomination for the presidency.

I know you’re waiting for the punch line. Maybe you figure I think you’d be a weak candidate who would pave the way for President Obama’s easy re-election.

That’s not it. No, I want you to run because I believe a Palin candidacy would force upon this country a desperately needed moment of truth. It would require us to finally decide what kind of America we want to be.

Mrs. Palin, you are an avatar of the shameless hypocrisy and cognitive disconnection that have driven our politics for the last decade, a process of stupidification creeping like kudzu over our national life.

As Exhibit A, consider your recent speech at a so-called “tea party” event, wherein you dismissed the president as a “charismatic guy with a teleprompter.” Bad enough you imply that teleprompter use is the mark of an insubstantial man, even though you and every other major politician use them. But what made the comment truly jaw-dropping is that even as you spoke, you had penned on your left palm, clearly visible, a series of crib notes.

Mrs. Palin, if Obama is an idiot for reading a prepared speech off a teleprompter, what are you for reading notes you’ve inked on your hand like a school kid who failed to study for the big test?

In the Fox interview, you scored Obama for supposedly expecting Americans to “sit down and shut up” and accept his policies. But when asked when the president has ever said that, you couldn’t answer. Obama, you sputtered, has just been condescending with his “general persona.”

I found that a telling moment. See, ultimately what you represent is not conservatism. Heck, I suspect that somewhere, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan are spinning like helicopter rotors at the very idea.

No, you represent the latest iteration of an anti-intellectualism that periodically rises in the American character. There is, historically and persistently, a belief in us that y’all just can’t trust nobody who acts too smart or talks too good – in other words, somebody whose “general persona” indicates they may have once cracked a book or had a thought. Americans tend to believe common sense the exclusive province of humble folks without sheepskins on the wall or big words in their vocabularies.

I don’t mock those people. They are my parents, my family elders, members of my childhood church. I honor their native good sense, what mom called “mother wit.” But if it is insulting to condescend to them, it is equally insulting to mythologize them.

More to the point, something is wrong when we celebrate mental mediocrity like yours under the misapprehension that competence or, God forbid, “intelligence,” makes a person one of those “elites” – that’s a curse word now – lacking authenticity, compassion and common sense.

So no, this is not a clash of ideologies, but a clash between intelligence and its opposite. And I am tired of being asked to pretend stupid is a virtue. That’s why I’d welcome the moment of truth your campaign would bring. It would force us to decide once and for all whether we are permanently committed to the path of ignorance, of birthers, truthers and tea party incoherence you represent, or whether we will at last turn back from the cliff toward which we race.

If the latter, wonderful, God bless America. If the former, well, some of us can finally quit hoping the nation will return to its senses and plan accordingly. Either way, we need to know, and your candidacy would tell us. If you love this country, Mrs. Palin, you can do it no greater service.

Run, Sarah, run.”

Leonard Pitts Jr, was the winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary and is a columnist for the Miami Herald.

Stumbled across these two futuristic tech videos of what could be revolutionary new ideas for computing.  The first video is a demo of a company developing the Minority Report style hand manipulation, and the second is of a new touch interaction that would reshape the way we use desktops.  Both cool ideas and thought I would pass them on for the other tech geeks out there.

g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.

10/GUI from C. Miller on Vimeo.

Choosing just one quote from The Wisdom of Insecurity is almost an impossible task; however, I decided to share this quote because it poses as a good counterbalance when reading any philosophical theory (including his own).

“One can only attempt a rational, descriptive philosophy of the universe on the assumption that one is totally separate from it.  But if you and your thoughts are part of this universe, you cannot stand outside them to describe them.  This is why all philosophical and theological systems must ultimately fall apart.  To ‘know’ reality you cannot stand outside it and define it; you must enter into it, be it, and feel it.”

-Alan W. Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity, pg114

Preparing to live overseas, as many may know, can be quite the process.  For the last couple months, I have been preparing for a year long move to South Korea where I will be teaching English as a second language.  Besides the obvious administrative tasks that go along with traveling outside the county, such as applying for visa,  a lot of prep work is involved if you want to hit the ground running.  Below I have compiled a short list of things I do to prepare for any long journey. They should also help to minimize any feelings of culture shock you experience over your stay.  Hopefully, this list will be of some help to others that find themselves in similar circumstances.

1.  Learn As Much of the Language As You Can

From taking a taxi, going to the grocery store, to making native friends, every bit of the target language you learn will help make your experience go more smoothly.  In everyday interactions, trying to speak someone else’s language will generally arouse a softer tone and more receptive response.  Most people are happy that you are attempting to speak their language as it demonstrates respect and interest in their culture.  But learning the language of the country to which you are traveling will do more than facilitate taking a taxi.  It can open up new worlds and opportunities that would have not been accessible otherwise.  I know from experience that had I only visited restaurants in Peru or Spain catered towards English speakers and not gone off the beaten path to where the locales dine, I would have missed many culinary gems.  I mean this in the context of the quality of the food but it is important to note that most of these restaurants were considerably cheaper as well.

If you plan on staying in country for a considerable amount of time as I am about to do there is another benefit to learning the native language; making new friends.  I have heard that for South Korea specifically there are many people who already know how to speak English to some extent, and many teachers have gotten by for a whole year of teaching without learning any Korean, but doing so, in my opinion, will only limit your ability to branch out and meet native people who would have otherwise been out of reach.  I have a suspicion that most who decide not to pick up any of the language are spending the majority, if not all of their time, with fellow ex-pats.  If that seems sufficient for you, then perfect, but if you are like me and are traveling to a new place for the chance to learn and experience a new culture, I wouldn’t recommend that road.

In the end, weighing factors such as the amount of time you will spend in the country, useful application of the language after you leave, and personal interest in building new friendships will determine how much time you will spend studying.  I personally have studied Korean about 80-100 hours, and now feel I have a basic grasp of the language and general expressions.

2.  Study Basic History, Geography, and Culture

Knowing the basic history, geography, and culture of a country will greatly help you put your new surroundings into context and will help alleviate any culture shock and confusion you may suffer as a result of not knowing the basics.  I am not saying that I go out and sit down for hours reading history books but I instead usually tackle this in a more entertaining way.  To prepare for Korea, I have watched numerous Korean movies, browsed a coffee table picture guide to Korean culture, and read it’s Wikipedia.  These things along with small cultural lessons in my Korean language lessons have made learning about this stuff painless.

3.  Learn How to Effectively Teach in Another Culture

This step is specifically for those who are planning or thinking about teaching in another culture.  As I have learned from researching about teaching in Korea, the role of a teacher, student, or school can be much different from those in the United States.  Going into a position blindly unaware of dramatic differences in the teaching environment could make your job unnecessarily stressful and could potentially hinder your students ability to learn successfully.  I am by no means an expert on teaching nor teaching in an Asian culture, but the little time I have put into studying the academic environment has already changed my approach for how to better tackle my job.

4.  Pack Wisely

This step is essential and obviously unavoidable on almost any trip you will take.  Usually for smaller trips my mantra is to pack as light as possible.  When vacationing you will find yourself having to lug your bags around a lot and the less junk you have to carry the happier you and your arms will be.  This however does not necessarily apply to extended stays. I learned from my previous experience that for longer travels it is equally important to consider what you will have access to while living abroad.  For example, while living in Spain, I quickly found that it was very difficult to find good books to read in English, so this time around I am bringing a handful of books along with me .

Of course, the bulk of what you will be packing is clothes, and how many clothes to bring is a question I have asked myself again and again.  The attack I have chosen for my trip to Korea is a middle ground approach.  When I went to Spain, I erred more on the side of packing light and felt that I regretted doing this somewhat.  The reason for deciding to pack more clothes this time around is twofold.  The most obvious reason is that moving to any country with larger extremes in seasonal temperature necessitates packing more layers, but the second reason is a personal one.  I simply got bored of wearing the same 4-5 tee shirts and 2-3 dress shirts for five months straight.  You can began to feel unoriginal or never truly dressed up, and I think dress can affect your attitude.  Therefore, for my trip to Korea I am planning on bringing a much more varied set of clothing despite the cost of carrying more at the airport.  The few days of added frustration and back pain will surely be worth a year of added comfort.  Believe me, small comforts can go a very long way when living overseas.  As a note: I know you can always buy clothes wherever you are living but sometimes the sizes or styles you are accustomed to may not be available.

5. Plan Time with Family and Friends

Any extended trip across the world will usually mean some amount of isolation and unless you are fortunate enough to have family or friends overseas, you are unlikely to see many familiar faces for a while.  That is why it is so important to make time before you go to spend valuable time with your family and friends.  Plan yourself a going away party. You will not regret these moments later when you are braving it on your own.

Wrapping-Up

I have noted language preparation, studying the culture, researching how to teach in a foreign culture, packing wisely, and spending time with family and friends as steps I have personally taken to not only better prepare myself to be a more successful teacher but make the most of my stay overseas.  With any luck, these tips will help you do the same.  If anyone has advice or lessons learned from their own trip overseas, I encourage you to comment and share your knowledge with me and fellow readers.  Happy Travels!

I recently just finished watching the House Republican Retreat with invited guest President Obama and all I can say is awesome!  This is the most lively discussion and open attempt at real conversation that I have seen in a long time.  I hope that this kind of debate will continue and that the “slash and burn” style of politicking will be coming to an end.  Please watch and pass on these videos!

First video is the president’s speech:

The second video is a Q & A session:

While reading one of Nietzsche’s books today, I came across one section that reminded of a previous post I had written on the importance of the independent mind. It is the fictional character Zarathustra that also spoke to encourage independent thinking when he said:

“Now I go alone, my disciples!  You too now go away and alone!  So I will it.

Truly, I advise you: go away from me and guard yourselves against Zarathustra!  And better still: be ashamed of him!  Perhaps he has deceived you.

…One repays a teacher badly if one remains always only a student.”

-Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, pg 68-69

Beware simplification.  We are all prone to it’s allure.  Efficiency being it’s most attractive feature.  Watch how the stout defenders of some ideology embrace it!  Moving past the simplified brings light to the opponents arguments.  Something which the pride in us finds difficult to digest.  Simplification finds it’s home in advancing technology, where minute by minute updates mutates complex situations into 160 character messages.  Beware those who always seek to simplify.  They are likely lazy, ill informed, or dishonest.

I couldn’t resist any longer.  After playing the trial version of Myst for the Ipod, I officially made my first Itunes purchase to buy this classic game.  I, like so many others, have always been enchanted by the Myst series.  I finally played and finished (beat seems to be the wrong word to use here) this game a couple years back and am still enjoying it the second time around.

The transition to the Iphone/Ipod touch is a good one.  The controls hardly seemed hindered by the touch screen format.  In fact, in some ways it could be superior to mouse navigation.  There has only been a couple instances so far that the buttons you need to press seem a little difficult to hit because of screen size.  The graphics are also much better than the original version, which allows you to be absorbed into the new world without feeling like the game was made almost 20 years ago.

If you still haven’t gotten the chance to play the game that held the title of best selling PC game of all time for nearly a decade, I encourage you to try it now,  and for only $4.99, it’s fairly painless.  Just be forewarned that this game is hard and will take up 500mb of your storage space!  I also recommend staying away from the hint guide as much as possible as liberal use of it will take away much of the satisfaction of completing Myst.

Certainly, you have heard this assertion made before.  In fact, I feel that this idea has become ubiquitous; which is sad, because I think that a lot of people would take up learning a new language if they didn’t feel that somehow the odds were stacked against them and that it is too late.  Here is a quote that I took from the Linguistics Society of America.  They are not the only ones to express this opinion but I think it will serve as a good example for argument.

“When you were born, you were not able to communicate with the adults around you using their language. But by the time you were five or six, you were    able to produce sentences, understand jokes, make rhymes, and so on. In short, you became a fluent native speaker. All of this happened before you entered first grade! (If you studied a foreign language in high school, you know that learning a language later in life did not go nearly as smoothly or as quickly.) During those first few years of your life, you accumulated a wide range of knowledge about language.”

Lets take some of these statements and examine them.

“But by the time you were five or six, you were able to produce sentences, understand jokes, make rhymes, and so on.”

The important fact to pull from this is the time period – five or six years!  Remember, as a child I would consider this full time study.  From the moment they wake to the time they fall asleep they are analyzing and working on perfecting their language skills.  Again, for five or six years.

“In short, you became a fluent native speaker.”

Please keep in mind that fluency is not a true/false issue but one that is based on a spectrum.  Surely, you do not claim that a six year old is of the same fluency as a doctoral student.

“If you studied a foreign language in high school, you know that learning a language later in life did not go nearly as smoothly or as quickly.”

Here is where we must argue that we are not comparing apples with apples.  When studying language at school, as I did for four years, you know that the amount of time in the target language is very minimal.  In fact, it is likely that only a couple hours a day at best are spent studying the language.  Moreover, as was the case in my school, you are not immersed into the learning experience.  I was taught Spanish in English and the amount of time spent speaking the language was very little.*  To the last part of this statement, I am not sure that learning English was easy as a child (it obviously wasn’t quick), but what other choice did we have.

Now, I don’t have a linguistics degree and neither do I have the experience that many of these linguistics have that assert this common belief but the facts do not appear to be conclusive.  I think that if you placed an adult into a foreign culture where they were forced to speak and be surrounded in the target language 24/7 for five to six years you would find that they were at least able to speak at the level of a 1st grader.  Although, I have the sneaky suspicion that they will be performing much better, as they will most likely have gained this level of fluency years before.  It is up to you to decide if really kids are better at learning a second language but I say the jury is still out.

*Here is one way that kids may have an advantage.  Practice makes perfect in language learning as with anything else and a child is much less nervous to speak incorrectly and learn from his/her mistakes than an adult in a classroom.  One on one tutoring may be a solution for more timid language learners.