learning – Page 7 – ORGANIZING CREATIVITY

Even Without the Barrier, a Mountain is Still a Mountain

2014-07-30

Some comments on quotas, sex-specific assistance measures, and the like and having a career.

[Picture: "Everest-fromKalarPatar". Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Everest-fromKalarPatar.jpg]
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Useful discussions

2014-07-23

Some thoughts on what makes a discussion ... useful.
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Media Lies

2014-07-17

Today we have access not only to the news stories, but to actual footage. And comparing the two can reveal striking differences. A recent example of a conference report vs. the actual conference presentation.
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How to Succeed in College

2014-07-16

Coursera has an interesting course online about "How to Succeed in College", which seems highly interesting.
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How Does the Brain Look Like on Yoghurt?

2014-06-27

When it comes to convincing images, the question is always: What is not shown? Here an example of a SciencePorn tweet about sugar and cocaine. Also: Yoghurt.
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Mobile Reading

2014-06-13

A useful tip for reading on small mobile devices, esp. in crowded settings like the daily commute.
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Advising Grad Students in Good Faith (and What Every Grad Student Should be able to Get)

2014-06-12

An "I Quit" letter from 2009, serving as a powerful testament that sometimes, just sometimes, Academic Integrity wins. It also shows the two things every grad student should make sure to get -- or get out fast.
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Why “great” ideas need a reality check

2014-06-04

Argument for the tedious task of learning about the domain you are working in. With a link to a beautiful video that shows what imagination without knowledge can produce: nothing pretty.
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Clear Communication in Engineering and Science (including the social sciences)

2014-06-01

Why clear communication between engineering/science and others is so important. Emphasizing the role of visual communication and using the Challenger Disaster as example. Definitely not a light topic.
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Why correcting student papers is a bad idea

2014-03-19

Yes, you should give feedback, but not how you usually correct a paper for publication. There are different -- better ways to give feedback.
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This is a private blog showing my opinions. If you have an issue with what I write here, either don’t read it or talk to me directly. Don’t waste your time — or mine — dragging my employer into matters where they hold no authority.

The institution I work for, or rather the people officially representing it, have already distanced themselves from this blog. I find this unnecessary, as I’ve clearly stated in the «About this Blog» section that this is a personal blog.

Frankly, I have nothing but contempt for those who lack the backbone to address their concerns directly and instead resort to passive-aggressive tattling to others. Such behavior strikes me as not only cowardly, but also spineless, gutless, and wholly unprincipled. Moreover, these efforts are as pathetic as they are futile.

That said, I might listen if you present compelling arguments and evidence, as constructive feedback is always welcome. Who knows? We might even both gain something valuable from the interaction.

A comment for those seeking to use this site for personal gain: Given the increase in requests, let me be clear. I write on this blog because I want to. It’s my hobby, my playground. Sometimes people point me to interesting products/services and I write about them. But any request regarding ads or sponsored placements ends up the trash without a reply. And if you think something would be of interest, differentiate yourself from the spammers by referring to a posting — in an intelligent way. (I get enough auto-generated mails to identify them immediately.)

BTW, posts can get updated after I published them if I spot spelling errors (not a native speaker) or think a different wording might improve precision and clarity.

This blog is not focused on a single topic, or method. As long as it is relevant to improving creativity (or allowing it in the first place), it's fair game.
Some postings on this blog deal with freedom, as I think that we need freedom of thought, of speech, of association, etc. pp. to solve mankind's problems. Thus, some postings may seem a bit remote when it comes to organizing creativity. Freedom is, however, the bedrock of creativity.
The heterogeneity of the postings can make reading this blog a bit cumbersome, at least if you are only interested in one topic. You can either use the search function (above), or use the categories or the tags to narrow down the postings you see.