Learning About Learning: Critical Mass, Momentum and Learning

Critical Mass, Momentum and Learning
Written by Douglas Castle and originally published at http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com. I am delighted (although I always grumble and whine about it) to be a Featured Columnist in THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter. You can enjoy the latest issue by clicking on http://www.TheNationalNetworker.com, and you can obtain a free subscription at http://twitlik.com/OK.

Dear Readers:

I have always been a champion of executing a plan in increments -- a step at a time in a deliberate direction, with certain refinements along the way as warranted in the circumstances. I am still a proponent of this plan and execute strategy, but there is a consideration that I would like to introduce. It has to do with the paradoxical way in which we learn, versus the way in which we act.

We learn in chunks. We advance (in our knowledge and command of skills) in quantum leaps. We grow in sudden spurts, each a seeming epiphany or satori experience. Yet in order to get to the chunk , the leap or the epiphany, we must dedicate a certain critical minimum amount of time to doing an exercise, working at a job, mindfully meditating or watching a presentation in order to "build up" to these breakthroughs. It is as if we had to build up to a particular state in order to have this magic happen.

By way of example, I cannot increase my efficiency at working with a particular computer protocol unless I spend an hour or two immersed in it. If I just dabble at for fifteen minutes every day, or at sporadic intervals, I do not achieve the critical mass or momentum to make the jump. Once I've made the jump, I can sit down at the computer and execute the protocol more efficiently. Other examples abound...

If I run on the treadmill for fifteen minutes, I will neither break a sweat, nor find my stride. Even if I do this three times daily five day per week, I will still not stress my heart sufficiently to give me a significant cardiovascular benefit. It is this way with swimming, sparring, writing and so many other things in nature and in life.

Fond of metaphors, I have often used the example of driving up a mountain and taking one's foot off of the accelerator to demonstrate what happens (at worst case when momentum is lost). I have used the example of fissionable fuel being scattered all over the globe versus having it concentrated in sufficient mass in one place to illustrate critical mass. If you practice at your sport or your musical instrument too briefly each day, you will likely fail to "catch on" and advance in your playing ability. We need both mass and momentum to sharpen any of our physical and intellectual abilities. The interesting thing that does begin to happen with each hard-won advance ir that the one to follow it comes more rapidly and more easily - at least until the point of virtuousity, or to the point of physical or physiological limitation. It is absolutely true that one breakthrough leads to the next, but it is just as true that without the first hard-won breakthrough the subsequent ones may be eternally elusive.

Steps or increments provide a means to work toward a strategic goal (provided that the skills required to properly execute each step are already acquired), but learning requires critical mass and momentum. The picture that comes to mind is that of the stereotypical "larger-than-life" hero jumping from the roof of one building to the roof of another -- he requires a solid running start if he is to accumulate sufficient speed to scale the distance between the buildings. Failure to reach the ramp-up speed in time to make the jump will result in our hero looking like a cross between (why isn't that damned Spellcheck available on this Blogger Platform???) a Jackson Pollack painting and a hastily drawn Rorschach test pattern on the sidewalk many stories below.

Ironically, the much sought-after (this is an example of hyper-hyphenation) "Aha!" moment -- is not truly spontaneous; it is earned.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle
p.s. I am also going to be writing about the very controversial topic of procrastination as soon as I can find the time.

Labels and Terms: critical mass, momentum, accelerated learning, breakthrough learning, epiphanies, the process of growth, the science of learning, learning how to learn, Articles by Douglas Castle,


*Follow DOUGLAS CASTLE on TWITTER - http://twitter.com/douglascastle
*Follow DOUGLAS CASTLE on THE NATIONAL NETWORKER - http://twitter.com/TNNW_BUZZWORKS

Published by THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter. All rights reserved. Subscribe Free - Click HERE.
The National Networker Companies

TWITWITS

Dear Readers:

Twitter, the social medium of the masses, has certain inherent advantages and certain limitations.

On the asset side of the ledger:

1. It's free.

2. It's available to everyone.

3. Messages are limited to 140 characters, so there is no filibustering, monopolizing, or laborious waiting time for downloading.

4. It is a quick broadcast medium for anyone's use, either socially, commercially or politically.

5. It is a fine branding tool for achieving differentiation and name recognition through repetition.

On the liability side of the ledger:

1. It is difficult to express a thought clearly when you are limited to 140 characters. Posts are often misleading.

2. More than 1 in 5 tweets (Twitter posts) is either about Twitter-related devices and techniques, social media, or "get rich quick" business opportunities.

3. Tweeting is not truly engaging in a conversation -- it is a highly impersonal, public and overcrowded system of one-sided messaging. (Picture yelling in the middle of Grand Central Station during rush hour at Christmastime).

4. To gain and maintain brand identity or prominence on Twitter, you must post several times daily -- this can become quite a chore;

5. When you tweet, it becomes a part of the permanent archives of every search engine and data-mining device. There is no "erasing" or "eradicating" a tweet, once it has been posted.

Here's an excerpted article which demonstates that combining Twittering and political image-building, may not work out that well...

FROM YAHOO!

Print
Back to story

TMT: Too much Twitter?
2 hrs 11 mins ago

If the medium is the message, then what's the message when politicians use 140-character tweets to talk about their state's dire economic circumstances or ethics charges?
Yesterday, embattled Govs. Sarah Palin and Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed career-changing (or ending) issues facing them...on Twitter. Palin was responding to a new report on ethics charges against her, tweeting:

Re inaccurate story floating re:ethics violation/Legal Defense Fund;matter is still pending;new info was just requested even;no final report.

Palin's Twitter feed currently has more than 100,000 followers, including Gawker.com, which follows her every tweet, calling the soon-to-be former governor's feed "the best thing to ever happen on the internet." And not in a nice way.

No doubt even the most talented wordsmith must find it difficult to be eloquent and informative in 140 characters or less, but for politicians using a social-media tool to confront serious issues, they also run the risk of diminishing the importance of their message.

After negotiating a deal that will close the gap on California's jaw-dropping $26 billion deficit, Schwarzenegger posted a puzzling video message on his Twitter page. In it, the governor is wielding a huge knife, talking about selling state cars signed by the "celebrity governor." Even the governor's press secretary couldn't explain the knife.

From KABC:
"I don't know why he is holding a knife. The message is in what he is saying, not what he is holding in his hand."

L.A. residents were not impressed with Schwarzenegger's message, or the medium:
"To me it's not offensive. I think it's a little bit beneath him, but that's the governor," said Bob Barnes.

"He should be focusing on other things besides signing cars and holding a knife ... and being on Twitter," said Giovanni Matallana.

Ever since politicians jumped on the social-media bandwagon, critics have been questioning the wisdom of elected officials using Twitter on the job. In March, columnist Charlie Cook of the National Journal wrote that he has "yet to hear a single intelligent remark twittered by an elected official."

Bloggers at the Christian Science Monitor compiled a few examples of political tweets in a post entitled, "Politicians using Twitter: Morons or visionaries?"

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., likes to tweet about golf and ballet camp:
Proud of Tom Watson's effort. So close....
Youngest daughter, dancing Lily all packed, ready to go to ballet camp in Vermont early in am.

Meanwhile, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine., tweeted recently about taping an appearance on "The Colbert Report": "Takes a lot of make-up to do these things! (And Moxie, we even drank a little, or I did!)."

(Can't get enough of the moment-by-moment goings-on of D.C. movers and shakers? Not to worry: You can follow your favorite senator or congressman at Tweetcongress.com).

Moronic or visionary tweets aside, what about national security? In February, CQ Politics reported that Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., broke a national security embargo when he tweeted the details of a secret congressional trip to Iraq: "Just landed in Baghdad."

From CQ Politics:

Not only did Hoekstra reveal the existence of the lawmakers’ trip, but included details about their itinerary in updates posted every few hours on his Twitter page.
Did we mention that Hoesktra is a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee? Hoekstra's breach also happened to occur just months after the U.S. Army issued a report warning that Twitter was a "potential terrorist tool."

— Lili Ladaga

Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don't have to.

####

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle,

For THE NATIONAL NETWORKER

Published by THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter. All rights reserved. Subscribe Free - Click HERE.
The National Networker Companies

GREAT INNOVATIONS IN COMMUNICATION (LINGOVATIONS) BY DOUGLAS CASTLE

FROM THE TNNW DAILY EMAIL AND RSS NEWSFEED @ http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/ .

Dear Readers:

I am bursting with joy. I received an email from an ardent fan (a woman with too much idle time on her hands and a husband who works for a long-distance hauling company) complimenting me on my invention of the terms OMNIGADGET, PROCRASTINERTIA and EXPONENTIALITY. She actually expressed gratitude for my having introduced these terms into the English language (American version), and into industry parlance. It was akin to receiving the Nobel Peace Prize (or winning $5.00 on a scratch-off lottery ticket). After my initial deluge of tears, I wrote her a brief thank-you note and decided to write this post.

Inventing terms, where existing language does not quite suffice, is a very fine means by which to accomplish several things simultaneously:

1. It helps to facilitate better, more precise communications -- to get your point across more efficiently;

2. It strengthens your personal brand, and the creates a mental link (in the minds of the masses) between you, as an individual, and a particular term which you've coined;

3. It gives you (and your newly-created term) high search engine prominence;

4. It forces new acquaintances, usually hard-won through rigorous networking, to ask you the question, "What does that mean?" Note: If they just nod their heads like dashboard bobbles, you know that they are either hard of hearing, embarrassed to admit ignorance (such is the Sin of Pride), or in a hurry to get to teir part of the conversation while impatiently tolerating yours...there are often body language signs which further affirm this, such as rapid toe-tapping, looking downward, staring at a wristwatch, yawning, or, in extreme cases, rapidly running off to the restroom. It's always helpful to know with some immediacy whether or not a person is actually interested in what you want to say;

5. It stimulates your imagination and enhances your cognitive ability - it's fun.

To illustrate the wonder of this hobby (inventing words, which I call "LINGOVATION") just try to imagine the unbridled joy of the person who coined the term "stagflation"... or, "spork"? Sadly for me, I had tried some years ago to popularize the term "FOON" with the objective of replacing the term "SPORK," but, like such other greats as Tesla, Galileo [I might have invented my own spelling here, too], Copernicus, Jackie Mason and Joan of Arc, I was subjected to great ridicule.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

A truly pitiful example of an unimaginative, non-value-added lingovation is the "Wonkavator." Lingovation is little more than oratory excrement if it is not born of genuine innovation and a love of verbal communication. "Brangelina" speaks in stentorian tones of societal decay, and declining intellectual standards. These abuses of linguisitic license make me choke on my own bile.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of my college roomates once referred to the binocular-laden patrons of the Audubon Society as "birdbrains." That was clever, but not a good example of a legitimate lingovation. I am certain that if you have been able to read this far (with at least 72% comprehension), you have the inherent potential (which latter word pairing is redundant) to become a Lingovator.

Participate in the evolution of the language -- become a LINGOVATOR.

---------------------------------------

Faithfully,

------------------------------------------------------

Douglas Castle

http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Visit with me on http://twitter.com/douglascastle, http://twitter.com/TNNW-BUZZWORKS, and http://twitter.com/Braintenance.

TERMS AND TAGS: Douglas Castle, interviews by Douglas Castle, blogs by Douglas Castle, Douglas Castle on Twitter, Google Rankings, blogs and SEO prominence, Douglas Castle's OMNIGADGET, PROCRASTINERTIA, EXPONENTIALITY. invented terms, communication, market differentiation, language, self-promotion, The National Networker, TNNW, Braintenance, The Internationalist Page, Humanitas Maximus, social media, meatloaf snacks, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE, LINGOVATION.

THE NATIONAL NETWORKER (TNNW):
PRESS OUR BUTTONS & CLICK OUR LINKS...