"You Learn Something Every Day"

[MadAzza]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

i learned tonight that even the most caustic, cynical bartenders in the known universe can display kindness and goodwill toward sober musicians on whom they have a litany of embarassing recollections...and that they may be hammered...

"Sober musicians"?

WTF??

[LikaNui]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

"Sober musicians"?
WTF??

Obviously amateur musicians.

[scrivener]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

Rough, rough day. Started off with a huge list of stuff to get done, and barely got through one of the big ones (got some of the small ones done, though). That big one was the assigned reading for my adolescent psych class, and in this reading, I learned that:

• In the area of adolescent moral development, in recent years there's been lots and lots of research on adolescents' aggressive and antisocial behavior, but very little on prosocial behavior.
• Adolescence marks a transition from (among other things) a self defined in nonmoral properties (bodily properties, material possessions, or typical behavior) to a self defined in social and psychological terms, and morality is the major regulator of social interactions; thus, it makes sense that this is where a lot of moral development takes place -- adolescents' worlds are expanding beyond their immediate worlds and into the world-at-large, spurring some need to evaluate their roles within this world-at-large, if that makes any sense.
• Socratic parenting seems to result in adolescents who are more likely to engage in prosocial behavior (not to mention to avoid antisocial behavior). This means that parents who help their children understand, through reasoning and discussion, why their behaviors are unacceptable, seem to raise kids who stay out of trouble, as opposed to parents who only use the force of their authority. I was unable to tell from my reading if age is a factor here -- it seems obvious that you don't practice Socratic parenting with younger children, but then what do I know about parenting?
• Strangely (if I read this right), a key factor in positive moral development is conflict with close peer groups. Adolescents who are involved in a moderate degree of conflict (that is, not overly challenging or dominant) with their close friends, perhaps in needing to maintain the relationships, establish a sense of moral justice that indicates positive moral development.

Don't know how interesting any of you find this, and I don't even know if I'm getting it right -- this textbook is denser than Rod Tam -- but this is some of what I learned today.

In the next couple of hours, I hope to learn something about a steak dinner.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

Rough, rough day. Started off with a huge list of stuff to get done, and barely got through one of the big ones (got some of the small ones done, though). That big one was the assigned reading for my adolescent psych class, and in this reading, I learned that:

• In the area of adolescent moral development, in recent years there's been lots and lots of research on adolescents' aggressive and antisocial behavior, but very little on prosocial behavior.
• Adolescence marks a transition from (among other things) a self defined in nonmoral properties (bodily properties, material possessions, or typical behavior) to a self defined in social and psychological terms, and morality is the major regulator of social interactions; thus, it makes sense that this is where a lot of moral development takes place -- adolescents' worlds are expanding beyond their immediate worlds and into the world-at-large, spurring some need to evaluate their roles within this world-at-large, if that makes any sense.
• Socratic parenting seems to result in adolescents who are more likely to engage in prosocial behavior (not to mention to avoid antisocial behavior). This means that parents who help their children understand, through reasoning and discussion, why their behaviors are unacceptable, seem to raise kids who stay out of trouble, as opposed to parents who only use the force of their authority. I was unable to tell from my reading if age is a factor here -- it seems obvious that you don't practice Socratic parenting with younger children, but then what do I know about parenting?
• Strangely (if I read this right), a key factor in positive moral development is conflict with close peer groups. Adolescents who are involved in a moderate degree of conflict (that is, not overly challenging or dominant) with their close friends, perhaps in needing to maintain the relationships, establish a sense of moral justice that indicates positive moral development.

Don't know how interesting any of you find this, and I don't even know if I'm getting it right -- this textbook is denser than Rod Tam -- but this is some of what I learned today.

The commonly-used terms addressing these parenting styles are 'authoritarian parenting' and 'progressive parenting', and I have found that striking a balance between the two is key. Parent progressively day to day; let this be the foundation of conversation, of "parent-kid debrief sessions" (these happen daily in our hale) of holding everyone in the household accountable for his/her choices (parents foremost!). But the goal is to develop within each of us the compass to discipline ourselves for its own sake.

And on the flip side.... it is an empowering thing if a kid knows that their mom who posesses a high IQ is also a tita. Or if push come to shove, their dad could (and would) easily take on a bully's dad and hash things out until it resolves itself. Learning how to fight and resolve. Fight and forgive. Stand up for oneself, someone in need, or the noble point. Doing so is rooted in authoritative behavior, and it takes a good deal of trial, risk and error to learn how. And not everyone does.

Yet every effective leader I know has struck this balance, but s/he doesn't get there soley due to Socratic (or Spartan) parents.

And my favorite e-fountain to quench my inner Warrior Mamma:
http://paradoxicalcommandments.com/index.html

[Miulang]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

This also applies in the business world too, with managers and supervisors and how they treat their employees and workgroups, only there it's called "Micromanagement" v. "modern management" or "teamwork".

Supervisors who micromanage don't give their employees any credit for having brains and think they are the only ones who know how to do a job (wrong!). Supervisors and managers who believe in teamwork respect the skills and abilities of each team member as each adds synergystically to the success of a task. No one individual can be everything, and each team member brings to the table a skillset of strengths and weaknesses. The trick is to nurture the strengths in each person so that the weaknesses are overcome by the strengths of others.

OD people say if you watch what happens to kids as they grow up (as in child and adolescent psychology), you can extrapolate it into the adult world. Every relationship has at least 4 phases of development: forming, storming, norming, and performing. Forming is when the group first evolves. Storming happens when individuals in the group try to determine their position in their group. Norming happens when everyone in the group understands their place and agrees to work toward a common goal, and performing happens when everyone does what they committed to do to get the job done.

Same thing happens on the first day of school.

Miulang

P.S. the same thing happens here on HT when newbies first decide to start posting. And some people never get out of the storming phase of development.

[scrivener]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

I learned that the Miami Dade County School District is the fourth-largest in the nation. I also learned that Massachusetts, that stronghold of higher education, established the first school board. So blame Massachusetts.

[Surfingfarmboy]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

I saw a District of Columbia license plate and learned that it actually has the slogan "Taxation Without Representation" printed on it.

[lavagal]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

I learned a few tips from Scrivener and Pua'i Mana'o about being a better mom, raising better citizens. Priceless information. Thank you. I will now be sure my inner tita is ready for anything and that we'll be debriefing quite a bit around here!

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

I am not sure its deserved, but comment just made my day. Mahalo nui, Lavagal!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

I learned today that just because your Astro Van's transmission seems to be slipping and you take it to a shady mechanic and says you need to rebuild it for $2200, don't believe it.

Instead look at the O2 sensor or the Mass Air Flow Sensor as the probable culprit. Both sensors are WAYYYYY cheaper to replace than rebuilding a tranny.

I also learned today that TireRack.com sells tires cheaper than buying locally (including FedEx 3day shipping) and if you order them online Wednesday morning at 10am, FedEx will be knocking on your door Friday morning!

And I learned today that it's not wise to keep Lau lau in the refrigerator for more than a week. Man das some hauna stuffs in da fridge!

[scrivener]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

I learned that the AirPort card in my school-issue iBook doesn't detect the WiFi in any of HPU's hotspots! How the heck is anyone supposed to LEARN?

[craigwatanabe]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

ummmm...books? You know those funny things with words in them

Ahh when Technology fails...I'm just amazed that you can use a calculator in class nowdays! Does anyone remember how to figure out the square root of a number the old fashioned way using paper and pencil?

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

Does anyone remember how to figure out the square root of a number the old fashioned way using paper and pencil?

Wow! I had to google for that one. I never knew there was a manual method to find square roots. Ho Craig, you old eh? Did you use a slide rule back in school?

[jdub]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

i learned today that my lack of technical savvy is woeful at best...i tried getting it set up at my new crib so i can work from home but with three VCRs and all of the necessary software, i will still have to be up at 5:30am for the next three weeks to be at the office to do something that others do from home...machines hate me, that's what i've learned today...

[craigwatanabe]

Re: "You Learn Something Every Day"

Wow! I had to google for that one. I never knew there was a manual method to find square roots. Ho Craig, you old eh? Did you use a slide rule back in school?

Ho Glen you kiddin' me! Oh man humanity is a lost cause now Yes there is a manual way to find the SqRt of any number. Man did you also know you can figure out logrhythmic functions via paper and pencil too?

When I was in high school we used to do scientific notation on paper and in college, calculus problems had to be done without the aid of a calculator.

And yes Glen...I did use a slide rule back in school.

Boy the next EMF pulse and suddenly we're all gonna be math illiterate again. I think schools should teach the "Manual" way just to preserve how to do things without the aid of a machine.

By the way...did you know you can still catch KHON on your TV with aluminum foil? Yeah there was a time when TV had only three stations (well four if you include public television) and the word "cable" was the guy wires that kept your rooftop antenna from blowing away.