Jan 21 2012

How to Optimize Your Problem Solving Speed

I am going to teach you a shortcut in cognitive reasoning called Principle Problem Solving. Typically; if a person is trying to solve a problem they create a chain of reasoning. For example; if 8 + 8 is 16, and 7 is 1 less than 8; then 8 + 7 must = 16 minus 1. In this case the student is trying to figure out what 8 + 7 equals, and this is the chain of reasoning they used to figure the answer out. Now all cognitive reasoning relies on past observation. so, the student knew that 8 + 8 = 16. They knew this because at some point in their life they had done the cognitive work to figure that answer out. Now, in solving for this new problem they can use their past successes as a way of solving the problem faster. We all do this, but some do it more efficiently than others, and that is the difference I want to focus on in demonstrating genius level problem solving speed.

A genius in math is really just a person that took the time to learn the patterns needed to skip the logical processing steps that others would normally take. If u know the pattern you can jump to the answer faster and skip the logic. Most geniuses don’t just know one or two patterns, they are experts in the basic and advanced patterns of their fields which allow them to process information to solve problems not in steps (like the rest of us) but chunks. So if they are given a problem they look first for the cognitive jumps.

To illustrate this point lets pretend that a principle understanding or the knowing of a particular past observation is represented by 5 steps of cognitive reasoning to get to the answer. We will use the letter P to represent these already understood principles and the letter C to represent a single cognitive step in reasoning. X represents the unknown factor that we are solving for. Now lets plug this all in and look at what the difference between a genius’s thought process and our average Joe:

Genius →      X = P + P + P + (C+C+C+C+C) + P

Ave. Joe →    X = P + (C+C+C+C+C) + (C+C+C+C+C) + (C+C+C+C+C) + (C+C+C+C+C)

As we can see, the genius arrived at the answer in 9 moves (or cognitive processes) and the average Joe arrived at the answer in 21 moves. The Genius was only twice as fast because of the storehouse of ‘past solved for’ principles that they already had. Usually a genius’s genius only lies in a particular field or area of interest. You test them elsewhere and their cognitive processes will be slower. Though a true genius is someone who looks for these patterns in all areas, so they might start out slowly in a new field but they will adapt and learn very fast.

To apply Principle Problem Solving you must do two things:

1-  Look for and learn the basic and advanced patterns/principles of whatever genre you are interested in.

2- Memorize them, and practice applying them as cognitive jumps in problem solving.

One last example to demonstrate what that looks like: Scott Flansberg is known as The human calculator and he can divide any # into another # and give you not only the whole # answer but also the decimals (the .263157 etc.) and he can do both with lightening fast speed and accuracy. Now hearing someone divide 19 into 765 is very impressive, just to hear them say 40. But to then have them rattle of the string of #’s after the decimal place, is mind blowing! “the answer is 40.263157” Wow!

But the truth is; every # has a set pattern of decimal repetitions. For example; 7 divided into 10 will always = a repeating cycle of .142857-142857-etc. So any number that 7 is divided into that ends with a 1 as a remainder (which will drop down to 10) will end in this decimal cycle. Such as 57, 78, 36, etc. So all you have to do is memorize these set patterns and when you get to the last remainder before the decimal, whatever that numbers relationship is to the number you are dividing with will trigger the already memorized set of patterns. All #’s have patterns like this and Scott pretty much knows them all, making him a calculating genius.

So there you have it: part of being a genius is just exploiting set patterns that most people are unfamiliar with. Just like how most of the secrets of a magicians set of tricks are not very amazing at all, they are simple, even a little silly sometimes, and they only create the illusions of magic because the audience is ignorant to the concept being used.   

Jan 19 2012

A Rock on a Path

“The beauty of rocks on an off-road dirt path is that they cannot see the road because they are the road. Much like our own predicament in that we cannot see our path because we are the path. So we search to find it, always looking, never being. Just be, that’s all you ever needed to do. “

  • I wrote this like a decade ago. I really like it… I don’t follow what it says (maybe one day :) ) but wanted to share it anyway.
Jan 19 2012

What you Resist…. Will Help you Grow!

I’ve heard it over and over that resistance is bad, don’t resist things. Or the most well known one, “What you resists persists.” For a long time I agreed with these statements without every really putting too much thought into it, but then I heard about the following:

Many years back scientists where building one of the first Bio-Domes ever. Upon completion of the dome and after a couple years of study and experiments they noticed something very strange. All of the trees that were contained within the dome were very weak and brittle. In fact; you could very nearly snap a tree in half with your bare hands. Finally they realized the reason behind this peculiar development. There was no wind! They realized that without the wind pushing and pulling the trees in different directions, the trees had grown weak and shallow rooted.

The point here is that opposition/resistance is responsible for growth, development, strength. Resistance is absolutely crucial to development, but it is a double edged sword that should be respected. Resistance that tests the limits but does not break them will build strength in that area. However; knowing that limit and when to stop to get the maximum amount of growth before seriously damaging yourself is tough to figure out. Likewise, flexibility is stretching your maximum level of resistance and doing so can help reduce future injury.

Most of the references above are easiest to picture in the context of working out: lifting weights, or stretching or building strength through dynamic tension. That is only part of it though, the same principles apply to all areas of life. These same concepts should be applied to psychological and emotional development as well. Even to relationships. Either way; we get nowhere without resistance, so it is not something to be avoided, or feared, or shunned. instead embrace it and honor and respect it’s purpose for it is an honest and unforgiving part of life. 

Jan 19 2012

Is Being Famous Bad for your Health?

Everybody who has ever been truly successful (by societies standards) in business, or life has one or both of these two things:

Extreme Fear or Extreme Love.

The bottom line is that they are highly motivated, and they excel in two or more areas. In order to stand out so fully from the crowd one would have to be driven by something very powerful. The crowd is the established norm and in order to stand out, it makes sense that you would have to go to the extreme. Everybody is driven by fear and a desire to be loved, acknowledged, accepted. But to stand out is to put enormous energy into a singular behavior or series of attributes that propel you into a category of your own making. So powerful is this force that it will shift your internal balance to a dangerous setting. Doing so will make you stand out, it will make you unique, special (if you like); but at what cost?

I don’t know about you, but I have heard over and over that living a healthy, vibrant, wholesome life is all about balance and establishing harmony with yourself and your environment. So my question is this: if I want to do something great, and I mean truly amazing with my life. If I want to have a tremendous impact on the world and be known for having contributed enormously in some way to the human race; do I have to be driven by some Extreme insecure need to be accepted and validated by the whole world, or the fear that unless I change our cultural infrastructure my family will never respect and love me? Is there a way to live an extreme lifestyle that is also, absolutely balanced?