I read a book written by a professional gambler. According to him, a major milestone in his career was the day he was kicked out from a casino due to over-winning.
At first he specialized in Black Jack. Later on, he studied five different games. At one time in his career, his winning rate reached 90%. At the time, gambling really was like a job. He went to casino to make money (!).
The book was not about details of the games he gambled. If the book was a how-to book, such details would have been necessary. But the book was an essay; was more about professionalism and mentality that supported his winning.
At an expense of gambling details that might have been of interest to some by themselves, he wrote how he professionally dealt with gambling.
As such, the content became more universal than gambling.
In a chapter, he wrote about "thinking in level 1, 2, and 3".
Level 1 thinking is all about himself and his hand. His sight is limited to his own viewpoint. In other words, it is a beginner's level.
Level 2 thinking begins when he recognizes opponent(s)/others. He begins to think the hands of opponents, and try to outdo them.
Level 3 thinking considers other people's viewpoint and mind how he looks from outside. This is the level professional gamblers operate. A certain selflessness enables him to view the flow of the game. It is an advanced level.
These levels are applicable to dancing.
Level 1: just moving your body and having fun. Who cares how it looks. [beginner]
Level 2: you recognize your partner and try to work with the partner. [intermediate]
Level 3: It is a stage dance. How they see you is more important than how you feel. [advanced]
Your level of thinking defines how you play.
In which level you operate is critical to the outcome. It is not only in gambling or dancing.
I read through, like 20 books recently. The gambler's book was an easy read, but fun.
February 28, 2018
February 21, 2018
Science: Four aspects in science job
Both of the February-due grants went out.
To loosen up myself, I took some time off during this past weekend. When working on a research project for a while, the brain starts getting somewhat obsessive. A part of the brain keeps working on the project all the time, and it goes on.
It is not necessarily a bad thing. It just is how an art works. But I do find it healthier for my brain to keep a distance from the project once the project reaches a milestone. It is easy to get short-sighted.
Of course I find the project important. I am convinced that it is. It is almost personal. Otherwise, it would be hard to keep working on it for hours, days, and weeks.
Still, having some time off should have a positive effect. After some cooling down, I'll get back to the project with some fresher ideas and fairer eyes for evaluation.
Your anticipation may contradict what nature indicates with scientific objectivity. We need to be aware of it and accept it. This awareness and acceptance is a critical trait that separates scientists (who need to amend their hypotheses when necessary) and religious people (who stick to their dogmas to the end).
Science as a work has many different aspects.
In an academic setting, following four activities are particularly important.
(1) Grant writing (=fund raising) is of course very important. Or, perhaps most critical.
(2) Another important aspect is original research and its dissemination, which is done by research activities in the lab and office, by writing manuscript and/or review, and by publication.
(3) Collegiate and teaching activities are another important aspect.
I am supposed to give an 1-hour lecture for Physiology department lecture series in March, and got to start preparing for it now. I want to pay a visit to my collaborator and discuss the work in near future, too.
(4) Administrative activities. To some extent I want to delegate this to dedicated administrators. But when I work with a team of people, keeping an eye on this aspect is necessary.
Usually, they simply say "Research, Teaching, and Administration". My categorization divides Research into "fundraising" and "research in a more traditional sense".
Depending on your position, expected role, career stage, and season in relation to grant deadlines or to teaching activities, the efforts mix would be different. It certainly helps to know the work and shift effort emphasis from time to time.
To loosen up myself, I took some time off during this past weekend. When working on a research project for a while, the brain starts getting somewhat obsessive. A part of the brain keeps working on the project all the time, and it goes on.
It is not necessarily a bad thing. It just is how an art works. But I do find it healthier for my brain to keep a distance from the project once the project reaches a milestone. It is easy to get short-sighted.
Of course I find the project important. I am convinced that it is. It is almost personal. Otherwise, it would be hard to keep working on it for hours, days, and weeks.
Still, having some time off should have a positive effect. After some cooling down, I'll get back to the project with some fresher ideas and fairer eyes for evaluation.
Your anticipation may contradict what nature indicates with scientific objectivity. We need to be aware of it and accept it. This awareness and acceptance is a critical trait that separates scientists (who need to amend their hypotheses when necessary) and religious people (who stick to their dogmas to the end).
Science as a work has many different aspects.
In an academic setting, following four activities are particularly important.
(1) Grant writing (=fund raising) is of course very important. Or, perhaps most critical.
(2) Another important aspect is original research and its dissemination, which is done by research activities in the lab and office, by writing manuscript and/or review, and by publication.
(3) Collegiate and teaching activities are another important aspect.
I am supposed to give an 1-hour lecture for Physiology department lecture series in March, and got to start preparing for it now. I want to pay a visit to my collaborator and discuss the work in near future, too.
(4) Administrative activities. To some extent I want to delegate this to dedicated administrators. But when I work with a team of people, keeping an eye on this aspect is necessary.
Usually, they simply say "Research, Teaching, and Administration". My categorization divides Research into "fundraising" and "research in a more traditional sense".
Depending on your position, expected role, career stage, and season in relation to grant deadlines or to teaching activities, the efforts mix would be different. It certainly helps to know the work and shift effort emphasis from time to time.
February 13, 2018
Science/Life: Fixing 399-thousand-dollar mistake
The university grant office found a mistake in the grant proposal that needs to be fixed before submission (Thank you for catching it). So I was working to fix it today.
We are requesting $398,750 total cost for the project. That makes the mistake a "399-thousand-dollar" mistake.
It took 6 hours to correct the proposal. But if the project is funded, wouldn't that mean I made $66,458.33 per hour by today's work? It's quite decent amount of money per hour. (...guess not. Magical accounting. haha)
We are requesting $398,750 total cost for the project. That makes the mistake a "399-thousand-dollar" mistake.
It took 6 hours to correct the proposal. But if the project is funded, wouldn't that mean I made $66,458.33 per hour by today's work? It's quite decent amount of money per hour. (...guess not. Magical accounting. haha)
February 9, 2018
Science: Stephenson Cancer Center symposium 2/2/2018; grant preps almost over
Past a few months I have been working harder to finish two grants, revise a manuscript, and for others. That "others" include a 25-minutes talk in this annual symposium.
Raising money to conduct research is very important. That is why we write grants to fund our research.
The first grant was submitted on 2/5/18, and the second one is in final internal review process. To get all these done, I have been skipping weekends for past 1.5 months. About time to take a breath.
It is not done until it is done, and only completed work counts. However, it is not wrong to rest, stretch, and enjoy the view at milestones in the process.
Real work begins after they got funded.
Twenty-four days after his (snakebite?) injury, I let my cat go out on Saturday 2/3/18. He's recovered enough to go outside. He went out in the morning, and came back at night just like before. Good.
[At work. SCC annual symposium 2018]
The talk was about genomic instability and cancers in colon, liver, and lung, and how we can exploit the weaknesses in cells with genomic instability for cancer prevention purpose.
With contemporary technologies and appropriate models, we can "intelligently design" prevention measures for cancers and test them. It is an interesting time in history.
Raising money to conduct research is very important. That is why we write grants to fund our research.
The first grant was submitted on 2/5/18, and the second one is in final internal review process. To get all these done, I have been skipping weekends for past 1.5 months. About time to take a breath.
It is not done until it is done, and only completed work counts. However, it is not wrong to rest, stretch, and enjoy the view at milestones in the process.
Real work begins after they got funded.
Twenty-four days after his (snakebite?) injury, I let my cat go out on Saturday 2/3/18. He's recovered enough to go outside. He went out in the morning, and came back at night just like before. Good.
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