In 2014 when I took my diagrams from September of that year to the classroom, I sort of knew the elephant in the classroom was the machines of computers and the internet. I used the student's computers or Chromebooks as one example that proved that bigger, faster, stronger, and smarter were better than smaller, slower, weaker, and unintelligent for mental health. Does any student ever ask for a smaller hard drive, a slower internet service, a weaker wi-fi signal, or a unintelligent phone? I think in writing in the past to the larger audience, I have not addressed the elephant in the room as effectively as when I spoke of my materials in the classroom. In writing this post, I want to address the positives and the negatives of the elephant in the room.
The machine as understanding
When it comes to big, computers can do much bigger things than previously in an even smaller size. A laptop today dwarfs the bigness of past computers in what load of data it can handle and operations it can perform. The internet's numbers are incredible. Look how many hits can happen in less than seconds for an internet search. These numbers put your neighbor's volumes in a library to shame in some cases. So while the quality of information may suffer, the sheer number of sources is enormous. The students know this. The adults cry foul due to lack of quality. While I agree that quality is important alongside of quantity, the combined bigness is staggering after factoring in quality.
The negative though in understanding is the quality part. It is a problem. When I did research on mental health and on high end scholarship for discovering the meanings of words in a biblical text, I found that the best quality research was not always accessible on line. I had to go off line and submit an inter-library loan request to find a lot of primary materials. The internet though often did alert me to the places to go. It still has a quality than my old-fashioned research efforts could not touch for size! So can the internet be bigger in quality? Yes, it can. Can my Bible program called BibleWorks be of higher quality. Yes, it can. It probably will be in the future
The machine as inspiring
The speed of an internet search engine is inspiring. It shows off speed like the fastest man or woman cannot touch. It probably sets new world records for speed every day! The problem is that many don't understand the speed part.
People are not seeing how the shift from water to wind to sound to light to electricity has changed the speed of life. These different means brought us boats, then cars, then planes, then lasers, and then the internet. People don't know that the speed of electricity when it comes to signal speed is in trillions of kilometers per hour. No boat or water can touch that speed! Not even light can touch it as only millions of miles per hour.
That jump from the speed of light to the speed of electricity is incredible. It is inspiring. Think of how you can call the person standing next to you in the same room and the signal can travel from your phone to a cell phone tower to a satellite and to their phone in a second or less. I can't run that fast!! Hence the weakness of inspiring speed.
The negative though is that some people let this part of the elephant in the room bother them. They try to match it's faster by going faster too. The problem is that while our minds can do things in a split second, our bodies consist of a lot more than a mind - there is bodily strength, a soul for connecting, and a heart for counting. Our selves are made up of more than electricity, we also have water, wind, sound, and light to deal with as well. They operate at a diverse # of speeds. A human needs a variable speed control to match up with real life. One speed - like that of electricity will not cut it.
On the most serious level, the elephant in the room may be the major contributor to why manic-depression and anxiety are on the rise while psychology seems to have contributed on this topic some great insight. I think the elephant speaks louder than text after text on mental health that does not recognize the machine leading to us living too fast (or in rebellion against machines - too slow). The machine has exposed a weakness in our thinking, the literature does not address well.
I used to think that Aesop's Fable of the Tortoise and the Hare with the moral of "slow and steady" was at least an elephant in the room. Maybe as a kitten. Likewise, I thought all the psychological literature on slow down to fight manic-depression and anxiety might be a mouse in room. I now know they are no longer very large. The machine in the room dominates. It says fast is better than slow, but its lesson can lead to everyone trying to make all things like the electronics of our day.
The machine as motivating
The machine can make things that used to be difficult, easy. I think of how difficult it used to be to make a negative of a photo and get it to a friend. Now, I can turn to my printer with its scanner and take photos from the early 1900s and share them on Facebook with many of my family members. I can easily find out if my library has a book I am looking for or I can go to WorldCat and find books and information on them that took weeks and months previously as I waited for the library to find things for me.
This motivates us to do things that are now easier than before. It can make the once difficult easy. I don't understand why sometimes it makes things more difficult instead. Well actually I do.
The weakness of machines is that the inventors or techies think that strong is the same as big. No. Let me say it again. No. Strength is not another kind of big. It is instead flexibility. It sees the yoga master as the strongest man in the world. I think the strongest man competitions should be called the biggest man competitions! But back to computers. They lack flexibility, sometimes making the once easy now more difficult. Go figure!
Still, at the end of the day, they overall contribute flexibility, the ability to do the once impossible. Yeah, baby! I'm motivated!
The machine as captivating
Walk into any room of people and machines called computers, tablets, and cell phones and you'll see people captivated by the machines. If some of the people are of a certain kind - a celebrity of some kind, then the people might still be captivated by people. The machines show us the previously unseen. Teachers can do the same, but sometimes they lose sight of their unique place in the world of training the mind to be captivated. Science captivates by showing the previously unknown.
People are captivated by the smart person who puts old wine in old wine skins - that hot rod Lincoln and new wine in new wine skins - new software in new hardware. It is taking the concealed and making it revealed. It is taking the once hidden and making it known. Our machines - the electronics - can do just that. So can great teachers and parents.
The problem is when the teachers and people only pay attention to the old and not the new. They try to put the new into the old or the old into new. They can't see. They are blind. People who can see usually don't follow the blind.
The problem is that computers and the internet are also blind. They can be used for seeing or for blinding. They can focus attention and captivate for good reasons or they can distract us from the bigger things in life. Can we see? Can we prevent distractions and know to see what matters most? Can we see what machines help us see and what they blind us to seeing?
Conclusion
So the elephant in the room of machines and electronics must be treated with respect. It can be seen as understanding, inspiring, motivating, and captivating. You have to respect anything or anyone that does those things. There is no point in trying to ignore something so big, so fast, a little strong, and scientifically smart.
You can try to say that small is better, slow is better, weak is better and unintelligent is better; but you will lose. The lessons are elementary, really. Every child knows that big, fast, strong, and smart is better. Why else do they look up to the adults? Why don't you agree with artificial intelligence and put natural intelligence back into that mind of yours? It feels good doesn't it. Don't ignore the elephant, see it. Now that you see it, you are back in charge of your decisions.
Sincerely,
Jon
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Friday, February 19, 2016
Communication Basics: What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate about Rest
As a track coach, I have always understood the difference between walking and renewing. The problem is that many people regard walking as a form of rest. It is NOT! Not only that, but it is the least restful of the paces available to a person trying to reach a destination in a particular time frame.
Let me illustrate this from track. In track, there are four paces:
rest
sprint
run
walk.
These are the variable speeds available based on a person's lung, spirit, breath, or wind capacity. Every public school track coach knows these are different. I hope everyone can agree on these. My coaches never failed in communicating this clearly. Walking was unacceptable for the mile run, for one example!
Let me also illustrate from the Bible, In Isaiah, there are four paces:
renew
fly
run
walk.
These are the variable speeds available for those who bind themselves to the LORD (Yahweh). Every private school should teach these paces to all their students. I hope all Christians (and Jews) can agree on these. When a situation calls for a sprint, I hope no Christian (and Jew), thinks a run or trotting pace will do!
This is all pretty straightforward, but there is still a problem. The problem is that people think walking is restful like renewals or rest itself is. That is a major mistake.
Let me explain what I mean. Moving from renew and rest pace to walk pace, each pace is increasingly more restless. So here is how I rank each pace in terms of its level of rest:
renew/rest - most restful
sprint - more restful
run - less restful
walk - least restful.
To understand this, you need to recall something that goes beyond track athletes. You have to think in terms of location and time. In everyday life, people have a destination and a time for arrival. In track, you have for a destination of at least three places, the fenced in area around the track, the starting line, and the finish line.
Think of young family members here. Children don't get too restless about shorter distances or shorter time frames. They get restless about longer distances and longer time frames. Don't you recall this question on the way to Grandma's house: "Are we there yet?" This grows out their increasing restlessness on every stop along the way. They won't rest till they get to Grandma's house unless you can entertain them, like my parents when I was growing up and help the children lose track of time. Everyone should get this.
In track, it is the same way, except now you are no longer dealing with the youngest family members, but with young people who are now functioning out of their first stages of being an adult. Still the lesson does not change - the slower the pace, the greater the restlessness.
The first pace is that of rest. Once at the track and settled on a location, a good track coach instructs all competitors to take it easy and to rest. He or she then tells each individual to listen for the 1st through 3rd calls for their races. These 3 calls are each fore-warnings to report to the area of competition and to break off from resting with the team is at place where they are resting. Rest, though, is the first state or pace that track athletes need to master. During full rest there is no distance or time between start and finish. You rest where and when you are resting with your teammates. They may not move an inch and settle in under a second. Their starting and finishing line overlap one another. Rest is living in the here and now fully.
The second pace is that of the sprinters. They are generally those who run races that can be finished in a minute or less. This varies, of course, according to conditioning. Also the separation between starting and finishing lines are 50 meters (I'm not sure what has replaced the 60 yard run from an earlier era?), 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. These locations are relatively close to each other and like I said before can be sprinted in under a minute. With that short distance between lines and the short time to run, the sprinter's restlessness until they have reached the finish line is relatively short. Be smart here. You must separate fear or nerves due to a lack of confidence from restlessness. Once the runner eclipses the finish line, they have put that race to rest. The sprinter flys a short distance for a short time to reach the here and now of the finish line.
The third pace is that of the runners. These races all take over a minute. There is the 800 meters, 1600 meters, 3200 meters, and 4800 meters (3 mile) runs. In these instances, the races vary from around 2 minutes long up to quarter of an hour. The 3 mile race on the high school level is not part of a track meet like in college. It is instead the distance for cross country racing. Runners have to set a reasonable pace for their distance and they have to be more patient than a sprinter because they have to run for a longer time. As an experienced runner and coach, I can tell you that one of the reasons sprinters don't want to e distance runners is because they don't like how long the race takes. As a former distance runner, I can tell you that the length of the race is the roughest part. You don't get to rest until you cross the finish line! A runner runs for a little longer distance and time. It can test how well you handle a long restless state. For me, the two most restful moments were the start and the finish. Let's end the wait.
Finally, the fourth pace is that of the walkers. These races all take place at the college level and higher. I happen to be at the UCLA Summer Olympic Festival in the early nineties where the American record for race walking was set by the gentleman I happened to visit with before his run. I also had one of my former teammates from high school, Roger Kordus, go on and become a race walker in college. That is my only direct connection to these races. For me, this is where the tortoise and the hare story makes some sense. It is "slower" than the sprint and run, but not "slow" and here "steady" is important. The thing is that these races can become tedious and people can become restless and leave before the race is over!
The problem in our day is that people mistakenly associate restlessness mostly with sprinting rather than walking. I think there is a failure to communicate and understand the restlessness of a sprinter in that case. The restlessness is building due to a delay in a finish, and not due to a fast finish. Also there is a restlessness created by a tension between one person who can do something fast and someone who is less fast. Let's clarify things more at this point. Here is how I see it:
renewing is not restless
sprinting is restless for a short time
running is restless for a little longer time
walking is restless for the longest time among the four.
In each instance, restlessness is there until the final destination and the end time are reached. There is no tension, when you are already here. There is the height of tension, when we are not there yet. Don't forget the elementary here - remember the kids!
I am at a place of rest in my life. It is only when I walk out the the door and meet people who still haven't found what they are looking for that I run into restlessness! Ah, the satisfaction of having already finished finding what I was previously looking for! Ah, the satisfaction of having finished this post also.
Be healthy and live life to its fullest,
Jon
Let me illustrate this from track. In track, there are four paces:
rest
sprint
run
walk.
These are the variable speeds available based on a person's lung, spirit, breath, or wind capacity. Every public school track coach knows these are different. I hope everyone can agree on these. My coaches never failed in communicating this clearly. Walking was unacceptable for the mile run, for one example!
Let me also illustrate from the Bible, In Isaiah, there are four paces:
renew
fly
run
walk.
These are the variable speeds available for those who bind themselves to the LORD (Yahweh). Every private school should teach these paces to all their students. I hope all Christians (and Jews) can agree on these. When a situation calls for a sprint, I hope no Christian (and Jew), thinks a run or trotting pace will do!
This is all pretty straightforward, but there is still a problem. The problem is that people think walking is restful like renewals or rest itself is. That is a major mistake.
Let me explain what I mean. Moving from renew and rest pace to walk pace, each pace is increasingly more restless. So here is how I rank each pace in terms of its level of rest:
renew/rest - most restful
sprint - more restful
run - less restful
walk - least restful.
To understand this, you need to recall something that goes beyond track athletes. You have to think in terms of location and time. In everyday life, people have a destination and a time for arrival. In track, you have for a destination of at least three places, the fenced in area around the track, the starting line, and the finish line.
Think of young family members here. Children don't get too restless about shorter distances or shorter time frames. They get restless about longer distances and longer time frames. Don't you recall this question on the way to Grandma's house: "Are we there yet?" This grows out their increasing restlessness on every stop along the way. They won't rest till they get to Grandma's house unless you can entertain them, like my parents when I was growing up and help the children lose track of time. Everyone should get this.
In track, it is the same way, except now you are no longer dealing with the youngest family members, but with young people who are now functioning out of their first stages of being an adult. Still the lesson does not change - the slower the pace, the greater the restlessness.
The first pace is that of rest. Once at the track and settled on a location, a good track coach instructs all competitors to take it easy and to rest. He or she then tells each individual to listen for the 1st through 3rd calls for their races. These 3 calls are each fore-warnings to report to the area of competition and to break off from resting with the team is at place where they are resting. Rest, though, is the first state or pace that track athletes need to master. During full rest there is no distance or time between start and finish. You rest where and when you are resting with your teammates. They may not move an inch and settle in under a second. Their starting and finishing line overlap one another. Rest is living in the here and now fully.
The second pace is that of the sprinters. They are generally those who run races that can be finished in a minute or less. This varies, of course, according to conditioning. Also the separation between starting and finishing lines are 50 meters (I'm not sure what has replaced the 60 yard run from an earlier era?), 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. These locations are relatively close to each other and like I said before can be sprinted in under a minute. With that short distance between lines and the short time to run, the sprinter's restlessness until they have reached the finish line is relatively short. Be smart here. You must separate fear or nerves due to a lack of confidence from restlessness. Once the runner eclipses the finish line, they have put that race to rest. The sprinter flys a short distance for a short time to reach the here and now of the finish line.
The third pace is that of the runners. These races all take over a minute. There is the 800 meters, 1600 meters, 3200 meters, and 4800 meters (3 mile) runs. In these instances, the races vary from around 2 minutes long up to quarter of an hour. The 3 mile race on the high school level is not part of a track meet like in college. It is instead the distance for cross country racing. Runners have to set a reasonable pace for their distance and they have to be more patient than a sprinter because they have to run for a longer time. As an experienced runner and coach, I can tell you that one of the reasons sprinters don't want to e distance runners is because they don't like how long the race takes. As a former distance runner, I can tell you that the length of the race is the roughest part. You don't get to rest until you cross the finish line! A runner runs for a little longer distance and time. It can test how well you handle a long restless state. For me, the two most restful moments were the start and the finish. Let's end the wait.
Finally, the fourth pace is that of the walkers. These races all take place at the college level and higher. I happen to be at the UCLA Summer Olympic Festival in the early nineties where the American record for race walking was set by the gentleman I happened to visit with before his run. I also had one of my former teammates from high school, Roger Kordus, go on and become a race walker in college. That is my only direct connection to these races. For me, this is where the tortoise and the hare story makes some sense. It is "slower" than the sprint and run, but not "slow" and here "steady" is important. The thing is that these races can become tedious and people can become restless and leave before the race is over!
The problem in our day is that people mistakenly associate restlessness mostly with sprinting rather than walking. I think there is a failure to communicate and understand the restlessness of a sprinter in that case. The restlessness is building due to a delay in a finish, and not due to a fast finish. Also there is a restlessness created by a tension between one person who can do something fast and someone who is less fast. Let's clarify things more at this point. Here is how I see it:
renewing is not restless
sprinting is restless for a short time
running is restless for a little longer time
walking is restless for the longest time among the four.
In each instance, restlessness is there until the final destination and the end time are reached. There is no tension, when you are already here. There is the height of tension, when we are not there yet. Don't forget the elementary here - remember the kids!
I am at a place of rest in my life. It is only when I walk out the the door and meet people who still haven't found what they are looking for that I run into restlessness! Ah, the satisfaction of having already finished finding what I was previously looking for! Ah, the satisfaction of having finished this post also.
Be healthy and live life to its fullest,
Jon
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