Questioning Error Correction

What if we corrected all the errors in the world? Would we be perfect?

If you answered yes, do you really believe it?

Does correcting errors bring out potential? Or merely suppress it and endorse mediocre?

If we got every student to get an A in each subject, would we have a world of inspired geniuses or a world of people who are just good enough in every area?

Getting a juggler to never make an error kind of defeats the purpose of a juggler doesn’t it?

If error correction is your goal, are you saying that being at a specific prescribed weight is worth giving up the slightly off track, but happy, minor error eating habits you have?

Do you think it’s fair to train one person to correctly do 10 tasks or 10 people to not only correct one task each, but to bring their creativity to that one task as well?

Only focusing on error correction kind of destroys any potential, any chance of growth of creativity and of art doesn’t it?

 

Stay Positive & Why Correct The Bad When You Can Amplify The Good?

Garth E. Beyer

 

A Little History Of The World

In 4th grade, I wanted to be a History teacher. That is, until I got a C in my social studies class. Not that great of a start. Although I either Aced or got a B in all History related classes since then, I never enjoyed it for two reasons.

The first is that all the history school teaches is memorization of dates, places, names. That’s it.

The second is that as I grew I thought, why are we so focused on finding out who the step-brother of a churchgoer was and what they ate each day? Why aren’t we focusing on the future? Sure you can learn a lot from the past that can help in the present and future but is that what we are teaching and focusing on when it comes to history? What happens when we find out everything from history and pre-history (no longer making there such a thing as pre-history)? Will we then finally focus on the future, or wont there be one by then?

Nevertheless, this book was given to me and I’ve been on a reading spell to read all the books on my shelf before I move. So with that, let’s start this book regurgitation!

– I know this is sort of trivia, but I never actually knew how each day of the week was named. You will find the answer in this book. (or Google)

– Gombrich explains the difference between history and pre-history. I think pre-history is hilarious. All we can do is “act” like we know what happened. But we don’t and I’m unsure if we ever will. Afterall, nor am I sure that we should be enlightened with that information.

– I had a good laugh when I finally made the connection of why the language teaching software, Rosetta Stone, is called that. *sigh*

– What was also mentally stimulating was understanding where the original alphabet, reading and writing was created. The Phoenicians are the ones who established them and the place in which they expanded was in the marketplace. The Phoenicians were merchants and marketers!

– What I loved about the Greeks and Athenians was that they came up with something new every year, they were always creating and everything was always changing. If you think you have trouble keeping up with the technological advancements now, try living back then!

– And guess where all this change was brought and transferred at? The marketplace! Makes you wonder if in this consumerism world that is so badly reputed, is actually benefiting us. Afterall, it’s in the marketplace that  ideas, painting, sculpture, architecture, plays, poetry, inventions, experiments, discussions and arguments took place.

– “While the Spartans only ever thought about fighting fit, ready to crush any who created an uprise and protect themselves so that they may stay liberated. The Athenians took a similar hard strategy to life. They weren’t looking for an easy, comfortable life, but one which had meaning. A life of which something remained after one’s death. Something of benefit to those who came after.” (Pg 46)

This is powerful, the change and improvements in life were just that because of the previous generations efforts to make it so. Something we need to consider and take more seriously? I think so.

– The Greeks conquered everything. Then, of course – just like every other culture – they were eventually defeated. But in this defeat, they decided to conquer people in a different way, the alternative to war: knowledge.

A similar transition we must take. We have tried to conquer everything and rule through politics but war has shifted what politics means. A rebirth of education can change this and we can again begin to think of politics as a trustworthy answer like the Greeks once had.

Note: If you haven’t noticed my point. I’m relaying history in the way it should be taught, with the theme of improving the now, the present and quite possibly even the future. So far, no names, no dates and no places. Cool huh?

– I never heard of this term: Pyrrhic Victory. But I’m going to find a way to use it. It means that you won but at too great of a cost.

– The Americans fight to the bottom was a Pyrrhic Victory. (Find a way to use Pyrrhic Victory, Check.)

– Another awesome piece of “trivia”. Vandals were a tribe that ravaged Rome and insisted in the downfall of any and every other tribe. They were terrible. That is where we get the term Vandalism, which is actually charity work when compared to the type of destruction the Vandals actually implemented.

– “When people take sides they are usually unfair” (Pg 134)

– Paris has so much more history than I imagined and more than any movie or book can relate! Especially in the time of enlightenment. No matter what anyone says, and I know it, and I haven’t even been to Paris, but there’s something thought-provikingly radiant about the city. It’s as if the historic fumes of the enlightened still travel through the air to inspire artists of all kinds from all over the world who go to visit Paris. I can just imagine…

– “Citizens were excluded from politics, which suited many of them very well.” (Pg 240)

– “The history of all the inventions that followed is not as simple as you might think. In most cases they began with an idea. This idea led to experiments and trials, after which it was often abandoned, only to be picked up again later, perhaps by somebody else. it was only when a person came along who had the determination and persistence to carry the idea through to its conclusion, and make it generally useful, that that person became known as the ‘inventor'” (Pg 241)

The way I see the world, is that every idea is truly unfinished. There isn’t a tower in the world that you can’t put one more block onto and there’s not one single idea that you can’t find a way to add to. That is all creativity is: playing off a million other ideas and inventions to create something new. It’s the alchemy of the world.

– I’m going to be socialist for a moment. In the factory days people had the opportunity to declare that they wanted to work no more than 11 hours a day and get 2 loaves of bread for them and 2 for their family. If no one was willing to work for cheap or give up bread, then they would have been treated equal. Instead they raced to the bottom.

We have the chance yet again to unite and say we want a school that matters and will not accept anything less. If you agree, I hope you come back at the beginning of August to get your copy of my eBook Start Schooling Dreams.

– Now, I like to spoil movies. I love it actually. I always ever say that “Everybody dies”. Of course that doesn’t actually happen because it would make one extremely pointless movie.

Well, I’m going to spoil the truth of this book, of history. Everybody dies. Truly, they do. In between everything I regurgitated here, there was death. Sorry.

– What I admire about Gombrich is that he ended this book with the simple action to “hope for a better future.”

 

Stay Positive & Act On That Hope

Garth E. Beyer

Starbucks and CEO Howard Schultz (We Are #INDIVISIBLE)

Rewarding Everyday Moments

Before I even share the letter in which Howard Schultz has written to all of America, and before it is posted even more main stream this weekend, you need to understand the simplicity of judging a person like Howard. I have studied many of Starbucks marketing strategies as well as background info on the company and Howard. I have seen a few negative comments about Howard and I’d like to point out two simple details that will eleviate any negativie feelings.

First, Howard spoke at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

Taken from the Aspen Ideas Festival website, “For over 60 years, the Aspen Institute has been the nation’s premier gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to engage in deep and inquisitive discussion of the ideas and issues that both shape our lives and challenge our times. […] Imagine some of the most inspired and provocative thinkers, writers, artists, business people, teachers, and other leaders drawn from myriad fields and from across the country and around the world – all gathered in a single place, ready to teach, speak, lead, question and answer – all interacting with an audience of thoughtful people who have stepped back from their day-to-day routines to delve deeply into a world of ideas, thought and discussion. The week promises to be thought-provoking, meaningful and fun – true to Aspen tradition.”

Would a multimillionaire who is full of greed, who is evil or a terrible person attend this event, give a presentation and seek improvement in the world using this large of a platform? A platform that is centered on growth, on productivity and on trust.

The second minor detail which I hope no longer stays minor is the effort Howard has put towards employing Americans. Along with establishing the Create Jobs for USA organization, Howard has made America-focused choices such as creating a “new roasting plant in Augusta, Georgia that we could have located in Central America or Asia for 15% to 20% less, but we felt that creating 200 or so jobs domestically was more important.” [source]

Howard You Make A Difference

Before I share with you the letter Howard has written, it’s serendipitous that he has written this letter during a time period that I am doing an Unlocking Potential interview series with people who I know will make a different in their passion. It may also be coincidence that he shared the letter while I am in the final editing stage of my book Start Schooling Dreams (to be released at the beginning of August).

In Howard’s closing, he advocates for innovation and making a difference in the community to promote citizenship over partisanship. This is a major center of why I write. Everything I write is innovation, it’s to make a difference, it’s about unlocking potential in others, promoting people who care, really do care about learning, about coffee, about fashion about anything. These are the people who make the difference, these are the people who are like Howard Schultz, who are willing to stand up, speak out and try to create positive change, no matter how much resistance there is.

*More power to you Howard and even more power to those who have similar worldviews for change, whether it’s employment, civility, and politics or education, art and music.

Without further ado, you can read the full letter Howard Schultz has written to all of America below or click here to open it in a new window.

Creating Change In America

An Open Letter: How Can America Win This Election?

Friday, June 29, 2012

Posted by Howard S., Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer

 

On Independence Day, our country celebrates the promise of America.

It’s a day to remember that the principles that bind us together vastly outweigh what keeps us apart. The freedom to dream and the opportunity to create a better life – not just for ourselves, but for each other – has always defined our great nation.

I am a product of that American Dream. As a kid who grew up in public housing, went on to get an education at a state university and build a business, I am grateful for what this country has made possible for me. In turn, at Starbucks, we have always tried our best to honor our responsibility to the communities we serve.

And on this Fourth of July, our communities need all of us.

Across the country, millions of Americans are out of work. Many more are working tirelessly yet still unable to adequately care for their families. Our veterans are not being welcomed home with the level of support they deserve. Meanwhile, in our nation’s capital, our elected leaders are continuing to put ideology over real solutions. I love America, but we all know there is something wrong. The deficits this country must reconcile are much more than financial, and our inability to solve our own problems is sapping our national spirit. We are better than this. America’s history has showed that we have accomplished extraordinary things when we act collectively, with courage, creativity, and generosity of spirit—especially during trying times.

As we celebrate all that is great about our country, let’s come together and amplify our voices.

Let’s tell our government leaders to put partisanship aside and to speak truthfully about the challenges we face. Let’s ask our business leaders to create more job opportunities for the American economy. And as citizens, let’s all get more involved. Please, don’t be a bystander. Understand that we have a shared responsibility in solving our nation’s problems. We can’t wait for Washington.

At Starbucks, we are trying to live up to our responsibility by increasing our local community service and helping to finance small-business job creation with Create Jobs for USA. Our company is far from perfect, and we know we can do more for America. But we need your help. We need your voice.

Join the national conversation with #INDIVISIBLE. Starting today, I invite you to share your view of America, and how we can all put citizenship over partisanship. On Instagram, post a photo of the America we all need to see. On Twitter, provide a link to an innovative idea. Blog about who’s making a difference in your community; or on YouTube, share how you made your American Dream come true. No matter where you post, if you use the tag #indivisible, Starbucks will do its part to collect and amplify your voices.

To spark the conversation in our stores, your local Starbucks will proudly serve everyone a free tall hot brewed coffee on the Fourth of July.

Together, we can set a new tone in America. We hope you agree that doing so is a powerful way to celebrate our nation’s birthday.

In 2012, America needs to win the election more than either party does. It is time now to join together as Americans. It is time, whatever our differences, for us to strive and succeed as one nation – indivisible.

 

Stay Positive & #INDIVISIBLE

Garth E. Beyer

Pick Yourself (Seth Godin Live)

w/ Seth Godin

Give Yourself Authority

It’s been over a month and a half since I attended Seth Godin’s Pick Yourself event in Tribeca (NY). There’s a specific reason I waited so long to reflect on the event. I wanted to prove a point, not just about Seth Godin, but what any business must produce, whether in product or experience.

Simply put, it must be astonishingly remarkable, something so memorable it is still thought of and excites a person’s senses a month, five months or a year after the product is purchased or the service is used. Essentially, that is what Seth Godin’s Pick Yourself event manifested, so it is with easy honor that I will hit some points from it again along with my own curves and twists of ideas.

I had no inclination to write this so soon. I decided to after I created a new motto the other day, tweeted it and it got retweeted by a few people. It was just another tweet, another 140 characters that my mind spit out and that I needed to share.

My motto: Give yourself authority.

It was only after I expressed the motto on twitter that I was tapped by the memory of Seth Godin’s Pick Yourself event, which it’s theme was to not wait for someone to pick you, not wait for an authority to notice you, to get lucky; but to pick yourself, solve the problems yourself, find the opportunity yourself, to lead yourself and quite plainly, as my motto states, give yourself authority.

72 Steps To Starbucks Coffee

While in New York City every 72 steps, either if I turned left or right, I would be facing a Starbucks. In Manhattan alone, there are approximately 300 Starbucks stores. That means that out of all the registered Coffee Shops in New York, Starbucks consists of about 60% of them. In a city dominated by the outlier of the Coffee Industry, how can any other coffee shops even make it?

That’s a simple answer that you can come up with. The better question is how Starbucks was able to take a symbol from Moby Dick, use it as it’s logo, and create a brand – an understanding of when you see the symbol, you are going to smell the richest Coffee in town and get free Wi-Fi along with the absolute best customer service.

It’s A Revolution

The dictionary says that a revolution is a single turn of event. Our revolution, the one we don’t quite understand, the one we thought could be easily understood, the one that is making us question nearly everything, is not a single turn of event, it’s a million turns. This revolution is something that is a collective change in one sense, but deep down to it, it’s about the turn each one of us makes, a turn that may be different than the person next to us. While putting it in the most simple form, the revolution is about giving yourself authority, ridding yourself of the chains of tradition and following your passion to create art. Yet, to do each of these things is not something that we can do collectively, being collective is what got us in this grave. No. This must be done individually; each person must make the choice, must give themselves authority and use it. In its entirety, this revolution will turn Perfect into impossible

Instead Of Giving It Our All

Seth gave a long description about the industrial age and this new age of connection. The one take I want to share with you from the event is this.

“So one quick example, just to show you how deeply ingrained this is. If you don’t mind, raise your right hand just as high as you can. Okay, now raise it just a little higher.”

Instead of giving it our all the first time, we give enough and then a bit more when told to. Some people raised their hands 20% higher, others 5% higher when told to raise it a bit higher. In a room of about 200 people there was about 4,000% of potential not being used until told to. The way I see it, even if you gave 100% and raised your hand as high as possible the first time, you would still find a way to raise it higher.

I No Longer Market To You

I had no clue what real type of marketing I was doing on my website until I heard Seth Godin say this, “Because marketing has shifted from me marketing at you, to you marketing to each other.” So, when creating a product, running a business or writing a blog, you can provide all the strong content you would like, but unless you know what you want to do with your audience, your tribe, unless you know how to give them strategies to market to each other and other people that will join your tribe, you have nothing.

Juggling

Seth Godin also inspired me to write this post: The Juggler’s Perfection. On the note of Juggling, of doing what you love, of taking that risk…

“Is it worth getting arrested for?” – Seth Godin

Bluffs, Excuses and The Promise

You think you have a hundred reasons not do something, not to take  leap, not to go out on your own or start your business or take a risk to achieve what you really want. Actually, you probably only have 15 to 20 excuses, or rather, they are bluffs. When you sit down, write the list of the 15 to 20 bluffs, and work through it, you will find that either you don’t have anything holding you back, or you just need to work out a way to get around one or two excuses (a lot easier than working around 20). What it comes down to, what it really comes down to is that you want a promise it will work. You want the paper to say, after you have crossed all your bluffs out, that it will work indefinitely.

There will never be a promise that it’s going to work. Once you realize that, you realize there’s no point in making a list, not because there’s no point in achieving your goal anymore, but because you realize that you are going to have to take a risk and that there isn’t a promise, you will say “something is better than nothing” and get on with it, ship the product or start the business. As humans, if we are not promised lobster (perfection), we would rather have crawfish (anything) than nothing at all. Once you realize there is no promise of perfection, no lobster, it makes doing the thing you made a list of bluffs for, all the more easy. You may even find that you like crawfish more than lobster.

A couple of sayings to use/share

Money is a weight you can run much faster without

You will be wrong a lot, but you will be right a lot too

All you need to care about is being human

The Two Achievements I Made After The Event

Seth made a simple, yet such an extremely interesting point about entrepreneurship and freelance. A freelancer gets paid when she ships, delivers the product, finishes. The entrepreneur gets paid while she sleeps. I am happy to say that, while I still do freelance writing, I have crafted a segment of it into a businesses in which I have hired two employees already! I now sleep easier (because I know I’m getting paid for it) and I have more time to do $100 an hour work that makes a much larger impact on the world – which leads me to…

The second achievement is nearly ready to be shipped. My 30,000 word manifest on what school is for: a view from an 18-year-old graduate who received his associates degree and plans to go back for a master’s degree. Not for the diploma, but for the information and experience being within the system will produce, in order to write a 90,000 word sequel upon graduation. The eBook, Start Schooling Dreams will be released at the beginning of August, 2012, completely free. More background information to come soon.

 

Stay Positive & Take The Authority, Make A Badge Even

Garth E. Beyer

Think On These Things

Don’t you hate when questions are answered with questions? They are often confusing and even more aggravating unless it’s Krishnamurti asking the questions.

This was my second time picking up “Think On These Things” and reading it all the way through. I mentioned that I read it all the way through because it’s actually a hard book to read start to finish because you are constantly asked to do exactly what the title says, to think on the things that are talked about. I’m not sure about you, but thinking can get exhausting especially when what you are thinking about is breaking boundaries, challenges status-quo and punching tradition in the face.

The reason I tried reading it a second time is because the last time I read it, I was 16 years old and I wanted to see if 1. It is really worth reading a book twice and 2. If I had a different outlook on the philosophies that Krishnamurti spoke about 3.5 years later.

Before I write a short book regurgitation, let me riff on reading books over again. This isn’t my first time trying it, and I’m going to give it one more shot with another book that I am going to read again soon. During New Years I was reading dozens of posts about the best books to read and the fact that this year is supposed to be about reading the best books over again and applying the lessons to your life.

What I have come to learn is the little things which you would catch in reading a book over again, are rain dropped throughout a similar book by a different author. The books are similar, so these small repetitive lessons are also similar. You have already taken the most important pieces of the first book; there is no point in reading it again to catch the small points when you can just read another book with new big important pieces and the same small points.

The thing about the many books based on the same subject or field of interest is that they are all plagiarized. The author read nearly a hundred books on the subject, used the small points from them and created the larger, new, more important ones and the next author did the same. Because this is the way books are written, it seems ill-fitting to reread a book over again.

Book Regurgitation

“To find out what you love to do demands a great deal of intelligence; because, if you are afraid of not being able to earn a livelihood, or of not fitting into this rotten society, then you will never find out”

The real reason I picked Think On These Things up to read it again was because I wanted to revisit his concepts of the function of education which is the title of the first chapter. Throughout the entire book the way education is taught is challenged and ideas are given to improve it. Being straightforward, everything that is mentioned in the book is supposed to also be mentioned in school, to be thought on, to be philosophized on – something that will also appear in my first 30,000 word eBook that will be released at the beginning of August.

Freedom is the next subject that is focused on as most people are not free; they are dead or near death. “We all want to be famous people – and the moment we want to be something, we are no longer free.” (pg 10) At the same time of freedom, intelligence is thought on. Intelligence is to find out, but to find out is not to make a conclusion. Once a conclusion is made, the mind is bordered and dies much quicker. See, the whole concept of freedom is to free the mind, not in the sense of it being empty but in the sense of it being aware with love and experience.

Love is mentioned very few times throughout the book because love is simple.

Have you noticed how few of us have deep feeling about anything? Do you ever rebel against your teachers, against your parents, not just because you don’t like something, but because you have a deep, ardent feeling that you don’t want to do certain things? If you feel deeply and ardently about something, you will find that this very feeling in a curious way brings a new order into your life” (pg 61)

Another quick note to make about the book is that aside from the opening of each chapter, the chapter is comprised of answers to questions. One particular question is “However much I may want to be an engineer, if my father is against it and won’t help me, how can I study engineering?”

Krishnamurti’s answer, “If you persist in wanting to be an engineer even though your father turns you out of the house, do you mean to say that you won’t find ways and means to study engineering? You will beg, go to friends. Sir, life is very strange. The moment you are very clear about what you want to do, things happen. Life comes to your aid – a friend, a relation, a teacher, a grandmother, somebody helps you… But you see, we don’t want to invite life, we want to play a safe game; and those who play a safe game die very safely is that not so?” (pg 126)

Other great questions which are issued and responded to:

To revolt, to learn, to love – are these three separate processes, or are they simultaneous?

How can we be free of dependence as long as we are living in society?

What is self-knowledge, and how can we get it?

Why do we want to be famous?

I am full of hate. Will you please teach me how to love?

What is happiness in life?

Why do we find pleasure in our games and not in our studies?

Why do we hate the poor?

Why do we like to be lazy?

How is one to become intelligent?

Why do birds fly away when I come near?

As always, I have to give the one chapter to read to see if you are interested in getting the book. “The energy to life” is the fourth to last chapter in the book and basically answers how to be full of energy all of the time rather than lethargic and lazy each day. All in all, was it worth the read a second time? No. Was it worth a read the first time? Yes.

Free Library

Krishnamurti is the far right one, had to be different and put the pages facing out

Since I moved to Madison, I have noticed something peculiar popping up as I ride my bike on the bike paths. Bird houses. Not just your typical bird house, but a huge bird house, with an actual door instead of a hole. Above the door the words “Little Free Library” are written. Inside this giant bird house are random books that people have put inside. I think it is an absolutely brilliant idea and as you can see, I have deposited my Krishnamurti book in one. At first I was worried that there are only bad, terrible books being tossed into the free library because people don’t want to hold on to them. Then I realized the books inside are probably the best books anyone can read because they are so valuable that people have to share them, have to let someone else experience them and have to feel that inspiring power of knowing that you contributed to someone’s experience in reading a fresh, positive, great book. To the person who will pick this book out, enjoy. To the readers who will check this  book out at a public library or view the recommended chapter at a book store, enjoy.

Stay Positive & You Get The Most Thoughts For Your 4 Bucks With This Book

Garth E. Beyer

Parents Cost Us Money Too

Parents Cost Us Money Too (what we wish our parents would have told us) is now in a free downloadable PDF version which can be read on your computer or transferred onto your favorite eReader. Deep down,  this short 32 page eBook is my rant against how parents minimally or completely fail to empower their children with an education on money management. In reality, it sounds and reads nothing like a rant. I have written it purely to help kids learn what my parents never taught me and for the parents to learn what and how they can teach their kids about money management, goal setting, work & life lessons and much more. Everything you will read in this eBook has a face value but an even deeper meaning that is rooted to all the experiences I have had and often times wish I didn’t have.

In this free eBook you will find:

  • How to have an interest in interest
  • Nerf guns and sports cars
  • The realization that school does not educate students about money
  • My philosophy of prevention over clean-up
  • Hard work and working smart
  • Commission sheets, budgets and goal setting
  • The ages in which to teach the lessons
  • Personal stories, examples, and one chart
  • and much more

Please share your response or any ideas you get from the eBook in the comments section below. Feel free to share the eBook as well.

 

Stay Positive & A Step Toward Prevention, Is Still A Step

Garth E. Beyer

The Overlooked Variable Of “Show and Tell”

It’s easy to show and tell.

You can give any person a red dipping bird and have them place it in a position for all to see and begin telling about it. Not only will they show and tell about the red dipping bird, but they will do it perfectly.

“It is a red plastic bird that for some reason dips forward and puts its beak into a glass of water “emulates the movement” and dips back and continuous going back and forth. You can purchase them in all different sizes, colors and with goofy extras like flamboyantly colored feathers or an old Abe Lincoln hat.”

Done. They showed and told.

But there’s a flaw.

It’s boring.

Everyone who’s seen one knows this. Everyone who owns one, probably laughed at the flamboyant feather color comment but still thought the presentation was dull. Everyone else who were shown and told to, they could get up and do the same exact thing.

Show and tell, which is ultimately done in k-5 grade levels, can set incredible examples and offer intelligent insight into creativity – if done right. There’s a often an overlooked variable to show and tell that can make the experiences result artistic, unique and altogether attention-informative (Information people actually want to pay attention to). Simply showing and telling doesn’t do this. Doing it the old school way is bland and banal.

The correct format is to figure out THEN show and tell.

Figure Out THEN Show & Tell

Having to figure something out taps potential on the shoulder and tells it to get to work. In the case of the red dipping bird and according to How Stuff Works, The Dipping Bird (also called the Drinking Bird or the Dunking Bird) is a popular novelty item or toy in the United States and other countries.

A Dippy Bird has the following parts:

  • Two equal-sized, hollow glass bulbs
  • A long glass tube that connects the bulbs
  • Fuzzy, water-absorbent material covering the head
  • Two plastic legs with a pivot connection
  • Methylene chloride in the abdomen. Methylene chloride is an industrial paint stripper and solvent (one thing that dissolves easily in methylene chloride is caffeine, so you can use methylene chloride to decaffeinate things). Methylene chloride helps makes a Dippy Bird work because it evaporates very easily — it boils at just 100 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).

To operate the Dippy Bird, you get its head wet. As the water evaporates, fluid moves up into the head, causing the bird to become top-heavy and dip forward. Once the bird dips forward, fluid moves back into the abdomen, causing the bird to become bottom-heavy and tip up.

Here is how a Dippy Bird works:

  1. When water evaporates from the fuzz on the Dippy Bird’s head, the head is cooled.
  2. The temperature decrease in the head condenses the methylene chloride vapor, decreasing the vapor pressure in the head relative to the vapor pressure in the abdomen.
  3. The greater vapor pressure in the abdomen forces fluid up through the neck and into the head.
  4. As fluid enters the head, it makes the Dippy Bird top-heavy.
  5. The bird tips. Liquid travels to the head. The bottom of the tube is no longer submerged in liquid.
  6. Vapor bubbles travel through the tube and into the head. Liquid drains from the head, displaced by the bubbles.
  7. Fluid drains back into the abdomen, making the bird bottom-heavy.
  8. The bird tips back up.

Show And Tell No More

Rhetorical questions :

Which show and tell of the red dipping bird did you like more?

Which one did you learn more from?

Which one was presented in an interesting way?

Which description do you think there was plenty of effort behind?

Figuring It Out

We are doing the world a great injustice when we don’t incorporate this critical variable to the Show and Tell process we teach our youngest students. What makes matters worse is that more than three quarters of adults still follow the same routine system of show and tell that they were taught as kids.

The variable of “figuring out” how something works, what something is, or why it does a particular thing is essential to producing real results. Results that are human, that are original, and that are backed with experience. These are the results that create profit.

The market used to be in the pocket of those who could show and tell well, even more so to those who mastered it. Now it goes to those who figure it out, who provide content and experience it, who make sure that what they are showing and telling is their art, their invention and their creation.

 

Stay Positive & You Have Some Figuring Out To Do

Garth E. Beyer