GET THIS AWAY

February 7th, 2019

We’ve all had the experience of suddenly realizing that we’ve been mindlessly snacking on something for a few minutes, taking one last potato chip or pistachio or M&M and pushing the rest away, saying “get this away from me.”

It’s almost as though there are two animals at work in this instance.  The one that only sees food and understands it only as something to consume, and the more mindful executive animal that thinks along the lines of “I remember what happens when I eat too much of this and it’s not good.  I don’t want to end up back there.”

The solution is an alteration of the environment.  Pushing a carton of Oreo’s out of reach is  essentially a resource allocation.  Making it less readily available to ourselves, and often trying to make it more available to someone else who will exhaust the trap and eat the rest of the Oreo’s and therefore eliminate the nagging temptation to just dive in more.

The Oreos exist in the first place for the exact same reason.  Tens of thousands of years ago there were no Oreo’s or M&Ms or Potato Chips.  But if you’d been able to somehow snack from a secret source of such pseudo-foods, it would have been a benefit.  Such tempting foods are very energy dense and therefore less time would need to be spent finding that energy elsewhere, leaving more time to do other things such as invent culture.  We kept tinkering with the way that we process different parts of our environment until we were able to unleash a chemical synthetic jui jitsu move on raw ingredients and create all sorts of super-charged high-fructose corn syrup foods tasting like all manner and variety of things.

Tens of Thousands of years ago, the concept of being obese would have seemed like a kind of fantastical heaven, and yet since we’ve figured out how to make this a reality, it’s only lead to a hellish kind of health crisis in the eyes and experience of many.  Many diets try to mimic and kind of return to a system of food that is more akin to the biological adaptations of our body, whether this be paleo or keto or any nuance, variety and variation between the different systems gurus have devised, many of these dial down to a careful curation of ‘get this away from me’, and leaving only the essential, healthier option available.

We might wonder how such a strategy might extend beyond food.  The word ‘diet’ has shifted to mean something more transient, something that only lasts for a week or a month.  When in fact diet is simply everything you intake over the course of time.  Diet may change but when someone talks about a specific diet, they are really talking about a particular curation of their diet.  We might even broaden the term diet beyond food and think about our information diet, or our diet of human interaction, our entertainment diet, even perhaps a social media diet.  All of these in some way or another are things that we intake and have an effect on us.

A particularly toxic relationship might be akin in some stretched way to a habit of eating ice cream every single day.  Social Media is an example all too ripe for this kind of addictive and unbeneficial behavior.  And when it comes to good information, like reading a business book, we might perhaps be inclined to describe ourselves as nutrient poor.  Perhaps time would be better spent reading such a book instead of briefly checking how many ‘likes’ a post has and then scrolling for endless minutes, consuming nothing of value except the wasted time.

We might be more likely to think ‘get this away from me’ when we realize just how insidious and unhelpful a particular social media avenue is in our life.  There’s actually a fairly interesting and somewhat effective app for this process.  It’s called “Space” and what it does is mask any of your social media apps with a proxy that when clicked routes you to a screen that instructs you to breathe deeply a couple of times before actually opening the target social media app.  In an oversimplified way, these deep breathes help weaken the addictive neural pathways that make opening a social media app a compulsion that our thumbs dance into just as effortlessly and fluidly as when we find our hand feeding our face with some kind of nearby junk food.

It might not be too much of a stretch to say that success and fulfillment boil down to a careful curation of our environment.  What we allow ourselves to see, hear and eat, and what conditions we construct in order to make the situation most conducive to productivity on tasks that lead to the accomplishment of our goals.  This extends to a curation of our relationships and the time we spend with people or even simply the space we have available.  How many projects have benefited wildly from merely having a room where only that project exits?  Where everything else is essentially locked out of consciousness by the walls and door.

Our entire constructed environment of buildings with walls and entrances, with times when locked are all a curation of our environment.  Perhaps our phones could even benefit from a ‘closed for business’ concept when the device is simply off. 

Clearly we are very far from having all of this curation optimized as we squabble over untested details and blindly steer by emotional dictates as opposed to a studied analysis of the larger picture.  In the meantime we need to somewhat rebel against the baser automatic instincts built into our brains and do our best to curate our own experience.  In a world of increasing abundance, this will often take the form of get this away from me!

NATURE IS UNNATURAL

February 6th, 2019

Natural is one of the most ambiguous words we have and because of this infinitely hazy property, it is used in all sorts of circumstances when our phrasing could be much more accurate, precise and helpful to those who are willing to listen.

We might for example hear someone say that it is not natural for so much plastic to be in the oceans and by extension in the seafood that we eat.

While such a sentiment has good intentions, it does not use language accurately.  Natural is defined as anything that exists or is caused by Nature.

Another way to phrase this is to say anything possible within the laws of physics is natural. 

Such a definition puts a different spin on the idea of plastic in oceans being unnatural.  It’s physically possible, so does this not mean it’s natural?

Many would say no, but due to a poor understanding of the words being used.  A better word would perhaps be ‘good’.  Plastic in the oceans might be a natural occurrence but that doesn’t mean it’s good.

A counter-argument might be that something is unnatural because it’s caused by humans.  And yet humans evolved due to the same mechanisms that created sea life and even dictate the movement and existence of oceans.   Surely humans are a product of nature and by extension anything that humans do is a natural phenomenon, making plastic in oceans.. natural.

What is really in conflict here is imagined concepts.  Nature and Natural exist more as idyllic concepts of perfection and harmony in our mind more than they exist as well defined words.  When our actions or any occurrence is in conflict with those idyllic concepts we label them as unnatural.

But there is an important caveat here.  Nature has given rise to humans and subsequently to language and conceptual thought.  We can further extrapolate on this and draw the conclusion that Nature created the concept of unnatural.  Nature also created through us this idyllic concept of nature which it clearly does not keep in accord with.  Nature not only created the contradiction, it created the concept and opportunity of being down right wrong.

Nature, if anything seems to be a restless push to rampantly experiment with what is possible within the laws of physics.

The structure of this process, whether we call it evolution, or identify it within other domains or processes will be explored much further in the first Tinkered Thinking miniseries.  Stay tuned and in the mean time, remember that everything is natural, it’s the context we need to be careful about, and most often this means paying close attention to the words we use and what they actually mean.  Otherwise we might paint ourselves into a corner without realizing it claiming things like: Nature is Unnatural.

BATHING ON A ROLL

February 5th, 2019

Zig Ziglar originally came up with the concept of linking Motivation with Bathing.  He’s quoted from his numerous programs saying:

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last.  Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

It raises a valid point: motivating emotions that impel us to do productive things ebb.

Note for a moment the etymological similarities between the two words: motivation and emotion.

Both reference motion, or movement.  If we are motivated enough, we actually do something, and e-motions might be described in much the same way.  Often motivation is couched in terms of a particular emotion, as in motivated by anger or motivated by love.

Etymologically, motivated by emotion is somewhat a redundant concept.

Zig Ziglar recognized the feeble longevity of any given instance of an emotion and his somewhat jocular comparison to bathing draws out the realization that emotions that lead to productive ends need to be cultivated.  We might even think  of practicing these emotions or training with them.

While humorous, bathing is a somewhat passive analogy.  We might instead compare it to something more active, like running. 

In the simple way that you are not actually running unless you are running,  we are not actually motivated unless we have started doing the actual activity we are motivated to work on.

And this perhaps hints at the problem.  We imagine some kind of overwhelming positive feeling that is separate from actually doing the thing we wish to do.  We might ask, are we merely looking to feel that emotional high that we associate with the word motivation, or do we genuinely wish to see the object of our imagination come to life?

We should perhaps not separate the emotion from the actual activity.  We might in fact think about detouring around the need for such a motivational high all together and just start doing the tiniest, easiest little aspect of the goal we have in mind. 

The analogy with running becomes even more helpful here.  When we are sprinting we cannot actually stop instantly.  The act of running creates a physical momentum.  Each sprint carries us halfway into the next one and unlike walking or bathing, we actually need a span of time and space in order to slow down our efforts and come to a complete stop.  

We have all experienced this kind of motivation:  when we are deep in the work of a project and suddenly some alternate obligation comes time and we need to stop what we are doing but curse the timing because we are on a roll.  Our actions towards a goal have momentum even if we are standing still.

Like any daily practice, whether it be sleep or meditation or physical exercise, or even breathing, we might benefit from imagining just how far and fast a project will develop if we work on it every single day.  Even if it’s just a little bit.  That next easiest piece of the puzzle.  

What could you do right now, in the next minute to pull that dream a little more into reality?

DESTINATION: NOWHERE

February 4th, 2019

This episode is dedicated to Maverick Theorist who distilled the seed of this episode from a previous episode of Tinkered Thinking.  You can follow Maverick Theorist on Twitter @mavericktheori1

Most all of us have had the singular experience of being totally engrossed in a book or a movie or even watching a theatrical play and realizing with a kind of dread that the experience is about to end.  We can even crave for such experiences to linger longer, and so we might put down the book for a restless amount of time.  Of course such a strategy is unavailable for a movie or a play. 

We might for a moment juxtapose this with the destination vacation where the journey of getting to the destination is generally the worst part.  Everyone looks forward to the destination and simply endures the journey to get to the destination.  The journey of a book, movie or play could not be more antithetical to the destination vacation. 

Episode 285 of Tinkered Thinking, entitled Plan on No Plans examines just how miserable the experience is when the plans for such a destination vacation do not unfold perfectly. 

This is the difference between a journey-centric view of any goal or experience and a destination-centric view.

The journey-centric approach carries a much higher probability of enjoyment, accomplishment and a far more efficient mode of learning than the destination-centric approach.

Just think for a moment of an experience we do not have often enough:  when we begin to explore a new skill, or medium and find that we love it so much that we do not look at the process as some kind of laborious learning as in school, but instead find that we can’t wait to get back to it.  It’s as if we are playing.  With the unselfconscious abandon of a child.  Interest and curiosity guide our mindset as opposed to the all-to-often-encountered drudgery of memorization and rote activity under duress of new bullshit job or educational program.

We can see the destination-centric mode of thinking reflected in many of the institutions through which we try to operate in society.  Corporations tempt prospective employees not only with a sense of security in pay and benefits but also with the potential to systematically rise through a well-defined structural hierarchy.  The myth goes that if one simply works hard, then one will rise like cream to the top – the destination as it were.  This lure works despite the increasing competition as one rises and the often superficial reasons why people get promoted.  (A harmless example is the correlation found between a person’s height and their high position in a corporation.)

Government carries the same structural lure, with the corporation’s CEO being analogous to the President or Prime Minister.  It’s quite impossible to imagine any senator or representative being completely devoid of fantasies of rising to the top position of power.  And yet the probability of such happening is severely limited by time and availability, despite all the other countless unknown factors that determine such promotions.

Education is perhaps most entrenched with regard to the destination-centric mode of thinking.  Rising high in any given discipline of the educational world seems more probable and perhaps it is because there is a ceiling that everyone in the education system can theoretically reach together.  The highest position in the education system is not a university bureaucrat, but that of a famous and well published professor.  At first glance this seems to be less destination-centric than the governmental or corporate path because the chances of actually reaching the destination are higher due to a wider berth of positions at the top.  But such a conclusion itself is destination-centric.  If we compare the journey of the corporate, governmental and the educational, none of them are as clear cut and well defined as the educational path.  The process of becoming a professor is incredibly well-defined as opposed to the path to becoming a CEO or becoming some singularly high-ranking government official.  Ironically, the institution of education requires the least amount of practical creativity in order to rise to a high and well-respected position.  And yet, wouldn’t we want the educational system to be well-tuned for generating creative and innovative individuals?  Perhaps this takes a step towards explaining why such incredibly successful and innovative people like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk dropped out of such systems.

Enough planned travelling will bestow the realization upon the traveler that the best trips have no destination.  Travelling is a verb.  Destination is a noun.  Even in this simple difference we can glimpse the mistake.  We are unwise to aim for something so concrete.  We are best to feel our way forward on the fly in order to have an experience that is fulfilling.

In order to feel our way forward on the journey of life, we must balance a keenly defined sense of discomfort with priorities that bring us a sense of joy and fulfillment. 

Most destination vacations are taken out of a kind of desperation to escape one’s circumstance, either due to the drudgery of some bullshit job, or the drudgery of a routine life that does not provide enough emotional sustenance.  Destination vacations are falsely seen as a breath of fresh air, when in reality, such a view is a reflection of mistakes propagating in the direction and activities of regular life. 

The pessimistic view of the movement of life is that life is work and work is routine and the combination is a kind of hell that we must endure. 

The optimistic view is that life still requires work and work requires a kind of routine, but the definition and interpretation of those words are far more liberating:  Imagine for a moment the dancer having the discipline to practice everyday, or the writer to write everyday or the painter to draw everyday, or the coder to build everyday.  All such skills require a working routine and practice in order to maintain, advance and produce.  The continual practice of such skills is likewise uncomfortable but the difference is that at the end of such days, the process of such practice also produces a satisfying sense of fulfillment and that the day was well spent.

The key difference between these two interpretations of work and routine is that one produces new content or experience by exploring the unknown, and the other does not.  This concept is more fully explored in Episode 145 entitled Why Are Games Fun?  Both the creative life and the life resigned to the drudgery of an uninteresting job both require uncomfortable rules and routine, but they engage with the unknown in totally different ways.  One explores the unknown, the other is generally a strategy for avoiding it.

The difference is reflected once more here with the journey-centric view vs. the destination-centric view.

It’s clear, whether with travelling or choosing a direction in life, we are better to cast off any idea of a concrete destination or station and feel our way forward based on the present circumstances.  The traditional lures might seem like comforting targets to aim for, but what is the point if we do not feel fulfilled in the process of getting there?

While the destination-centric mindset may have been more applicable in the past, it will continue to be of decreasing help as we move forward.  Technological innovation will only make tomorrow more uncertain with regards to our potential place and function.  Whereas in the past the idea of tomorrow may have seemed like a reliable and fixed given, it is quickly freeing itself from that ossification, stretching as it were, and we had best start looking at tomorrow as a kind of dance partner, one that changes as we do, responds as we act, and can enable us to enjoy – if we so choose - the process of exploring the greatest unknown, one with no destination: the future.

This episode references Episode 6: What’s Your Passion?, Episode 255: Arrival Syndrome, Episode 145: Why Are Games Fun?, and Episode 285: Plan on no Plans.

A LUCILIUS PARABLE: TIME-OUT GAMER

February 3rd, 2019

Lucilius once played a video game where each level was much the same.  It had a start and a set time limit before each level was over.  But each level was just slightly shorter than the last.

During each level much the same task was required but the ease with which it was accomplished depended much on what happened during the previous level.

If the time during each level was spent as fully engaged as possible, then the next level became slightly easier.  This was important because each level became progressively shorter while the ease of tasks, if maintained, accelerated, allowing for more abilities to be expressed in less time.

While the last level of the game was the shortest of all, Lucilius seemed to achieve as much as he’d done in all the other levels combined.

When he played again he decided to tarry in the tasks, letting the goals of each level slip past the time limits, the next level starting relentlessly - the difficulty of each growing larger and larger till the levels were too short to gain again an upper hand, and all was lost.

When he restarted the game a third time, he found that he did not start back at zero but was handicapped at the tasks with the same level of difficulty he’d degenerated to in the last game.  He tried to work extra hard to make up for the lost time, but before he felt he could make any progress, the levels were ending faster and faster until the third game was done.

The same happened with the fourth and fifth games with only marginal and frustrating improvements.

When the screen lit up with the intro screen for the next round an idea came into his head:

Just as the intro screen faded and the first level came into view Lucilius hit the PAUSE button.  He leaned in close to the screen and studied what his first move would be.  Then he toggled the controls in that direction and quickly tapped the PAUSE button.  The game reacted and Lucilius hit the PAUSE button once more.  He studied how the game had reacted and figured out his next move, toggled the controls and then tapped the PAUSE button one more time.  He kept on in this painstaking manner until he had the first level completed. 

Lucilius smiled at the screen, certain he’d outsmarted the game, but then Lucilius woke up.  He found himself lying on a couch in a friend’s apartment.  Pizza boxes strewn across a coffee table and the glow of a T.V. looping an intro to some video game.  As happens so often he completely forgot his video game dream upon waking, remembering instead where things had left off the night before. 

His friend walked into the room in a daze, noticing Lucilius awake and mumbled, ‘what’s up’.

Lucilius watched as his friend sat back in front of the glowing screen and picked up a controller.  Lucilius sat up, rubbed his face and then reached out for his own controller, but froze in the action.  He looked at his hand just about to touch the controller and PAUSED just long enough to wonder what he was doing.

This episode of Tinkered Thinking references Episode 23: Pause.