The Hidden Habits of Genius
Book Notes kitt decided around 15:59 on 28 April 2021 to publish this:
Near the beginning of this book, Wright asks his students, "Would you like to be a genius?" Given the school he was teaching at, many of the students raised their hands indicating yes. After the class on genius, most people realize that to be a genius, defined as a world changer not merely smart or have some arbitrarily high IQ, you kinda need to suffer: you're an asshole, or socially incompetent, or mentally off to the point of dysfunction, or some such. So, while actually being a genius might not be a goal worth attempting, some elements and characteristics of genius are worth the effort. Wright tells us those in this book.
What I can appreciate most about this book is the early chapter and direct callout of just how much women have been and are screwed in the areas of publishing, medicine, invention, politics, science, and, well, pretty much anything that isn't birthing babies and catering to the whims of men. Literally, the chapter is "Genius and Gender, the game is rigged." And it is. One can easily see that, "to be sure, the timeless stupidity of ignoring the intellectual potential of half of humanity is deeply embedded in our culture." Wright gives example after example of women screwed over by men. Just how stunningly fucked over Rosalind Franklin was by Watson and Crick and the "discovery" of the DNS helix, a discovery made by and with the research of Franklin, pisses me off stunningly even after reading the book. Like, because Franklin refused to be subservient to a less-gifted man, "Clearly Rosy had to go or be put in her place."
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Yeah, so, the biggest habit one can adopt to being a genius is clearly "be a guy."
The other habits are a bit easier to do, including the cases when you weren't born with a penis:
- Work hard.
- Avoid being a prodigy (or at least letting that prodigy shit go to your head)
- Maintain a child-like wonder (imagination) of the world
- Stay Curious (develop a lust for learning)
- Find your missing peace (or the journey IS the destination)
- Leverage your difference (if you're weird, go with it)
- Recognize being different (rebel, misfit, troublemakers) is the hard road, take it anyway
- Think the opposite (sorta the diffferent way of approaching problems
- Fail often and frequently, but keep going
- JFC, get lucky
And a couple more habits. I have to say I found the FB references more than a little offputting. Zuck is a horrible person on a number of levels, his criminal acts included. The FB parts of this book did not dissuade that fact. If one can endure those parts, this is a great book. Strongly recommended.
Neko 003
Blog Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 21:16 on 25 April 2021My third of n watercolors of Neko Harbor, poorly lit. The image below was taken with the paint still wet, so the colors are different now than with dry paint.
I went slowly on this one. I had spent time planning how I would paint the scene, writing out the steps and reworking the process until I was happy with trying it.
So, each step along the way with this one, I stopped and let the paint dry before moving onto the next step. While I am excited I finally have the glaciers in the foreground, the shape of the mountain in the back, along with the ground fog, just are not good. I suspect I had some good beginner's luck with the first Neko, and I'm overthinking this one with this patient process. The ice is by far the wrong blue. I am, however, delighted I used the Crayola paints on this one.
One Week In
Blog Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 00:15 on 22 April 2021Well, I'm one week in on this 82 week training plan, and I have to say, wow, having a trainer is surprisingly motivating. I hadn't quite understood how much having accountability for training and really, really, really not wanting to waste (lose) the money I'm paying for the trainer would motivate me. Historically, that accountability would come from my teammates, I don't want to let them down, but I seriously lack a team these days. Perhaps that "not letting them down" was too much of a motivating factor, I'm not sure. I'd like not to disappoint myself in particular, which means putting in the work now, for the success later.
One of the biggest surprises I've had so far is just how much I do not have the internal feel of an uphill athlete. I know what having sprint endurance feels like. I know the internal feel of being an ultimate frisbee player. I understand the motions, the aches, the nuances of training too hard vs slacking, but only for ultimate. I do not have these values set for uphill climbing. The advantage of being a fit ultimate player is that most non-skilled activities are "easy," - we were fit enough that we could fake being able to do those other activities. Walking the Cotswold Way? No problem. Building a dam? No problem. Hiking the Grand Canyon? No problem.
But now, with this lack of fitness and a lack internal set point for "uphill athlete," instead of "ultimate athlete," gosh, everything feels so slow.
What, don't raise my heart rate above 120? Um... can I tell you about the time my heart rate monitor recorded my heart rate at 248 and I decided never to wear a heart rate monitor again? 120 isn't even a slow jog heart rate, it is a walking heart rate. On flat ground. Unladen. How do I move this slowly? Argh.
The biggest non-surprise has been just how stunningly not in shape I am. I knew I wasn't in a great place, I just didn't realize how much of not in a great place. Consistency is key to fixing that. And that accountability the trainer brings.
Paired with that non-surprise would be my other actual surprise: that I've finally accepted that this is where I am, fitness-wise. Yes, this used to be easier. Yes, I could hike from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the top without stopping except once for water, once upon a time. That upon time is not now. I am no longer that person. I'm not competing with anyone else for that spot on the team, for our team to win. I'm training to climb a mountain. One mountain in particular.
Trying to raise or lower my heart rate artificially in order to "win" a workout doesn't help me achieve the goal of summitting that mountain and returning safely. Listening to the trainer does help me. And if he says go slowly, I'll go slowly, and eventually learn how being an uphill athlete feels.
Neko 002
Blog Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 23:02 on 21 April 2021My second of n watercolors of Neko Harbor, poorly lit.
I moved more quickly on this one, and just do not like it. I didn't give any part of the painting a chance to dry before I started adding more water. The foreground shore is far too light and far too yellow. While the iceberg that cuts through the middle of the image has its edges defined, the hard edges where I painted over dry paint really bug me. I like the start of the coastal fog. I want to work on that one more. Still love the upper glacier technique.
The Midnight Library
Book Notes Instead of being asleep at 14:32 on 20 April 2021, kitt created this:
I expected the Caltech Book Club to be pretty much all science and technology. So, imagine my surprise when I read this book, about death and the opportunity to live a life that undoes your biggest regrets. Start with the biggest and see where you end up in life with that correction. Holy shit, that reality sucks. Well, what about this second biggest regret, undo that one. Huh, this reality isn't what I expected it to be. Continue with this regression, and eventually you learn the lesson that every life has its downsides, disappointments, heartaches, choices, and losses. No life worth living is without some sacrifice. By looping through all the regret-fixes she can stand, Nora figures this out, and decides she wants to live.
The timing of this book for me was good. I strongly recommend this book.