Monthly Archive for January, 2009

The Nature of Genius – Dispositionism

Published on 30 January, 2009 in High Performance, Personal Growth and child genius. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

A great deal has been written on the development of genius focusing upon neurological structures, heredity and social conditioning. Here, I would like to add a concept to our understanding of the development of the human mind.

Dispositionism means that each individual exhibits a range of behaviours that are selectively reinforced and thence evolve into habitual responses and patterns of thought. Those initial behaviours are "determined" by elements of social conditioning, genetic factors and an element of chance. Some individuals with little talent are able to overcome this difficiency by a combination of great external stimulation and perhaps an amount of luck. Equally, those with great genetic potential, and outstanding environmental influences may fall down through chance occurrences.

Let us examine some examples. John Stuart Mill is best known as the one who brought Utilitarianism into everyday usage. Many who have learnt of Mill’s theories and ideas have overlooked his extraordinary upbringing. Quite simply, Mill received one of the most intensive and extensive educational and mental development programs that has ever been known.

John Stuart Mill thus provides an example of how powerful external stimulii may be in the development of a great mind. Would Mill have been successful in his path had his father not taken such an interest in his education? Nobody can really say with any degree of certainty. However, we can be sure that the foundation of intellectual development that placed Mill 25 years ahead of his contemporaries positioned him uniquely, and ensured that he would at the least be an outstandingly average individual.

In all we can see a variety of factors contribute to the development of a genius. It is difficult to say that this is really the way human beings operate in an experimental sense due to the difficulties in eliminating chance. However, this certainly provides a model for interpreting and understanding the development of great minds – and the failure to do so. While we can not predict with absolute certainty do to the intrinsic random nature of the chance variable, we can certainly improve the odds of nurturing great minds.

Daniel Smith

What is NLP?

Published on 28 January, 2009 in High Performance. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

After some pretty heated discussions about NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), I have below summarised some of the most important concepts that are linked to NLP.

To me, NLP is an attitude and a methodology that grew into a movement. Attempts to put boundaries on NLP run into difficulties of conflicting interpretation, as the term means different things to different people. NLP attracts some people who regard the methods and philosophies as being able to help align them with excellence, and facilitate them living a richer and more rewarding life. For other people, NLP is a therapeutic system. For still others, NLP is a method of separating naive people from their money.

NLP is not theoretical by nature, though theories have arisen over time. Academic psychology has found little in support of "NLP." However, my searches of PsychLit and PsychInfo in addition to looking through unpublished theses from Australia’s largest research-based psychology department, suggest that most of these studies have been aimed to discredit rather than to enlighten. Academic psychologists can find it easy to discredit by strawcasing a field that is more interested in finding things that work than it is to proving them academically.

Rather than focusing upon the limitations of an area of information or study, one interested in expanding one’s mind would be better served with focus on what they can gain, rather than defensively criticise that which they do not understand.

Daniel Smith

Can you really teach mental skills?

Published on 26 January, 2009 in Change, High Performance and Personal Growth. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I was explaining to a woman that I help people use their brains more effectively, when she told me that it couldn’t be done. For a moment I was floored: surely she could see how different people, with similar talents and starting points, can produce totally different results in their personal and professional lives?

Surely she knew that there were some people who won, and others who lost?

And she did: She just didn’t believe that the skills could be taught. At that point, I decided to probe deeper. I don’t konw why: I could have simply presented to her countless evidence showing that we can help people increase their level of thinking and subjective experience of life. Instead, I probed further. Then I realised what was driving her doubt: she was scared. The intelligent, successful professional woman, was scared! As we spoke further, it seemed that she was scared of challenging herself and her world, and scared that somebody might tell her that there could be a better way. Perhaps because that would mean that she no longer had an excuse to be angry ten times a day!

I had almost forgotten how most people think. Most people think that life is hard, that success comes only after sustained struggle and a pinch of good luck. Whereas, I know that the real world is created in our minds, then manifested in reality.

Anything that you desire, you can have. Indeed, anything that you demanded, you already have. Those things that you didn’t really need, you didn’t get; not because you didn’t have the capacity to get it, but because you didn’t pay the price that you needed to pay.

What is the price? It depends upon what you want. But when you identify what you want, you can also identify what you need to do to get it; you can create a plan for creating what you want.

No matter what it is, the most important step is to know your outcome. When you know your outcome, retain it clearly in your mind, and resolutely move towards its fulfillment, you will either achieve your objective, or decide not to pursue that outcome.

That being said, sometimes we don’t really know what we want. How many times have you thought that you wanted something, yet didn’t really want it in the end. A friend of mine ‘wanted" to have a job as a commercial lawyer, working long hours under high pressure and making a lot of money. Yet, the closer that she came, the more that she realised that to do so would rob her of what she really wanted. To get what she "wanted" would mean that she would lose her connection with her loved ones, have less time to spend with her partner, and be forced to adopt beliefs, values and behaviours contrary to the way that she saw herself.

Know thyself

Ask yourself: What do I really want? And when you get the first answer, challenge yourself to go one step further, towards the deeper issues and underlying desires that often drive our superficial wants.

The closer you come to knowing yourself, the closer you will be able to align your desires with your dreams, and the more effective you will be in pursuing whatever objectives that lay before you.

So who are you? What do you really want? Do your drams really align with your desires? Sometimes we don’t realse immediately that it’s time to change… and sometimes it can be very difficult to change. But, in time, you know that the more accurately you know your destination, the faster you will be able to get there.

Many people criticise the goal-directed life. Yet, everybody is goal directed in some way. The only difference is that not everybody knows their objectives! Certainly, you should strive to enjoy and experience all the wonders and pleasures that the beautiful world in which we live has to offer. Yet, don’t be confused – don’t be hypnotised – by the trappings of the physical world. You know what you really want: you want to be happy.

What that means is for you to discover.

Daniel Smith

Some ideas that I’ve been developing…

Published on 23 January, 2009 in High Performance and Personal Growth. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Separation of Powers in Education, Cognitive Competencies and Selective Reinforcement of Spontaneous Behaviour… they’re all “hobby horses” that I have ranted on about from time to time, yet I haven’t always explored them as much or taken them as far as I could.

Separation of Powers in Education: A pillar of the Rule of Law is the separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. In the same way, I believe that such a separation would benefit education. Let us have one body that defines the desired learning outcomes, another body responsible for assessing performance against those outcomes and a separate domain for those who prepare the learners for the assessments offered. This would necessitate clear and specific definitions of the desired learning outcomes that would – I believe – be facilitated through cognitive competencies.

Cognitive Competencies: What is an MBA worth? What about a law degree? Heck, what does it mean to get an “A” for maths? Much education is focused on measurements devoted to delivering a matriculation score – a measure that has enough superficial validity to permit discrimination between students. Yet they usually don’t mean very much.

Learning outcomes are so ill-defined that we resort to relying upon the tacit knowledge of our educators to transform them into something useful. Fortunately, this has worked adequately. However, with increasing competition, it is about time that we replaced this centuries-old process with a measurement of the mental operations that we want to see developed. Firstly for the sake of the students: Let them focus their energies upon correcting their mistakes rather than spending endless hours not really knowing what they need to work on. But also for our society, so that we can fast-track prodigous learners towards more suitable challenges and more effectively direct the energies of our teachers and our students.

Selective Reinforcement of Spontaneous Behaviour: My concept of ‘genius’ is that individuals exhibit a large range of behaviours, some of which are reinforced; reinforcement leads to the development of clusters of skills that tend to work together to create talents and, especially when developed early, the development of an identity that works to offer a sustainable advantage.

For example, I learnt to perform split-attention tasks and to work quickly when I was doing my homework on my lap inside my tidybox in primary school (since if I did ‘homework’ at school, I didn’t have to do it at home!) – a spontaneous behaviour – and kept doing it because the first few times I received the reward (free time) without punishment (being told not to do it – as I was later, though largely ignored having experienced the reward!). Very small shifts yield massive long-term changes…

I am considering writing further on these, though have been thinking or writing about them since at least 2003. Let me know if you’re interested… I like encouragement :)

Daniel Smith

Communication isn’t that difficult

Published on 21 January, 2009 in Personal Growth. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

When I was in primary school I knew that I was going to enjoy public speaking. Debating was my first love though my attention shifted towards public speaking and training. Right now I’m involved with three Toastmasters Clubs here in Shanghai – to me, it still offers the best value speaking training in the world today. Yet I am still staggered at how people who call themselves leaders can possess such embarrassing communication skills.

Speaking to a group in a way that is impactful, interesting or informative may take skill…
It may take practice…
Doing it well might even take some talent.
… but it’s just not that difficult!!!

Communication skills aren’t just a “Status Skill“: They’re a life skill. This is one of those things upon which the very quality of your life depends… it’s not like being able to roll a sushi or sail a yacht or play the grand piano in the foyer of a fancy hotel – although all those are cool – but rather one of the most pervasive and impactful domains of skill development that exist.

The very quality of your life comes down to the quality of your communication skills… with others, but also with yourself.

When I was a kid, I was skinny and weak. Now, I could have transcended my personal insecurities and come to accept myself exactly as I was (and all that) – or I could just learn how to fight. So I got a black belt in the form of karate that wikipedia refers to as “simplified street fighting” or something (and yes, I still wear the gold Bushido Cross that I was awarded).

When I started a company, I didn’t think I knew what I was doing. And I was right. Now, I could have struggled and fought my self-doubts and denied or faced my fears until I finally proved to the world that I did know what I was doing. Or I could just get an MBA.

You can deny or ignore the cause of your insecurities and fears if you like… but sooner or later I find that I have to either get the sheet of paper that will tell me that now I “can”, or I need to do the thing that proves that I “can”.

It’s no better than transcending your fears… it’s just another option :)
Oh… and I love Shanghai’s snow…

Daniel Smith