White print on black background - a friend reports that her extreme difficulties with reading are much less than usual if she uses the Kindle Fire and iPad option of converting black print on white background to white on black background. We are both surprised to find this improvement. I haven't heard if her doctors are also surprised. I did read that the older computers, such as the Apple IIe, used less energy showing lit letters on a green background since only the letters used light and the rest of the page did not.
Feedback v. punishment - the case of speed reading signs -Teachers, coaches and those of us who want to improve ourselves in one way or another are interested in motivation. Punishment or loss of points or some penalty is often assumed to the the main way humans can modify their habits. However, a good article in Wired magazine examined the speed signs that read your speed and post it just below a sign of what the speed limit at that point is. All over, a better compliance rate is being observed with those signs that is the case with an officer pulling drivers over and giving them tickets. Sometimes, good feedback, such as showing your current speed and what it ought to be, is more effective, and notably less expensive, than some official punishment.
"Just a few words very quickly" - I have a personal dread of hearing these words from a speaker or teacher. It almost always turns out that far more than just a few words are spoken afterwards, and not especially quickly. Often, people who care the most about their message and their audience seem unable to focus on the important part of what they want to say and say that, clearly and once.
Micro-examination of speech, learning, emotional reactions, etc. - Daniel Kahneman's book "Thinking: Fast and Slow" makes the valuable distinction between the gut reaction which is often nearly immediate and the more complete but slower deliberate thinking our brains are capable of. The Buddhists often emphasize that desires are transitory. You really want a cheeseburger but you restrain yourself for dietary or some reason and later find that you forgot all about that craving. When I am keyed into careful observation of myself, it is fun to try to catch the moment when the craving vanishes. The minute examination of my feelings and thoughts as they whiz by can be very entertaining, ironic and even downright funny.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
Feedback v. punishment - the case of speed reading signs -Teachers, coaches and those of us who want to improve ourselves in one way or another are interested in motivation. Punishment or loss of points or some penalty is often assumed to the the main way humans can modify their habits. However, a good article in Wired magazine examined the speed signs that read your speed and post it just below a sign of what the speed limit at that point is. All over, a better compliance rate is being observed with those signs that is the case with an officer pulling drivers over and giving them tickets. Sometimes, good feedback, such as showing your current speed and what it ought to be, is more effective, and notably less expensive, than some official punishment.
"Just a few words very quickly" - I have a personal dread of hearing these words from a speaker or teacher. It almost always turns out that far more than just a few words are spoken afterwards, and not especially quickly. Often, people who care the most about their message and their audience seem unable to focus on the important part of what they want to say and say that, clearly and once.
Micro-examination of speech, learning, emotional reactions, etc. - Daniel Kahneman's book "Thinking: Fast and Slow" makes the valuable distinction between the gut reaction which is often nearly immediate and the more complete but slower deliberate thinking our brains are capable of. The Buddhists often emphasize that desires are transitory. You really want a cheeseburger but you restrain yourself for dietary or some reason and later find that you forgot all about that craving. When I am keyed into careful observation of myself, it is fun to try to catch the moment when the craving vanishes. The minute examination of my feelings and thoughts as they whiz by can be very entertaining, ironic and even downright funny.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
