Monday, May 4, 2020

      Both B. and Paulette called to tell me they were out and about and ask if I wanted them to pick up anything. Have I told you how lucky I am? 

    By 11 am, I was getting tired. By noon I need to go down for my 2-hour nap. How am I going to be able to function once this is over?  I should be okay getting to Bikram every morning. The problem is going to be tutoring at school.  I usually work there between 12:30 and 2 pm when school closes.

    Elsa has figured out that she doesn't get her treat until she jumps up on my lap. It only took four or five days for her to get the picture.  I thought I was never going to train her to do this.  She would sit on the floor, giving me the stink eye as I sat in the chair, patting my lap and waving a treat in my hand. Then she would walk away. Boy, did I ever feel blown off!  She doesn't stay long when she does get on my lap. She snatches the treat and is off. That's okay. I want her to learn to do this so I can be sure I can easily reach her as I get older. Bending down and picking her up will only get more difficult, particularly since she rolls over on her back when I reach for her.  She never misses an opportunity to welcome someone to rub her belly.

    Yesterday, I sent out the new start of the book to Dorothy, Shivani, and Sandor.  When I spoke to Dorothy this morning, she said she hadn't found it in her email file.  We were both walking as we talked. When I got home, I checked if I had used her right address. Yes, I had. Then I called. She had found the email in her trash.  

    She said this looked like a much better start, although there were still problems with it. I included information that shouldn't be there and left out information that should.  The theme of my method is that I am teaching students how to learn, not what to learn. Dorothy said the original chapter one emphasized what to learn.  She didn't see the relationship between it and what I claim I am trying to communicate. 

    Hearing her say this is somewhat of a relief.  Both she and Shivani were saying I wasn't defining my terms clearly enough.  I felt they were emphasizing the what rather than the how.  While Dorothy and I are not on the same page, we are at least in the same book. I think I'm going to have to rewrite everything I have already written.

    The more I think about it, the more I appreciate the challenge I have set for myself. How do I communicate what I mean by the difference between 'the what' to be learned versus 'how to learn it?'  Dorothy already saw that I had a lot of 'what' details in my writing. Here's the problem: probably everything we learn has a  what and a how aspect to it. It's like explaining what a fraction is versus a whole. In the abstract, that distinction is easy, but not so in real life.  My right arm is a whole arm and also a fractional part of my body in real life.  I am a whole me and simultaneously a fractional part of any number of things. I was one half of the unit that Mike, and I formed.  I was one-quarter of the group that my family of origin. Actually, I was only one-third of that unit until my sister was born when I was four and a half.  Life is full of slipping and sliding definitions of self and everything else. It all depends upon the context or the point of view. How do I communicate that effectively?  I know that I think in terms of teaching students how to learn versus what to learn.  I know that students who were completely dependent on teacher input become more independent with this approach. I think the old term for it is 'study skills," only this is a somewhat more expanded version of the discipline.  

    Today, I heard about the 4-second exercise on Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me. They were laughing about a 4-second exercise that could be enough.  I Googled the topic, looking for an article that explained the research.  The research showed that a little bit of exercise throughout the day does more to set a good metabolism rate than one session of prolonged exercise. Trained athletes could reach an optimal level of something or another in two seconds while working on some sort of specialized stationary bike.  They arbitrarily decided if trained athletes could reach this optimal level in two seconds, they'd double it for us couch potatoes. 

    The exercise involves working vigorously for 4 seconds, resting for 45, and repeating that sequence five times; that sequence should be repeated eight times a day. I have started doing this.  I have set my alarm clock several times to make sure that I get up and move at least every hour instead of sitting straight through the day.

    The difference with this exercise is working for intensity, not just any old movement will do.  I have done three of these sequences today. Am I getting the right level of intensity? Who knows? I doubt it. But I am sure it's better than sitting all day or just sweeping the floor.

    Judy just stopped by to drop off a two-pack of vinegar. B. had called earlier in the day and dropped off another two-pack.  Good thing, I asked both of them to do it. Judy explained that the Costco limit was one per customer at this point.  The good news was that she found a package of 24 servings of Miko's miso soup. When I looked up the product online, they said they were out.  Costco had been out anytime any of my shoppers had looked for it too.  I had ordered some substitute online, some other brand of miso soup. I had some today. Yuck! It tastes like dishwasher with a touch of bacon, a taste I also don't like. I'm going to have to find some way to doctor that stuff so I can eat it. It's more expensive than Miko's and has less tofu and greens in it. What a waste!

    I have been reading The Short Introduction to Plato with my dinner.  I think I finally understand the difference between Mike's idea of how to discuss Plato versus mine. He wanted to explicate the text. Me not so much.  I want to see how Plato's ideas relate and illuminate neuroscience and how neuroscience illuminates Plato.   Too late now. Too bad.  I keep learning. It amazes me that there is a new understanding to learn every day. Sometimes, it's something small, like if I rinse my hand deep in the bathroom sink, the water won't collect on the counter. Who would have thought? 

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Musings:

   

    In The Short Introduction to Plato, there is a discussion over the difference between knowledge and belief.  It sounds like an epistemological debate. In the strictest sense, knowledge is only something you have experienced through your own senses. Everything else is belief.

    The example they use is a case of assault brought up before a court of law.  Is the only true knowledge that of the assailant and the assaulted? Is the jury only capable of belief? Which man (I assure you they were both men.) will they believe?  

    Is all we learn from other than our direct experience belief?  I have never been to China; does that mean that I only believe China exists? It is a question raised by Plato and his buddies too. 

    If I understood it correctly, they introduced a different way of knowing. When we integrate knowledge into our systems, we can know, even if we had no direct experience.  I have a sense of what this might mean.  It means figuring out how a piece of information fits into the existing framework of my understanding of the world. I can see where this holds true for abstract ideas, for example, defining love. Love means something different to everyone. I can accept that I can only believe in love until I have experienced something I consider love. 

    Jung made a statement that he doesn't believe God exists;  instead, he knows. I know, from what I have read in his letters in his own words, he did not think anyone could make a definitive statement as to the existence or nonexistence of God;  he was not talking about the existence of God in the absolute sense in the way it is defined by religions.  However, he knew God through his own experience, whatever it was he considered God to be.