Monday, October 27, 2014

Acquisition of Skills

The acquisition of skills project is a project designed for us to learn new skills and test them without fear of failure. I chose pyrography as a skill, which involves the use of heated metal to burn designs and patterns onto wood, leather, or glass. So far, I have whittled a stick to the shape of an antler, and burned some designs depicting nature on it. I plan to do a design later actually like a drawing, depicting people, action, etc.

My mentee Alex, has also been doing a project related to woods crafts. He is doing cutting and plans to create a pedalboard for an electric guitar using this skill. I found this very interesting, and am looking forward to viewing his progress.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Procrastination and Neurology

The process of procrastination is often categorized by a human being putting up a task they have a sign themselves or been assigned by others until the very last moment but it is to be accomplished. Though the process has been differently categorized by Tim Urban, as being the a person has a rational side of their brain, and a part of their brain that just wants to have fun and get instant gratification.  this phone has been said to not be very fun, as Urban puts it, this is the dark playground, when you're doing these fun activities that cause instant gratification they do not seem as fun as if you would earn them. Then comes the panic and you rush to get it done, usually never having enough time to complete the assignment in the first place, but if you do get it done you have a sense of guilt about you that says that this is not your best work, that you could have done better. In my experience I have felt some of these feelings but not all of them. Now to move on to the rest of neurology. neurology is the study of the mind, the brain, and all of the Connections you make within your memory.  with these connections you create more neurons which are connected by synapses that becomes stronger and larger as you complete that same task more and more often and reinforce that memory. They can shrink as well if you choose not to let that memory happened this is called mindfulness. Mindfulness being when you think about what you're doing and attempt to stop yourself and more often than not succeed in stopping yourself from completing an action and reinforcing a habit. The reason why these habits form is because whenever you create a new synopsis or strengthen one, these neurons will release dopamine into your brain causing a feeling of goodness within it , whether the habit was a bad good or neutral. These are the facts I learned about neurology, and procrastination, including playful euphemisms, and metaphors.