Comments for ThinkVein

Comment on Favela Paintings – Community driven murals in Rio’s most notorious slum by Al Thompson

Al Thompson — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:46:00 +0000

“… we were in the favalas a few years ago …”
Are there parts which are generally safe enough to walk around, or did you pay for a tour specialising in tours?

Just curious. Sounds interesting.

Comment on Lego – Word Puzzle by Al Thompson

Al Thompson — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:27:00 +0000

“Teenagers of today expect engagement on a level of magnitude higher than that of what my grandfather would have experienced.”
Teenagers of today engage in learning and entertainment using media that present a constant suddenness of significant sensory input field change that previous generations were unacquainted with. People seem unsure as to whether or not this facilitates greater intellectual stimulation, even if it clearly involves much greater intensity of overall cognitive stimulation within given time periods. What seems clear is that kids now find more traditional forms of entertainment unfulfilling compared with the stimulation derived from the high-frequency stimulus changes enabled by said 3D games and touch screen phones – something which would indeed suggest a neuronal rewiring capacity on the part of advanced technology (and, by extension, and to differing levels of magnitude, on the part of every experience and thought we have, as well).

One main reason technology may be able to exert such cognitive changes in young people (and in general) may be due to the ability of frequent, abrupt stimulus changes to hold our attention captive to such a degree. A good analogy might be the oft-lamented TV in a pub, and how people’s eyes are constantly drawn towards it. In an evolutionary sense, focusing of attention on a sudden and significant change in one’s sensory field is a predictable and sensible response to have ingrained. Think fire. Think bears. Or perhaps just the sound of a fellow tribesman, who might have news on water sources, coming from a nearby patch of trees. With TV, we have a medium that presents sudden and significant changes in visual stimulus, in the form of changing images. We are consciously aware, of course, that a furiously-pronouncing Samuel L. Jackson visually giving way to volleys of gunfire does not pose a potential survival threat (or benefit), yet our brains are still very strongly compelled to divert attention to this abrupt stimulus change.

While advancement of technology has undoubted potential benefits for humanity, I fear that it could (and is) incurring an intellectual distractibility among younger people that may only be remedied with development of our understanding of how technology changes our brains and how it can be best harnessed for educational purposes. This, of course, suggests an according advancement in teaching practices, to develop an approach which blends the use of technological stimulation with that of the ‘slower involvement’ media I feel will always have a role to play in development of the mind.

Phew! I write too much. Need to gets me a job.

Comment on Launching StrategyVein.com by Patrick Walsh

Patrick Walsh — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:06:00 +0000

Nice! Looking forward to reading StrategyVein

Comment on My GTD workflow for Gmail V2 by My GTD workflow for Gmail | ThinkVein

My GTD workflow for Gmail | ThinkVein — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:20:07 +0000

[...] Update: I have posted an update to this article entitled ‘My GTD workflow for Gmail V2‘. [...]

Comment on Teaching our kids to be entrepreneurs – Tedx Edmonton – Cameron Herold by Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds – TED | ThinkVein

Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds – TED | ThinkVein — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:14:16 +0000

[...] on from my previous post on Cameron Herold, I think this is a really interesting TED talk given by Temple Grandin. She talks about the [...]

Comment on Google Chrome – Speed Test by Making of Google Chrome Speed Test | ThinkVein

Making of Google Chrome Speed Test | ThinkVein — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:07:00 +0000

[...] up on my previous post ‘Google Chrome Speed Test‘ – here is a short extract from the making of the Google Chrome speed tests. It really [...]

Comment on Favela Paintings – Community driven murals in Rio’s most notorious slum by Delux Walls – Transforming your surrounding with colour and paint | ThinkVein

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:04:47 +0000

[...] on from the Favela Paintings – British advertising agency Euro RSCG London has created the Let’s colour Project for [...]

Comment on Incredible Stop Frame Animation by Blu and David Ellis by Big Bang Big Boom – Stop frame animation by Blu | ThinkVein

Big Bang Big Boom – Stop frame animation by Blu | ThinkVein — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:01:20 +0000

[...] animation piece entitled ‘Big Bang Big Boom’. I’ve covered his previous work here and here before. It’s great to see his techniques advance and become more sophisticated. In [...]

Comment on Super Sexy CPR – A catchy PR campaign by Ray

Ray — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:58:00 +0000

First add that has made me laugh in awhile. Nice find

Comment on Lucía, Luis y el lobo – Part 1 of 2 by LUIS: Amazing Stop Frame Animation | ThinkVein

LUIS: Amazing Stop Frame Animation | ThinkVein — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 16:55:28 +0000

[...] is amazing wok by dilivio again. I highly recommend checking out Lucía, Luis y el lobo, the second part of this 2 part [...]