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.