This is a superbly crafted work detailing the research conducted by Ellen Langer and her colleagues over the past fifteen years, at Yale, City University of New York, and, for the past twelve years, in the Department of Psychology at Harvard.

The nature of the studies, methodology and focus of the research endeavors are incredibly interesting. For those interested in epistemology, this book is essential reading. The following are some excerpts that I found particularly poignant:

“We experience the world by creating categories and making distinctions among them.” p.11.

The creation of new categories, as we will see throughout this book, is a mindful activity. Mindlessness sets in when we rely too rigidly on categories and distinctions created in the past Once distinctions are created, they take on a life of their own.” P. 11

“The rhythm of the familiar lulls us into mindlessness.” P.21

“The way we first take in information ( that is, mindfully or mindlessly) determines how we will use it later.” P.25

“The future may be as capable of “causing” the present as is the past.” P. 32

“When children start a new activity with an outcome orientation, questions of “Can I?” or “What if I can’t do it?” are likely to predominate, creating an anxious preoccupation with success or failure rather than drawing on the child’s natural, exuberant desire to explore. Instead of enjoying the color of the crayon, the designs on the paper, and a variety of possible shapes along the way, the child sets about writing a “correct” letter A. Throughout our lives, an outcome orientation in social situations can cause mindlessness.” P.34

“Those who can free themselves of old mindsets, who can open themselves to new information and surprise, play with perspective and context, and focus on process rather than outcome are likely to be creative, whether they are scientists, artists, or cooks.” P. 115

“People create uses for objects. A use is not inherent in an object, independent of the people using it. The successful use of an object depends on the context of its use.” P.122

“Will children taught “it depends” grow up to be insecure adults? Or will they be more confident in a world of change than those of us brought up with absolutes?” p.124.

“We pick up rules before we have a chance to question them.” p.125

“The early signs of change are warnings and, to the mindful, opportunities.”

Required reading for the mindful.

Wow – Yahoo – Holy smoke! An absolutely phenomenal book. Interesting and insightful — and practical – for all ages. Check out the website and all the YouTube videos as well.

John is a developmental molecular biologist and research consultant (I have no clue what that actually means other than he’s a lot smarter than I am). He’s also an affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. In his spare time, (the guy doesn’t have really any does he?), John is the Director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University. (Makes my brain ache just thinking about all of the above).

This book is a true treasure (and so is Medina). Listen to the following tidbits before you run out and buy it:

“We are powerful and natural explorers and this never leaves us, despite the artificial environments we’ve built for ourselves.” P. 3.

“We are natural explorers, even if the habit sometimes stings us. The tendency is so strong, it is capable of turning us into lifelong learners.”

“Let’s look under the hood of an infant’s mind at the engine that drives its thinking processes and the motivating fuel that keeps its intellect running. This fuel consists of a clear, high –octane, unquenchable need to know. Babies are born with a deep desire to understand the world           around them and an incessant curiosity that compels them to aggressively explore it. This need for explanation is so powerfully stitched into their experience that some scientists describe it as a drive, just as hunger and thirst and sex are drives.” Pp. 264-265

“Babies may not have a whole lot of understanding about their world, but they know a whole lot about how to get it.” P.269

We do not outgrow the thirst for knowledge.” P.270

“Our learning abilities don’t have to change as we age. We can remain lifelong learners.” P. 271

“Researchers have shown that some regions of the adult brain stay as malleable as a baby’s brain, so we can grow new connections, strengthen existing connections, and even create new neurons, allowing all of us to be lifelong learners.” P. 271

“But the adult brain also continues creating neurons within the regions normally involved in learning. These new neurons show the same plasticity as those of newborns. The adult brain throughout life retains the ability to change its structure and function in response to experience. P.271.

“For the little ones, discovery brings joy. Like an addictive drug, exploration creates the need for more discovery so that more joy can be experienced.”  p. 273.

“If children are allowed to remain curious, they will continue to deploy their natural tendencies to discover and explore until they are 101.” P. 273

“We must do a better job of encouraging lifelong curiosity.” P. 274

Curious? Buy Brian Rules. If it’s true that you are what you eat, devour this book!

The entire world is falling apart because nobody will admit they are wrong.  But by asking God to forgive you, you are willing to own your own crap.”

Miller, Donald.  Blue Like Jazz, Thomas Nelson Publishers Nashville, TN Ó Copyright 2003 by Donald Miller P. 53

“If outsiders stop listening, we cannot just turn up the volume.”

P. 84 Kinnaman, David & Lyons, Gabe UNchristian – What A New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity…And Why It Matters Baker Books Grand Rapids, MI Copyright 2007 by Dabvid Kinnaman and Fermi Project.

“We live in an age of heretics: an age where unconventional ideas become conventional wisdom rapidly. And that’s a good thing. Because the future of industrial society depends upon our ability to transcend the destructive management of the past and build a better kind of future. That doesn’t mean embracing every unconventional idea. Nor does it mean flouting authority. A heretic is someone who sees a truth that contradicts the conventional wisdom.” Pp. 3-4 And yet corporate heretics may be the closest thing we have, in our self-contradictory time, to a true conscience of large organizations. Many of them have lost their jobs or failed to reach their potential because they would not turn back from the truth they saw. Despite all of these frustrations, it is better to be a heretic than to have one’s soul wither through the denial of a truth. And in the end, the corporations of our time are much, much better because heretics existed.” Pp. 13-14.

The Age of Heretics – The History of Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management: Copyright © 2008 by Art Kleiner – Published by Jossey-Bass:

I guess it starts at birth,
A yearning that we must know.
It just seems to happen,
There’s no lever you have to throw.

I’ve been present at the moment
An infant gurgles its first “Mama” or “Daddy.”
The parents immediately begin to talk Ivy League,
“This child’s gifted, as you can clearly see!”

As we age and develop,
So does our understanding of what we come to know.
Its just part of the process,
Things change as we grow.

When I started school,
They dropped the “k’ from the word  know.
Learning was no longer optional,
It was mandatory now. Consequences if you are slow.

As I listened, observed and learned,
To know developed a distinct edge.
Rivalry revealed its face,
Classmates became competitors separated by a wedge.

Fast-track, college-prep and advanced
Were wrapped around to know like a fence.
The few who earned access were the privileged,
The rest of us deemed dense.

For some, knowledge is a destination,
The arrival at the end of a journey, at a predetermined place.
Awarded the adoration of a celebrity
For the ones who win the race.

Another dimension of knowledge involves people.
Someone you meet who you would like to get to know.
Your desire is to become more familiar with them,
To determine if who they are is what they show.

For others, knowledge is a commodity,
Something you acquire and treat like a prized possession.
Egos bulge like waistlines,
For those who fall prey to this obsession.

One aspect of knowledge
Is related to supply and demand.
How much and what kind you have
Determines the job and salary you might command.

There’s a form of knowledge we call common,
Stuff that everybody’s supposed to know.
Like what the colors of traffic lights mean,
To be cautious, stop or go.

When you add an ‘n’ to know,
You’ve become someone who’s well known.
Strangers pursue you like a celebrity
When you’d prefer to be left alone.

I know this poem about knowledge,
To some, it might seem odd.
I’m prone to ponder stuff like this,
Placed in my heart by God.

In a society that claims to be the source of global wisdom,
The birthplace of all things cutting edge.
I wonder why so many people feel
Precariously perched out on a ledge?

Oh, how that final syllable
The ledge so easily escapes our attention.
Especially when we ‘re trying to impress somebody
In casual conversation, at a party, meeting or convention.

Like any other issue,
Where understanding cries to be heard.
I’ve taken this pondering about knowledge and have,
Become enlightened through God’s Word.

It’s when we say, “Now I have got the thing!”
“Now our striving can stop stewin!”
We’re instantly  on the road,
To ignorance and ruin.

Some of us awaken from this deception,
“Our motives have been wrong,” we gasp!
He has created us such that,
“Our reach must exceed our grasp.”

Oh, unholy confusion with knowledge,
Man’s attempt to capture wisdom and be clever.
May we be guided by God’s Word,
“Begin to know Him now, and finish never.”

Notes:

1  Chambers, Oswald My Utmost For His Highest Journal – Selections For The Year, Barbour Publishing Inc., Grand Rapids, MI. Copyright © 1935 by Dodd, Mead, Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publication Association Ltd. May 2nd.

2  Chambers, Oswald My Utmost For His Highest Journal – Selections For The Year, Barbour Publishing Inc., Grand Rapids, MI. Copyright © 1935 by Dodd, Mead, Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publication Association Ltd. May 27th.

3  Chambers, Oswald My Utmost For His Highest Journal – Selections For The Year, Barbour Publishing Inc., Grand Rapids, MI. Copyright © 1935 by Dodd, Mead, Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publication Association Ltd. May 27th.

As a young man I recall
The Gospel I was told.
“A life with Christ is without trouble.”
A basic element of the bill of goods that I was sold.

Convincing answers met each of my questions,
My doubts and confusion they sliced and diced.
My reservations dissolved into surrender,
Into my life I invited Jesus Christ.

We walked day by day,
Jesus and me, hand in hand.
Contradictions sprang up amidst my convictions,
Contravictions confronted what I was led to understand.

As I read my Bible,
A hunger for His Word fed by His Spirit.
Contraviction crept into my mind,
Subtle, yet I could hear it.

It happened after reading,
The book of Exodus about Moses.
My spirit could still soar with
Headphones blaring Guns n Roses.

They asked “What’s wrong with you?”
“You must avoid the sound of rock n roll’s loud wailin.”
I returned home feeling like an outcast,
Until I cranked up some Van Halen.

Years passed by and I grew older,
The Christian faces changed.
Rock n roll was not my only problem now.
The do’s and don’ts had multiplied and rearranged.

They told me of the women,
Who were victims of brutal rape.
“They have no choice about the pregnancy,
When measured by the truth of our God’s tape.”

They said that I must believe,
The criminals who overpopulate our nation,
Evil, each and every one of them,
My neighbors who came here via illegal immigration.

They claimed that the poverty and homelessness
Was the fault of those imprisoned within these death traps.
All they really require to resolve this mess,
Is to pull themselves up by their own boot straps.

Christianity became boiled down to,
Something that finally swamped my boat:
It’s how I punched the ballot,
When it was time to vote.

Compassionate conservative?
Please! Give me a break!
I’m ashamed to be called a Christian,
Anger, hatred and self-righteousness, My Bible says you’re a fake.

In angst over these contravictions,
I begged Him, “Reconcile this chaos please!”
I found myself crying on the floor,
Face down upon my knees.

As my sobbing subsided,
I heard that still small voice.
“Focus on Me my son.”
This is your best choice.”

Today I have a new posture,
I ignore the worldly lies.
My focus is on Jesus,
It’s to Him I lift my eyes.

Contraviction has become a blessing,
It forced me to realize that there was more.
A renewed love for Jesus Christ
The only One who can authentically restore.

Today I have a new freedom in Christ,
Refreshed just like the summer breezes.
I don’t buy into their mainstream Christianity,
My focus is on Jesus.

This doesn’t mean I’m a loner,
Who shuns the church and fellowship.
It means I am pursuing more of Him,
A blessing every disciple should not skip.

If you find that you can relate to,
Anything I’ve said in this simple poem.
I encourage you to get alone with Jesus,
For comfort and restoration within His Shalom.

When contraviction confounds you,
Don’t become angry and run away.
View it is an invitation.
Spend time alone with Jesus, each and every day.

Cuddle up with Christ,
Heal from your affliction.
The sufficiency of your walk with Jesus,
Will be assaulted by contraviction.