The summer training in the lab is going well. For basic training at the beginning stage, a trainee's character or attitude is more important than what she knows. In this sense, the summer student is doing well.
The following is a part of what I told to the student.
"Your attitude makes a big difference in your training result. When you take a part time job for the summer at a burger shop, sure, you can get by with just flipping burgers. But if you want to own a burger shop in the future, you'd want to learn more, like how the business is operated and what else is going on, in addition to flipping burgers."
This led me to think more about the gap between an A+ student and an A student.
They are both smart. After all, they are both at an A level, and struggling Bs tend not to reach the A level easily. The difference between an A/A+ and a B(and below) is the ability to understand the subject correctly, and the difference can be huge. However, the difference between an A+ and an A, both understanding the subject correctly, also tends to be huge as well.
In many cases the difference is "the difference in the depth." An A+ student has deeper understanding or deeper knowledge, so that their knowledge is more connected to other fields of knowledge, and can be more useful or applicable.
The "depth" can be measured in a quantitative manner. Let's take biology for example. After reading 10 papers, an A student can construct his or her understanding for the subject and can talk about the subject adequately or sufficiently. But an A+ may have read 30 papers, whereas a professor may have read 1000 papers on the subject. So in addition to a cursory knowledge from 10 papers, the A+ and the professor know the history, schools of thoughts, and occasionally the history of failed theories, which may be unwritten and go unnoticed by a new scholar. This is the depth difference.
What makes the depth difference? It basically is the difference in the ability to go the extra mile, or an attitude that makes effort in an effortless-looking manner. An A+ has a habit of doing a little bit more, yet doesn't think it is an effort. It seems more like a built-in system. They just do a little more than an A, who is equally smart but stops at a point.
Perhaps an A is smart enough to know where to stop? Indeed. I can see that point. But an A+ is a student who "foolishly" volunteers a bit extra, so they can have a bit more depth.
I see the difference in other areas. Dancing for example. A dancer who has potential to be an outstanding dancer is someone who dances more, and is someone who sticks around later on the dance floor. It is this simple.
If you are an A and wondering where the A+ is coming from, this is my observation. Before you call the difference "talent" and stop thinking about it, you might want to consider this.
June 30, 2013
June 23, 2013
Book: "177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class"
There are many "success" books on the market. This book by Steve Siebold is an excellent one, and I liked this book a lot.
I like it because this book is honest, and described what it said it would describe...the mental toughness secrets of the World class.
The honesty of the author is almost blunt, brutal or audacious.The author roughly categorized the entire population into the World class ( top 5%), upper class (10%), middle class (70%), working class (10%) and poor (5%). This is something we sort of know but do not talk about openly or very often. Then he makes a list of the traits of the top 5% world class, and discusses the differences in the traits between the world class and other classes. This contrasting approach may sound somewhat elitist, but is effective for highlighting the point. In the middle of the book, I started feeling like I was reading a secular version of a religion book, and the "Secrets" are like commandments. Yes, it is a choice where we make ourselves belong.
This categorical approach can correct our own mental habit of generalization as well. What is "true" to people in a class is not "true" for those in other classes. The differences come initially from the quality of thought processes, then comes action, habit, and the results.
As an educator, I understand how tricky it is to facilitate a change in a person's consciousness, or their thought process. When I see a person plagued with all kinds of self-justification and excuses, and who refuses to do the real work that counts, I feel pity somewhat, foreseeing a predictably not-so-bright future for the person. In contrast, I am delighted when I see someone who has the right "attitude," who would stride toward a brighter future.
This book contains so many "truths" I observed over years and learned from my mentors, and puts them in a very straightforward manner.
There are many "success" books I liked so far, including "The Success Principles," "The Seven Habits of Highly Efficient People" and "The Magic of Thinking Big." This "177-" book is definitely going to be my new favorite. I asked my wife to read the book.
I like it because this book is honest, and described what it said it would describe...the mental toughness secrets of the World class.
The honesty of the author is almost blunt, brutal or audacious.The author roughly categorized the entire population into the World class ( top 5%), upper class (10%), middle class (70%), working class (10%) and poor (5%). This is something we sort of know but do not talk about openly or very often. Then he makes a list of the traits of the top 5% world class, and discusses the differences in the traits between the world class and other classes. This contrasting approach may sound somewhat elitist, but is effective for highlighting the point. In the middle of the book, I started feeling like I was reading a secular version of a religion book, and the "Secrets" are like commandments. Yes, it is a choice where we make ourselves belong.
This categorical approach can correct our own mental habit of generalization as well. What is "true" to people in a class is not "true" for those in other classes. The differences come initially from the quality of thought processes, then comes action, habit, and the results.
As an educator, I understand how tricky it is to facilitate a change in a person's consciousness, or their thought process. When I see a person plagued with all kinds of self-justification and excuses, and who refuses to do the real work that counts, I feel pity somewhat, foreseeing a predictably not-so-bright future for the person. In contrast, I am delighted when I see someone who has the right "attitude," who would stride toward a brighter future.
This book contains so many "truths" I observed over years and learned from my mentors, and puts them in a very straightforward manner.
There are many "success" books I liked so far, including "The Success Principles," "The Seven Habits of Highly Efficient People" and "The Magic of Thinking Big." This "177-" book is definitely going to be my new favorite. I asked my wife to read the book.
June 16, 2013
Science: Laboratory work for summer
There are a few students showing up in the laboratory for summer training. We run a translational cancer research lab in an academic setting, and we provide training opportunities for a small number of students if the situation permits.
As a work training site, this is a rather unique place. First of all, although all the research labs are supposed to be doing scientific research, what they actually do is very diverse and different from lab to lab. Of course there are some generic techniques common to and used in many basic bio-medical research labs (e.g. Immunoblot, PCR, nucleic acid handling), but beyond these, the labs use techniques for their unique research on a demand/necessity basis. For a student, doing their homework (i.e. research about what the lab is doing through studying the publications) is a smart thing to do.
The research efforts of basic bio-medical science are summarized to a process; "extracting information about the workings of nature." The information may be useful, immediately or in the future, to merit public health.
Contemporary medical research costs money, and the labs are supported by either governmental or company sponsored private grants. Most grants are reviewed and awarded on a merit-basis. As such, "useful" research with more merit is more likely survive in this situation. Like it or not, being valuable to the public (or the granting institute) is critical for a lab.
Now back to the students. For a student, the lab work is basically manual work. They need to physically do things to get data. After they generate data, brain work begins. They need to extract a result in the form of information from the pile of data. This interpretation process is open to presumptions and biases, and they need to learn how to be open-minded to interpreting their data.
Since a physical process is involved, there are some cases where a student who is good at grasping concepts and doing theoretical "brain work" struggles to perform experiments. His experiments can come out dirty and inconclusive, to his frustration. Lab work is a lot like cooking, and the chef's skills do matter. On the other hand, there may be a student who is adept with his hands, but not-so-great at the brain work. Both the hand and brain aspects need to be trained to be a professional researcher.
We cannot predict how it will work out for each student. Going through training is a part of the "know yourself" process. I say, just by being here and going through the process, you are ahead of the pack already. Good luck.
.
As a work training site, this is a rather unique place. First of all, although all the research labs are supposed to be doing scientific research, what they actually do is very diverse and different from lab to lab. Of course there are some generic techniques common to and used in many basic bio-medical research labs (e.g. Immunoblot, PCR, nucleic acid handling), but beyond these, the labs use techniques for their unique research on a demand/necessity basis. For a student, doing their homework (i.e. research about what the lab is doing through studying the publications) is a smart thing to do.
The research efforts of basic bio-medical science are summarized to a process; "extracting information about the workings of nature." The information may be useful, immediately or in the future, to merit public health.
Contemporary medical research costs money, and the labs are supported by either governmental or company sponsored private grants. Most grants are reviewed and awarded on a merit-basis. As such, "useful" research with more merit is more likely survive in this situation. Like it or not, being valuable to the public (or the granting institute) is critical for a lab.
Now back to the students. For a student, the lab work is basically manual work. They need to physically do things to get data. After they generate data, brain work begins. They need to extract a result in the form of information from the pile of data. This interpretation process is open to presumptions and biases, and they need to learn how to be open-minded to interpreting their data.
Since a physical process is involved, there are some cases where a student who is good at grasping concepts and doing theoretical "brain work" struggles to perform experiments. His experiments can come out dirty and inconclusive, to his frustration. Lab work is a lot like cooking, and the chef's skills do matter. On the other hand, there may be a student who is adept with his hands, but not-so-great at the brain work. Both the hand and brain aspects need to be trained to be a professional researcher.
We cannot predict how it will work out for each student. Going through training is a part of the "know yourself" process. I say, just by being here and going through the process, you are ahead of the pack already. Good luck.
.
June 9, 2013
Dance: "The Tango is strong with this one"
The Chinese have a long history of war and martial arts. Their martial arts are called Wushu or Kung Fu.
Kung Fu has hundreds of schools and styles, but they can be roughly categorized into two styles by the emphasis. One is the "external" school, which has an emphasis on physical ability, speed and agility. A style seen in the Shaolin temple is a famous example. Advanced practitioners of the external schools can do incredibly acrobatic moves.
Another is the "internal" school, whose emphasis is on cultivating life energy, force, or "chi," and uses the energy and your sensitivity for the energy for fighting. They have an application for healing. Tai chi is a famous example. When practicing the style, they use set forms, slow-contact sparring ("the Push hands") and even standing-still exercises. The aim for the exercises is developing sensitivity for the flow of energy, that can be used for redirecting an opponent's attacks and for offensive moves.
Why am I talking about this? Because there is a parallel analogy in Tango styles.
The show tango definitely belongs to the external school, with an emphasis on physical presentation. It is film and YouTube friendly, because the big and visual moves and motions can be captured in this media easily. High kicks and aerials are obviously impressive, and serve the purpose of a professional trick, "Demonstrate something the viewers cannot do, make the viewers give up on doing the same, and establish superiority."
And the social tango? The social tango has subcategories of its own, and some social styles have more emphasis on the internal aspect.
The internal style emphasizes the internal feel of the energy, or the "force of Tango." Good tango of this style feels like giving and receiving a good massage. The dance can be very satisfying, but just like massaging, it is hard to judge by the appearance.
Like advanced martial artists cultivate and have both the physical ability and strong chi, advanced/good dancers are strong in both aspects, physical/external and energy flow/internal.
In social dancing, just like martial arts, what counts is your motion and response in the moment. Good social dancers almost look like they are reading the partner's mind. It is achievable through practice long enough to make your dancing a subconscious act. And to achieve this, you'll need both external ability and internal energy flow, that I refer here as the force, chi, energy, or Tango.
Dancers with weak force, or chi or Tango or whatever, may look fine with choreography, but they cannot fake it when social dancing. The reverse can also be true. Someone with a not-so-interesting dance appearance can have a strong and comfortable Tango.
In this era of audio and visual media (e.g. TV, movies, YouTube) , an aspect that cannot be easily translated to the media, such as a sensual aspect of life (e.g. tactile sensation, sense of smell or taste, the "feeling" or the "atmosphere" of a person), tends to lag behind the speed of information propagation through the media.
Tango is a uniquely sensual dance. What I am hoping for with this blog entry is that you take a balanced approach towards the two aspects with your own Tango by recognizing the two aspects.
I read some Tai chi and Kung Fu books in search of how to develop the chi. They did come up with some training methods, and these techniques may work for your Tango. I'll write about it some time later. In the meantime, you can do your own research, too.
Kung Fu has hundreds of schools and styles, but they can be roughly categorized into two styles by the emphasis. One is the "external" school, which has an emphasis on physical ability, speed and agility. A style seen in the Shaolin temple is a famous example. Advanced practitioners of the external schools can do incredibly acrobatic moves.
Another is the "internal" school, whose emphasis is on cultivating life energy, force, or "chi," and uses the energy and your sensitivity for the energy for fighting. They have an application for healing. Tai chi is a famous example. When practicing the style, they use set forms, slow-contact sparring ("the Push hands") and even standing-still exercises. The aim for the exercises is developing sensitivity for the flow of energy, that can be used for redirecting an opponent's attacks and for offensive moves.
Why am I talking about this? Because there is a parallel analogy in Tango styles.
The show tango definitely belongs to the external school, with an emphasis on physical presentation. It is film and YouTube friendly, because the big and visual moves and motions can be captured in this media easily. High kicks and aerials are obviously impressive, and serve the purpose of a professional trick, "Demonstrate something the viewers cannot do, make the viewers give up on doing the same, and establish superiority."
And the social tango? The social tango has subcategories of its own, and some social styles have more emphasis on the internal aspect.
The internal style emphasizes the internal feel of the energy, or the "force of Tango." Good tango of this style feels like giving and receiving a good massage. The dance can be very satisfying, but just like massaging, it is hard to judge by the appearance.
Like advanced martial artists cultivate and have both the physical ability and strong chi, advanced/good dancers are strong in both aspects, physical/external and energy flow/internal.
In social dancing, just like martial arts, what counts is your motion and response in the moment. Good social dancers almost look like they are reading the partner's mind. It is achievable through practice long enough to make your dancing a subconscious act. And to achieve this, you'll need both external ability and internal energy flow, that I refer here as the force, chi, energy, or Tango.
Dancers with weak force, or chi or Tango or whatever, may look fine with choreography, but they cannot fake it when social dancing. The reverse can also be true. Someone with a not-so-interesting dance appearance can have a strong and comfortable Tango.
In this era of audio and visual media (e.g. TV, movies, YouTube) , an aspect that cannot be easily translated to the media, such as a sensual aspect of life (e.g. tactile sensation, sense of smell or taste, the "feeling" or the "atmosphere" of a person), tends to lag behind the speed of information propagation through the media.
Tango is a uniquely sensual dance. What I am hoping for with this blog entry is that you take a balanced approach towards the two aspects with your own Tango by recognizing the two aspects.
I read some Tai chi and Kung Fu books in search of how to develop the chi. They did come up with some training methods, and these techniques may work for your Tango. I'll write about it some time later. In the meantime, you can do your own research, too.
June 2, 2013
Life: On History, "The Screenwriter's Bible"
When I was younger, like some pre-teens and teens, I was a bookworm. I read a wide variety of genres, both fiction and non-fiction. Around 11, in an age-appropriate manner, I started reading a bunch of war histories. Starting from WWII, which is a general favorite of boys, I read Japanese and Chinese historical war stories, including The Three Kingdoms, The Art of War, The Zhan Guo Ce, The Taiheiki, and The Tale of the Heike. The Japanese stories tended to be more focused on the characters, whereas the Chinese stories tended to focus on the actions and strategies, and ended with morals.
The format of historical stories boils down to what they did, and what followed or happened as a result. A good thing about historical stories is that they can tell us what worked and what didn't.
Although we need to acknowledge that the context and environment of a historical story may be different from now and then, the "data" can remain valid for planning our future actions/ experiments, or determining our future strategies. We know where Nazism led Hitler-Germany, and the historical knowledge still creates a strong barrier in the public mind against Nazism's resurgence.
Studying history can be quite useful to avoid bad outcomes in the future.
Since I came to the US, my book-reading habits have changed somewhat. I started reading a lot more how-to books. Good how-to books can give us an overview of the art and the industry, and can give a glimpse of how they think of doing the art.
Among the recent hits is "The Screenwriter's Bible" by David Trottier.
The book is a how-to book (or a "six books-in-one" book according to the author) for writing a screen script, formatting it, editing it, and selling it as a working professional screenwriter. There are many how-to books in the bookstore (mine included), but few are thorough enough to take you to professionalism. This book may be among the few.
A fresh point of view for me from the book is that a screen script is about storytelling in a visual (and in part, auditory) manner. He emphasizes the importance of writing the script with visual actions, because the script is eventually for TV or a movie, the audio and visual media.
A how-to book is a series of instructions. It will tell you "do this, do that," sometimes with reasoning ("we do this because.."), so we can think like the artist and do the art by ourselves.
We do something, and we get the results or consequences of our actions. For a how-to book, the consequences are specific; be able to become a working professional script writer, for example.
Now I come back to the historical stories. The result of an action has been shown in history in many cases.
We were born knowing nothing about this world, and we learn through instructions as we grow up. The instructions are everywhere. But we want to know which ones to follow, if we want to act smart. The result you achieve is a very good indicator for sorting the instructions out. For example, I would rather listen to financial advice given by the rich rather than the poor. If I listen to the poor, I predict I'd be poor as well. The reverse may not be true (i.e. I follow advice by the rich and I get rich...I don't think it's guaranteed), but the general direction may be more likely (probably following the advice by the rich is better than following one by the poor). Advice from people who have proven their success will usually be more valuable and help you be successful.
In summary, think about the consequences when you choose your actions.
Another summary is that I liked the book "The Screenwriter's Bible" very much for being very specific and actionable.
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