When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
5th January 2018
Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners!
Book of the Month
We’ve long been major fans of Dan Pink. His latest book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing lives up to Dan’s fantastic writing record. Right from the start, we were riveted to read of a ship sunk on a sunny afternoon within sight of shore—with over a thousand lives lost. How did it happen? You’ll have to read When to see, but the book’s title gives an important clue. We love Dan Pink’s work because he’s one of the best writers around at combining practically useful insights from science with compelling stories that are hard to put down. (And as a result of Dan’s book, Barb plans to take tango lessons with her husband!)
Alzheimer’s Charity Climb for Memory
Our long-time friend 4-time US Memory Champion Nelson Dellis has organized a Kilimanjaro climb for his Alzheimer’s charity Climb For Memory. He leaves next week with 17 climbers. The charity aims to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s research through organized mountain climbs around the world. If you would like to support Nelson in his efforts, you can make a tax-deductible donation here. (This is a great cause. We gave $100—please feel free to give whatever you can.)
MOOC of the Week
We’ve been greatly enjoying the MOOC-like videos of “Masterclass.com,” a San Francisco-based online education platform where you can find classes given by some of the world’s leading experts in those topics. Now, for example, we’ve been watching the videos of film director Ron Howard and photographer Annie Leibovitz. Annie has wonderful suggestions for photography exercises—we’ve found ourselves looking in new ways at what’s happening around us. There are many other classes taught by top-notch talents in topics that can sometimes be hard to find any ordinary nearby university: electronic music production, filmmaking, film scoring, writing for television, comedy (by Steve Martin, whose autobiography we loved!) What’s not to like about learning what Christina Aguilera, for example, has to say about singing, or Stephen Curry talking about basketball? We find the videos to, in some ways, be more intimate and informative than a television show or a book. Highly recommended.
Learning How to Overcome a Phobia
Nearly 20 million Americans have a phobia, with hundreds of millions more worldwide. This moving article “A New Yorker Faces His Phobia, One Stroke at a Time,” reporter N. R. Kleinfield describes how, just as you learn to be afraid of the object of your phobia, you can learn new patterns that help you “unlearn” the phobia. Do you have a phobia that’s keeping you from doing what you want to do? Check out online resources—you’ll be surprised at what’s available to help!
That’s all for this week. Have a happy week in Learning How to Learn!
Barb, Terry, and the entire Learning How to Learn team
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