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crankyoldmanAnother sort of braindump, since I need this out of my head before I scan my notes again for my test.
So I went to the library yesterday for part of my study time and to return some slightly overdue books (which luckily only cost me $0.90, since I totally was only two days late). I was looking for the next book on Flow (which relates it to creativity specifically, which is actually what I've really decided to focus on, due to the freaky voodoo of two of my classes lining up like that) but it wasn't there, so I picked up another book recc from History Gast (Blink by Malcolm Gladwell), some Jung book that caught my eye, and then I made a bee-line for the graphic novels.
As part of my study, I've been looking at things with pictures more, trying to sort of wake up that side of my brain more. I'd forgotten the impact illustrations had on my memory, specifically color ones. This is totally what gave me the idea to color code my notes after printing them out, and I'm probably going to babble about that stuff later, because I've become such an organization nerd. Anyway.
I picked up Watchmen. I've been tempted to get it from the library for a while, because it's yellow and it's Alan Moore related and I think I rather like Alan. I know, some of you are like, "omg, you've never read that?" but keep in mind that, well, things like comics and video games weren't actually encouraged by my parents. It wasn't until I started dating a guy with no connection to reality that I got exposed to all this stuff that takes up my time now. I was a kid that read more nonfiction than fiction, mind you. Voluntarily.
All this weird reading on intuition, reaction, creativity and all that and being linked to an article yesterday sort of got me thinking about ADD as a cultural thing. Because it really has gotten that way. That's one of the major problems with the traditional lecture format in education, is that culturally, we have no attention spans. Sure, part of me says we simply need to get our damn kids to sit their asses down, but really, it's a little too late for that now.
That's been a major stumbling block in my own progress... I don't have ADD, I can focus just fine when I want to. But I've gotten very very comfortable with the mindset of multitasking and switching between activities. I have a very cyclic nature to my interests, and I sort of have to stir them up to stay on a long term project. I blame part of this (because I really wasn't always like this) to my disillusionment with the system as it stands, and losing a great deal of the excitement I used to have with things. Well, until recently. This semester reminded me that I can honestly get excited about learning again.
The biggest thing I've worked on is to do one thing at a time. This may sound, well, like common sense, but today that kind of focus is only rewarded if you're making money. And you can't keep up that kind of focus for eight hours a day, like employers want. In fact, I suspect that kind of time imposition and forced structure really kills a lot of productivity. This is a direct contrast to the "fun" things we're encouraged to do--television itself has become a kind of ADD, flipping between scenes, commercials. In fact, they want you to channel-surf, because chances are you'll stumble on their show or advertisement.
The funny thing about simply doing one thing at a time? Shit gets done faster. I know, crazy, right? This is why I won't leave my programming class's lab until I'm done (or done to my satisfaction) with the assignment. This is probably also not helped by insomnia, because the best time for me to focus is at about 2 am. But since I've started waking up, I'm also pretty focused in the mornings. I can't do shit in the afternoon, that's usually when I start an LJ entry. XD
Anyway, off that tangent, what the hell does ADD have to do with what I'm studying, in school or at work?
A lot, actually. It's extremely hard to get a kid interested enough to focus on anything these days, but video games do a damn good job of it. Educators have been trying to figure it out for years, and even now, there's only just a little bit of work to sort of explain it. It goes back to what I said about excitement. It doesn't have to actually be shiny though, just... it has to trick the mind out of the mundane. The creativity and imagination of youth is inspired mainly by the fact we don't know much of anything. So everything feels fresh. The repetition and predictability of adulthood effectively makes creativity and imagination harder to tap into.
How I think a lot of us adjust to this loss (because it's a loss, and it's making us miserable) is by flicking between things until they are no longer stale. The fact that this is occurring at younger and younger ages absolutely scares the crap out of me. I know that my bosses' kids are alright, because they can entertain themselves. This is not the case with a lot of children anymore. Shit, I remember that I could entertain myself for hours with a gyroscope.
In designing problems that were interesting, all my scrapped first ideas were, well, too complicated. Even the Nuclear Reactor problem that I am so proud of has improvements to be made. I was a measure shocked that the problem that annoyed me the most because it's an example of idiocy that I spent a month cleaning up into a better lesson was the best received (who knew that kids would like a rate problem? I sure as fuck didn't think they would). You just need the proper hook, reasonable goals, and accessible tools.
People with actual ADD, I'm sorry. I only hope that you have found ways to cope. I couldn't imagine being unable to focus evar. I wouldn't be the person I am today if I couldn't focus like a mad scientist every once in a while (that's how I wrote my first![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ff_exchange story, it was late enough at night and well... I hit flow).
But culturally, we can adjust to these attention spans, and we can sharpen them. I really think that. And I don't think it's through text, but pictures. Which is where this kind of connects to the graphic novel I picked up. My god, I missed out on a lot as a kid. Graphic novels and comics are so rich in storytelling sometimes. And even if some may think it "takes the imagination out of it", somehow, it doesn't. Expressions are interpreted. How we put together all the images, how we sequence... it can change the effect of a story. It's kind of amazing.
What encourages bad focus is passivity, I think. The real challenge is to insert people back into their own activities and education, make them the stewards again.
Anyway, that was a bit of a ramble, mainly just needed it out of my head. Also warming up for essay questions on my exam. XD Always helps if I've flicked into the mode right beforehand. Because I totally wrote this ramble in one go. Yay.
~Cendri
So I went to the library yesterday for part of my study time and to return some slightly overdue books (which luckily only cost me $0.90, since I totally was only two days late). I was looking for the next book on Flow (which relates it to creativity specifically, which is actually what I've really decided to focus on, due to the freaky voodoo of two of my classes lining up like that) but it wasn't there, so I picked up another book recc from History Gast (Blink by Malcolm Gladwell), some Jung book that caught my eye, and then I made a bee-line for the graphic novels.
As part of my study, I've been looking at things with pictures more, trying to sort of wake up that side of my brain more. I'd forgotten the impact illustrations had on my memory, specifically color ones. This is totally what gave me the idea to color code my notes after printing them out, and I'm probably going to babble about that stuff later, because I've become such an organization nerd. Anyway.
I picked up Watchmen. I've been tempted to get it from the library for a while, because it's yellow and it's Alan Moore related and I think I rather like Alan. I know, some of you are like, "omg, you've never read that?" but keep in mind that, well, things like comics and video games weren't actually encouraged by my parents. It wasn't until I started dating a guy with no connection to reality that I got exposed to all this stuff that takes up my time now. I was a kid that read more nonfiction than fiction, mind you. Voluntarily.
All this weird reading on intuition, reaction, creativity and all that and being linked to an article yesterday sort of got me thinking about ADD as a cultural thing. Because it really has gotten that way. That's one of the major problems with the traditional lecture format in education, is that culturally, we have no attention spans. Sure, part of me says we simply need to get our damn kids to sit their asses down, but really, it's a little too late for that now.
That's been a major stumbling block in my own progress... I don't have ADD, I can focus just fine when I want to. But I've gotten very very comfortable with the mindset of multitasking and switching between activities. I have a very cyclic nature to my interests, and I sort of have to stir them up to stay on a long term project. I blame part of this (because I really wasn't always like this) to my disillusionment with the system as it stands, and losing a great deal of the excitement I used to have with things. Well, until recently. This semester reminded me that I can honestly get excited about learning again.
The biggest thing I've worked on is to do one thing at a time. This may sound, well, like common sense, but today that kind of focus is only rewarded if you're making money. And you can't keep up that kind of focus for eight hours a day, like employers want. In fact, I suspect that kind of time imposition and forced structure really kills a lot of productivity. This is a direct contrast to the "fun" things we're encouraged to do--television itself has become a kind of ADD, flipping between scenes, commercials. In fact, they want you to channel-surf, because chances are you'll stumble on their show or advertisement.
The funny thing about simply doing one thing at a time? Shit gets done faster. I know, crazy, right? This is why I won't leave my programming class's lab until I'm done (or done to my satisfaction) with the assignment. This is probably also not helped by insomnia, because the best time for me to focus is at about 2 am. But since I've started waking up, I'm also pretty focused in the mornings. I can't do shit in the afternoon, that's usually when I start an LJ entry. XD
Anyway, off that tangent, what the hell does ADD have to do with what I'm studying, in school or at work?
A lot, actually. It's extremely hard to get a kid interested enough to focus on anything these days, but video games do a damn good job of it. Educators have been trying to figure it out for years, and even now, there's only just a little bit of work to sort of explain it. It goes back to what I said about excitement. It doesn't have to actually be shiny though, just... it has to trick the mind out of the mundane. The creativity and imagination of youth is inspired mainly by the fact we don't know much of anything. So everything feels fresh. The repetition and predictability of adulthood effectively makes creativity and imagination harder to tap into.
How I think a lot of us adjust to this loss (because it's a loss, and it's making us miserable) is by flicking between things until they are no longer stale. The fact that this is occurring at younger and younger ages absolutely scares the crap out of me. I know that my bosses' kids are alright, because they can entertain themselves. This is not the case with a lot of children anymore. Shit, I remember that I could entertain myself for hours with a gyroscope.
In designing problems that were interesting, all my scrapped first ideas were, well, too complicated. Even the Nuclear Reactor problem that I am so proud of has improvements to be made. I was a measure shocked that the problem that annoyed me the most because it's an example of idiocy that I spent a month cleaning up into a better lesson was the best received (who knew that kids would like a rate problem? I sure as fuck didn't think they would). You just need the proper hook, reasonable goals, and accessible tools.
People with actual ADD, I'm sorry. I only hope that you have found ways to cope. I couldn't imagine being unable to focus evar. I wouldn't be the person I am today if I couldn't focus like a mad scientist every once in a while (that's how I wrote my first
ff_exchange story, it was late enough at night and well... I hit flow). But culturally, we can adjust to these attention spans, and we can sharpen them. I really think that. And I don't think it's through text, but pictures. Which is where this kind of connects to the graphic novel I picked up. My god, I missed out on a lot as a kid. Graphic novels and comics are so rich in storytelling sometimes. And even if some may think it "takes the imagination out of it", somehow, it doesn't. Expressions are interpreted. How we put together all the images, how we sequence... it can change the effect of a story. It's kind of amazing.
What encourages bad focus is passivity, I think. The real challenge is to insert people back into their own activities and education, make them the stewards again.
Anyway, that was a bit of a ramble, mainly just needed it out of my head. Also warming up for essay questions on my exam. XD Always helps if I've flicked into the mode right beforehand. Because I totally wrote this ramble in one go. Yay.
~Cendri
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-22 08:11 pm (UTC)Most adults in my parent’s generation have little to no self disciple which was a shock when I moved out into the working world and started interacting with them more.
So unless a child gets lucky with a mentor or personal inspiration they don’t get the chance to learn how to focus on things. It’s like while some people can miss with they don’t know must don’t so they never go looking for it, if that makes any sense.
So I’m pretty sure I’m agreeing with you, just a little bit tired and wordy.
Graphic novels are pretty awesome if a bit pricy. My parent were the sort that any reading even if it was junk was teaching you something so if all you’d read was comics then they’d buy comics or magic cards in the case of my brother.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-22 09:47 pm (UTC)And a "boring" thing like a Sunday school lesson is simple, though. They're not being bombarding with tons of things, so they can at least practice focusing.
And I'll bet they listen to some extent because "work and willingness" requires a little more than passive lecturing. I know the that lecturers I pay the most attention to I feel as if they are talking conversationally, not reciting?
If that makes any sense. XD
~Cendri