Believing the Impossible

The impossible often become the possible, indeed it is the only thing that ever does.

One of the perspectives I frequently take on is the need to believe in the impossible. Today, I will attempt to explain why this is so important in the field of optimization and improvement.

All improvements require a first step in experimentation with new techniques and methods. This decision to abandon the old and experiment with the new often places us in a quandary. When we consider attempting something new, we must weigh: (1) the probability of the decision working itself out along with (2) its resultant benefits.

The probability can be somewhat ascertained through studying academic literature and understanding the principles which govern the system. However, this can only go so far. The other part of the formula needs to be considered; what benefits can this new method bring?

It is this very notion that compels us to choose to believe our wildest dreams. The amount of intrinsic curiosity and wild belief in the impossible is directly proportional to the amount of experimentation you are willing to take on in your life. As a result, the more you believe in the impossible, the more likely you are to accomplish just that.

The Crippled President

Appearances matter.

Having spent several years with engineers, you start to get a sense of their perspective on things in life. One of the more common ones is their refusal to accept the importance of form and aesthetics. In the business world, the importance of marketing is already a known axiom, but within the world of many technical individuals the notion that results will sell themselves continue to hold fast.

Here is the story of a man who exerted immense efforts to defy what many may have considered impossible.

Inspiration often lie in unfamiliar places and former US president Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness is a story that few are aware of. Despite primarily being confined to a wheelchair and unable to walk, FDR campaigned and was successfully elected as president with most of the world not knowing about his illness. How did he do this?

No matter what you may believe, the facts are that better marketed products often hit the jackpot and attractive people are perceived as more trustworthy and capable. Even if your task to change your image may seem impossible, never give up, because FDR surely didn't.

Impossible is nothing... unless you are dead.

The Free Rider Problem

Understanding the concepts of the free rider problem.

Many people who work in teams or groups have a disdain for the free rider. In a team situation, there will always be people who pull a little less weight than the rest and it's important to know how to deal with it.

When I first entered my first year of university for engineering, we were given a paper on how to deal with unfair working situations in group work. Many of the suggestions can be described as increasing communication between members in order to align interests and simply reporting the problem to the supervisor.

Well, it is clear that the second option is often not sufficient in real life. What is important is that we need to understand what drives this discomfort within us and how to resolve it. This feeling is called inequality aversion (IA). It has been shown that the perceived lack of fairness (in the presence of strong IA) decreases productivity within a group, much more than the actual decrease brought by the free rider alone.

Bottom Line: It often pays more to ignore the free rider and take on a bit more work rather than worry about the problem so much.

That's not to say you shouldn't also continue to try to alleviate the problem by increasing communication, working on dispute resolution, and the alignment of interests.

Locus of Control

It's important to maintain a strong locus of control.

According to Wikipedia, the locus of control is defined as "Locus of control is a theory in personality psychology referring to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them."

Whether we choose to believe it or not, there are always certain things within our realm of control and other things that are not. And as much as your personality can be defined by your surrounding environment, it's important to realize that the amount of control you have over your own life is at least partially defined by the amount of control you believe you possess.

The mystical concepts of someone who is smart or lucky often have a negative effect on your locus of control. Indeed, when students were praised for being smart as opposed to being praised for having worked hard, their performance suffered in comparison. By bringing the source of success and praise into a strong internal locus of control, students are more likely to excel.

In short, this echoes my previous post that there is a significant advantage in taking a perspective on things where you are handling the steering wheel.

It's Good to Blame Yourself (...sometimes)

It's always good to look for opportunities for growth.

When bad things happen, we're often told it's not our fault and that we shouldn't blame ourselves. That's all well and good, but sometimes when responsibility for the blame is not so clear, I think a different perspective may be more productive (so long as your self-esteem is intact). Assuming responsibility for things that may not objectively be your fault can be good because it provides an excellent opportunity for an excuse in improving yourself.

Even when things are clearly not your fault, you can still try to rationalize far-out factors that you could've/should've/would've taken care of if only you were a better person. You can make sense of the situation by thinking about how you can improve yourself from this experience by analyzing your weaknesses. This type of focus will also distract yourself from any discontent that you may feel.

Obviously, this does not work in all situations. Sometimes, the fault clearly lies with other people and there really is nothing you could have done. But nevertheless, I find that these instances are a lot rarer than most people think. Besides, it's always nice to take responsibility for things and put the control back in our own hands.

A Little Bit Everyday

Guest Image: ThunderCougarFalconBird

The following is a guest post by ThunderCougarFalconBird about his experience with language learning and spaced repetition techniques.

It was the night before the first midterm in a university course for Mandarin Chinese and I found myself trying to cram 10 chapters in 12 hours. It was terrible, and I swore that I would never do it again.

And so, I began using Anki everyday, a spaced repetition software (SRS). SRS is basically a set of flashcards, but with an algorithm that continuously schedules familiar cards to be reviewed less often while unfamiliar ones are reviewed more often. I did this for the remainder of the course and in the end I only spent about two hours studying for the final and was able to take the exam with a high degree of confidence.

I now study Korean, and every week my classmates cram for the weekly vocabulary quiz while I only spend 15 minutes a day on the commute to school. This not only prepares me for the quizzes, but also seals in vocabulary in the long term. Cramming last minute is great for storing it in the short term, but the information may not remain for long.

Of course, SRS is only one part of language learning; we must not forget to use the language itself.

It's also worth mentioning that spaced repetition has much research behind it. For decades now, different algorithms have been tested, developed, and optimized for better learning; see Wikipedia for more information.

Learning From Garbage

Does this can hold wisdom?

Sometimes we think about how other countries may be dirty and may even have the inclination to look down on them for lacking a sense of proper hygiene in their culture. Thus, it may be wise to serve ourselves a reminder that even North American society wasn't all that great not too long ago. Check out the following video clip from Mad Men (a TV show set in the 1960s).

I realize this is a fictional TV show produced in today's world, but it is nonetheless a representation of what might have been seemingly more acceptable in the past. We can also just look at our parks during firework days and see exactly how little we have changed in some respects.

Indeed, we must realize that societal values are not tied indefinitely to a specific culture. All cultures have the ability to evolve and change, and the forces that do so are arguably balanced between government and our own self-awareness. Hopefully, realizing this interesting tidbit will allow us to recognize that the power to change is within ourselves and more importantly I hope this realization will help to prevent racism and stereotyping. After all, we are all just only human.

Moon Landing Hoax

Impossible?

The moon landing hoax conspiracy tells us more about our perceptions as human beings rather than about the moon landing itself. While most pundits and experts have come to a general consensus that the moon landing did in fact happen, there is still a significant portion of the population that doubt this. Notwithstanding the enormous cost of faking such an enormous endeavour with so many participants, conspiracy theorists refuse to accept that landing on the moon is a feasible and historical accomplishment.

The inability to believe the moon landing stems largely from a lack of understanding about how surmountable the task really is. It is difficult for many people to wrap their heads around complex concepts and it is simply much easier to reject something rather than to look at it analytically. However, all great things seem difficult at first. If you were to ask a child whether or not a sail boat can sail upwind, it is likely that they may answer no.

Indeed, the point of this post is not only to point out our very human apprehension of FUD, but also to recognize the importance of viewing something impossibly hard as something within our grasp.

Food for Thought: Snowstorms

What can we learn from snowstorms?

Not too long ago, Toronto had a snowstorm that affected many of its residents and caused substantially longer commutes. I have said before that inconvenience is one of the best sources of ideas and I think it's worth taking time to think about what snowstorms can bring us in terms of food for thought.

What the snowstorm exacerbates are pre-existing problems built into how the city is run. The most obvious one is that of a commute. Commutes significantly contribute to environmental pollution along with a waste of time and money, things that could be used to boost an economy. There are many jobs that can simply be done from home, and increasingly many offices are starting to do just this.

At the most extreme there is the Results Only Work Environment, where there is no requirement for commuting to an office and sitting there for a period of time. It is claimed that this type of per-hour billing is an antiquated form of human resources management from the days of the industrial revolution.

I am not suggesting that telecommuting is a panacea to all work situations, but isn't it interesting that such a discussion can come from a snowstorm?

Good Ideas: Inconveniences

You know it's serious business when you're using both hands.

Good ideas often come from inconveniences, especially inconveniences that we have accepted as necessary in society. And when I teach about innovation, the first example I always talk about is the telephone.

The early phones required two handed operation, and while that may look a little odd in today's world it is only because we have gotten used to telephones which have a joined speaker and microphone. Later on, someone would eventually figure out that the distance between the ear and the mouth doesn't vary all that much for most people and the two pieces would then be joined.

Sure, this seems obvious to us now, but people used the candlestick telephone for decades. There are numerous similar examples of this, but it is important for us to realize that "back in the day", everyone thought they were really advanced and high-tech just as much as we currently do. Let us never lose sight of the humble nature of our human beginnings and let's try to be innovative by taking a deeper look into the things in our lives which we have unconsciously accepted.

Don't Get Used to Being Right

Where there's a wrong, there's an opportunity to learn.

It's always sobering when somebody points out you are wrong. When you find out that you are too often right about many things, the reward circuits within your brain actually rewire to reinforce a superior opinion of yourself. This concept is called illusory superiority, the idea that you think you are better than you actually are. What's frightening, however, is that this can happen at an early age.

When at a young age, many people may tend to think they have mastered a specific particular domain. This kind of illusory superiority is what drives us to become stubborn and repress creativity and learning. Since doing the things we are good at provide a rewarding response in our brain, we see no need to attempt the things we may be bad at in fear of doing something wrong.

For a lot of people, this is just a phase. Eventually, most will realize that there is still much to learn. Unfortunately, many hold on to this illusory superiority for the rest of their lives. This gives rise to the Dunning-Kruger effect, where under average individuals mistakenly rate their abilities above average.

Just remember, sometimes it's good to be wrong.

The Gift of Being Average

Embracing mediocrity.

I have alluded to this in my previous post about the subjective value of achievement. Being average really isn't that bad. Sometimes, we gain a lot more from having been bad at something and then later on achieving mastery. In fact, I believe this is a core aspect of human life. It is what gives us the ability to be special, so that we can each pursue different goals and build up our own sense of identity.

If you have ever seen the film Gattaca, it reflects this exact sentiment. Indeed, the allure of the story is the very human aspect of struggle and despair followed by triumph against all odds. In a dystopian future with genetically tweaked newborns, the naturally-born protagonist struggles to reach his dreams. If we compare the protagonist with his genetically enhanced brother, we can see that there are character traits which were developed through a life-long struggle present in the protagonist but absent in his brother.

The human condition lies in the struggle of life.

Thus, rather than accepting the cards dealt to us by our genes and childhood, we should embrace our circumstance and strive to take control of our future.

The Culprit of Ineffective Discussions: Emotion

Are you having effective discussions?

It is important to realize that not all discussions are productive, a fact that I am sure most of my readers can attest to. I strongly believe that the key to effective discourse is the control of emotions. Many aggravated arguments tend to arise from being emotionally affected by something that someone else has said. Many may initially disagree with this, but upon introspection of this disagreement, I believe that most people would come to a similar conclusion.

Where do we have the least productive discussions? Instant messaging tends to be a bad platform. One can spew off several points of argument, each triggering an emotional response. The recipient of these arguments are then forced to focus on one and reply to it immediately while the other points are temporarily neglected. After the reply of their first point, before one can reply to their second point, the rebuttal of the first reply has already been sent. Eventually, different ideas are lost in an attempt to multitask and the argument ends with all parties feeling like they achieved something but nothing is truly learned. How can one provide for effective discourse by controlling emotion? Let us try to answer that tomorrow.

Sense of Utility With Respect to Time

What are accomplishments if not evaluated w.r.t. time?

Today I'd like to point out a few things regarding the subjective utility of our accomplishments. I have recognized a long time ago that there are, in our society, a few people who seem to be naturally inclined to certain feats of tasks. And while I have long accepted that I am not one such people, I do notice that there are a few things that I do excel in. When I reflect on these experiences, I find that those things I derive the most satisfaction and learning from are the same things that I have initially failed at.

Indeed, it is true when people say that the journey is more important than the destination. Since our lives are often perceived as a linear representation of time, it would make a lot of sense to value the utility of our accomplishments with respect to time rather than as a scalar quantity in and of itself. Put another way, life is a lot more enjoyable if we focus not on the value of our accomplishments, but the first-order derivative of it (the increase in its value).

In other words, where you are going is more important than where you are.

What is Robustness?

Are your plans in life robust?

Most people use this word in day-to-day conversations without knowing what it really means. A robust system, is a system that can take a variety of different inputs, but still have a consistent output. An example would be certain websites, which when you login with your username, does not require it to be case-sensitive. You can enter in any combination of your username with either all-caps or none at all and it would produce the same response.

This whole concept of being able to take on different inputs while producing the same output is an important understanding for those of us who would like to improve ourselves. We have talked previously about why goals are important. And if we are to achieve those goals effectively, we must take into account the fact that the world is often not in our control. However, the system that we design and operate with is something that we can change. Therefore, whenever you set out to do anything (an essay, a work of art, scheduling an appointment, studying for an exam), make sure that you take contingencies into account and consider all the possibilities which may affect your work.

A simple example that most people can relate to is writing sentences. When people write sentences, there are often times when ambiguity may arise depending on the style that the reader is accustomed to. When proofreading your own work, make sure that the phrasing is unambiguous such that no matter who your audience is, they will be able to understand the message.

The Myth of Multitasking

Keeping your mind clear; should you multitask?

It is a scientific consensus that multitasking does not really exist. This article from Psychology Today summarizes this pretty succinctly. What is physiologically happening when you switch from one task to another, is that your brain actually has to shift its activity (and as a result, the focus of nutrients) to different parts of your brain to make that successful shift. The more switching you do, the more tired you get, and the faster that tends to happen.

Think back to when you were really "in the zone" and pumped out an amazing essay or made an awesome webpage in one go. A lot of the impressive tasks we tend to accomplish are done in isolation either early in the morning or in the middle of the night where no Facebook or instant messenger notifications can bother us.

Now think about when you're in class, and you're trying to juggle answer your friends' messages on MSN and Google Chat while browsing Facebook and listening to the lecturer.

This and the success of cramming that many students can attest to shows a pretty clear picture of how to achieve maximum productivity. And multitasking surely isn't it.

Worrier or Warrior?

Setting goals through dopamine and cortisol.

This New York Times article discusses a classification of people into worriers and warriors. In my opinion, it's always best to be wary of classifications of ourselves because I have a strong belief that we have the ability to change. That being said, I think it's worth examining these theories and experiments to find what works best for you. Especially since the reality is that, while many things can change, certain things are a little more difficult to control. And as I have often said, it's not only important to find what works, but more importantly what works best for the situation you may be in.

If you find that you work best in the absence of stress, then simply set up that kind of environment for yourself. Meticulous planning allows us to control our variables with contingencies. For example, when I receive the course syllabus in the beginning of the course. I plan out what exactly is required of me in the evaluations and I only focus myself on that. In that case, I don't worry when I am "behind" on readings because I am following my own plan and I have already anticipated any variables since the beginning.

The Case For Drugs

Is there an objective right or wrong?

As kids, we've long been told that drugs are bad, and there have always been the distinction of good drugs (from doctors) and bad drugs (from dealers). As a child, I followed society's classification because I felt that these adults probably knew better than I did. However, having read countless scientific papers, I now realize that I possess the same tools to evaluate the evidence as the adults who passed the laws did.

One key aspect of the nature of substances is that there is no such thing as good or bad; it is rather a simple subjective declaration. Thus, what is considered good or bad in society is simply the subjective declaration of those who wield the power of law. What we must do in our lives, is not to simply say yes or no because our government has told us so. As individuals lucky enough to partake in a university education, I believe that we should take the time to evaluate the academic literature and make up our own decisions along with our subjective knowledge of our physical selves before saying yes or no to any drug (be it coffee from Starbucks or antibiotics from the pharmacist).

I'd like to mention that not everyone may not be fully adept at reading scientific journals and conducting literature review. If that is the case, then yes, we should consult the experts of our society. But don't stop there. If you don't have the ability to read scientific journals, learn. Learning is the real theme of this blog, and  my alma mater has a brief guide on how to learn this particular skill. Later on, I'll be providing a blog post dedicated to teaching this skill.

Success is in the Struggle

We find ourselves only if we are searching within.

We know that active learning and effort enhances your study sessions, but today let's focus on the value of recall and retrieval. Many studies have shown that the processes of recall and retrieval enhance learning (even if you don't get it right). It's the act of trying to look around your brain and search for an answer that enhances learning. In fact, the gains from this method is rather astounding.

In one experiment, students studied a list of words on their own. They found that the words the students were proficient with earlier on were often neglected in later practice. Since the students thought that they "learned" it the first time, there was less retrieval later on. The result was that these very words (which students had much confidence with) did not yield performance as well as those words which were difficult earlier on.

As it is in life, we shouldn't leave ourselves to be comfortable with what we think we are already good at. We should always strive to push forward while making sure we retain what we have learned in the past.

Groupwork Tips: The Ringelmann effect

Beware of the Ringelmann Effect

On this blog, I often advocate working on something alone whenever possible, but of course there are many instances where that is not possible or simply not practical. Large projects will always require more than one person, and this is a good thing. However, one of the things we have to be aware of is the Ringelmann Effect. According to Wikipedia, "the Ringelmann effect is the tendency for individual members of a group to become increasingly less productive as the size of their group increases." So how do we combat this?

Well first we must understand why this is happening, two important reasons are the loss of motivation and the loss of coordination. Having led teams up to 20 people, I have found it best to break down your project into tasks which people can work on in isolation. When you have each team member solely responsible for something, the Ringelmann effect is much less pronounced because each person feels responsibility, autonomy, and ownership over their work. However, this requires modular coordination on the part of the leadership, and that in itself is another post entirely.