idealawg

This is your brain on improv: What we can learn from musicians about creativity

Dr. Charles Limb, both a musician and a neuroscientist, conducts some intriguing research about which I have blogged before. Click for my post Play what you know and then play above that: The role of improvisation in mediation.

I am happy to see that he now has given a TED presentation. Click to watch Limb's talk. The description from the TED Web site:

Musician and researcher Charles Limb wondered how the brain works during musical improvisation -- so he put jazz musicians and rappers in an fMRI to find out. What he and his team found has deep implications for our understanding of creativity of all kinds.

Assessing natural abilities is not the same as assessing personal style: An overview of the major assessment tools

Lazar Emanuel has written a very good article explaining differences between, and value of, the various assessment tools, such as Highlands, Johnson O'Connor, Myers-Briggs, and DiSC.

Emanual is the president of Highlands, an asssessment tool in which I have been certified, but no longer use with clients because the nature of my work has shifted. Even though I no longer use it, if someone wants to get more information about him- or herself, both in the personal and professional realms, I always recommend that they either go to Johnson O'Connor, or seek the services of a certified Highlands affiliate with whom they feel comfortable. The information you gain from one of those assessments is extremely valuable, and is often life-changing.

Click to read "A Review of Personal Assessments" (Highlands Forum).

Another article by Emanuel (who is a lawyer): "Training Law Students to Explore Other Careers" (Highlands Forum).

Short interview of Dr. Shelley Carson talking about her new book Your Creative Brain

Dr. Carson has found seven brain states, or "brainsets," used by creative people, and she describes them in her book Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life. They are easy to remember because they form the acronym CREATES:

• Connect
• Reason
• Envision
• Absorb
• Transform
• Evaluate
• Stream

Click here to listen to her talk about her book and the seven states. Click here for Dr. Carson's blog at Psychology Today.

John Medina will be in Denver this month to talk about his new book BRAIN RULES FOR BABY

I have recommended Dr. Medina's last book Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School countless times. Now he has a new book Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five. I have not yet read it but am betting it is as good as his first Brain Rules.

In addition to being knowledgeable, this man is entertaining. I have seen Medina on DVD, and at his Web site, and have heard from others who have seen him in person that they concur with me that he is very funny.

So those of you in the Denver area may want to attend one or both of these events . . .

Thursday, October 28 @4:30pm -- Denver
Gates Concert Hall at the Newman Center, University of Denver Campus
2344 East lliff Avenue at University Boulevard
Denver, CO 80208
There is no charge, however you are required to register.

Friday, October 29 1:30pm - 3:00pm -- Denver*
Children's Museum of Denver

Book applies Myers-Briggs Types to law school

Although I am not particularly impressed with Myers-Briggs, I know some people find that assessment tool helpful. For those of them in law school or acquainted with a law student, I point out this book Juris Types: Learning Law Through Self-Understanding. I learned of the book when a friend forwarded to me the link to the book's Web page today. From that page:

Written by law school professors and psychological type experts Don and Martha Peters, Juris Types: Learning Law Through Self-Understanding goes beyond general study tips to help you find learning strategies ideally suited to your unique personality. Juris Types includes a CD-ROM of reproducible step-by-step exercises to help guide you through each chapter. You will discover your own methods to better organize your time, study effectively, and prepare for and perform successfully on tests. An indispensable tool for maximum law school success with a minimum of stress.

"Telluride Institute: Language of Mental Life conference": Interview of Philippe Goldin

Buddhist and Christian scholars, and scientists of various disciplines gathered earlier this month in Telluride for a conference on the mind. To learn more about the conference and about why scientists and contemplative practitioners are joining efforts, listen to this interview from Telluride Inside... and Out of Dr. Goldin. He also talks about the possibility of a Telluride compassion conference in the future.Manage accounts

"Technology and Informal Education: What Is Taught, What Is Learned"

Excerpt:

Conclusions

Schools often rely on older media such as print and lectures to communicate with learners who increasingly lack the cognitive socialization— the informal education—that would enable them to process these media with maximum efficiency. Not only that, but schools rely almost entirely on the print medium to test that knowledge. Indeed, as science and technology have become increasingly visual in their intrinsic nature, there may be a mismatch between the structure of the knowledge and the structure of the print and oral language media traditionally used to both impart and test that knowledge.

However, the preceding makes it clear that no one medium can do everything. Every medium has its strengths and weaknesses; every medium develops some cognitive skills at the expense of others (28). Although the visual capabilities of television, video games, and the Internet may develop impressive visual intelligence, the cost seems to be deep processing: mindful knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical thinking, imagination, and reflection. It is difficult for schools to teach reflective habits of mind to children whose informal education and cognitive socialization have not prepared them for this kind of learning and thinking. Yet society needs reflection, analysis, critical thinking, mindfulness, and imagination more than ever. The developing human mind still needs a balanced media diet (28), one that is not only virtual, but also allows ample time for the reading and auditory media experiences that lead to these important qualities of mind.

Click to read the rest of "Technology and Informal Education: What Is Taught, What Is Learned" [pdf] (Science).

H/T: Rough Type.

Some suggested career assessments for lawyers and caveats to consider before choosing

Excerpt from Career Assessment Update for Laid-Off Lawyers (Lawyer Avenue):

From New York to Los Angeles, the downturn of the past two years has hit the legal profession with unprecedented severity … and it’s certainly not limited to new grads. Tens of thousands of lawyers and staff – more than 31,000 at last count – have lost their jobs in the Great Recession. Now, with the country’s unemployment hovering around 10% — and summer just around the corner — many professionals are on the hunt for the right job. But what job?

To the rescue are a handful of effective, inexpensive online career-assessment tests that aim to help unemployed lawyers and others identify suitable jobs and work environments.

The first four were recently identified in the Wall Street Journal (April 22, 2010), and we at LawyerAvenue found a half-dozen other assessments that are definitely worth considering:

Click to read the rest of Career Assessment Update for Laid-Off Lawyers.

To the Lawyer Avenue list, I'd add two assessments I highly recommend: Johnson O'Connor and Highlands. Both are excellent for making career choices; the information gleaned from them is comprehensive and more accurate than those gained from self-report tests.

Past idealawg posts on self-report tests and related topics:

• In the big top, a spotlight on that personality test: What's PT Barnum's Myers-Briggs type?
• The motley band of lawyers: Let's honor the diverse symphony of the profession
• Of course, learn your strengths but measure them accurately — and objectively

My weekend experiment in learning Flip and YouTube: Have any advice for me?

As you can see below, I have a lot to learn as a videographer—including how to shrink my videos so they fit my TypePad template! Anyone wishing to see my videography experimentation might better go here than to click the embedded, squished video below.

At this link, you can see more information about the videos and my learning. (The videos are short clips of the Saturday PM combo of the Colorado Jazz Workshop performing at the 40th Greeley Jazz Festival.)

Any tips or words of wisdom will be very gratefully received.

Note: The person you see with the trombone is Doug Hutchinson of Denver. The person to the right in the rust jacket is Edd Nichols, founder of Colorado Jazz Workshop.

Note (added April 26, 2010): I have added several more video clips of the Greeley Jazz Festival. Hear and see Hugh Ragin warming up the CO Jazz Workshop Saturday Big Band, and Dan Gailey giving the band members feedback after they have performed. Also watch some of the actual performance by the CJW Saturday Big Band.

Click to hear Hugh Ragin on the trumpet. Smoking!

Excerpt from upcoming book "The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong"

The Wall Street Journal has included an excerpt from the soon-to-be-published book The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong. From "The Success Myth":

...It would be folly to suggest that anyone can literally do or become anything. But the new science tells us that it's equally foolish to think that mediocrity is built into most of us, or that any of us can know our true limits before we've applied enormous resources and invested vast amounts of time. Our abilities are not set in genetic stone. They are soft and sculptable, far into adulthood (as documented well in Sharon Begley's recent book "Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain"). With humility, with hope, and with extraordinary determination, greatness is something to which any kid—of any age—can aspire. The better we understand what greatness is really made of, the more of it we can grasp—as individuals, as families and as a talent-promoting society.

Note (added March 8, 2010): A review of the book: "The Genius in All of Us" (New York Post). From that review:

When witnessing an awe-inspiring talent, whether it comes from sports, music or literature, most people just chalk it up to natural-born gifts. While discussing arguably the greatest baseball hitter ever, Ted Williams, plenty of knowledgeable fans remark that he had superhuman eyesight, allowing him to see the ball’s release point and rotation better than anyone else.

What they don’t mention nearly as often is that the Red Sox legend conditioned himself to see the ball better by spending countless hours perfecting his swing. As journalist Shenk points out, Williams practiced until his hands bled and would walk down the street with one eye closed in order to strengthen his vision.