Facebook Tensegrity

In Buckminster Fullerian speak, Facebook Tensegrity would refer to the "structural principle based on the use of isolated components in compression inside a net of continuous tension." 

In other words, Facebook members sign in separately from one another and the prestressed tensioned members delineate the system spatially. 

Concept

Facebook Tensegrity structures are based on a combination of a few simple design patterns:

• signing-up members in pure compression or pure tension
• preloaded or tensional prestress (forms to fill out), which keeps the system rigid in tension
• mechanical stability, which allows members to "friend" each other, remaining in tension/compression as stress on the structure increases (Facebook ads)

Because of these patterns, no Facebook member actually experiences a real interface with other users (i.e., bending moment), but instead harnesses aether (aether is a quantum 2-spin rotating magnetic field that encapsulates primary angular momentum and via tensegrity forms matter with resulting quantum 1/2 spin) in a type of "like" bonding moment. 

This produces exceptionally impersonal and rigid structures for their mass marketing campaigns and for the cross-selling software ad-ons from their connectivity platform. 

The Castaneadian intent behind Facebook's Tensegrity is to allow users a modern *fluid and energetic way of being and communicating - the path with heart - that don Juan Matus taught his students. 

*Disclaimer: For those of you who are questioning the contradiction between "impersonal" and "fluid," it is the difference between the altruistic intent and the commercial realization. 

The ABC's of Curing Boredom

THE ABC's of CURING BOREDOM

A = SURVIVAL

Often times we do not reach the elevated level of focus that stimulates our brain's executive functions which allows learning to take place. 

When we are in our survival mode, our brain's are largely focused on unconscious judgment based on previous knowledge and experience in order to attend to our survival needs in our environment. 

Our focus is directed toward security safety. 

When we're overwhelmed by boring information we cannot connect, focus, or create meaning from the information being presented. This causes tension and agitation, and makes it difficult to get back on track, make sense of the data, and determine where we should focus. 

THE RESULT 

B = INTEREST

Our brains notice novelty, pleasant surprises, creative play, and emotionally enjoyable and comforting situations. Basically, we pay more attention to things that interest us and allow us feel good. 

We can foster interest by balancing novelty with the security of familiarity. Familiarity can be as simple as allowing a person to focus on their own personal interests and utilize their talents. 

Relevant information is processed with the most interest in the brain. Recognizing someone's areas of interest provides avenues with connecting them to the possibilities whereby they can explore and potentially contribute to any given field of interest. 

When people's interests are respected, they think out their questions more carefully, and ask the appropriate questions that many people could benefit from knowing. 

Stimulating a person's interests in personal matters increases overall attention-focusing skills, which leads to increased cognition. 

THE RESULT

C = SELECTIVE

Once a person's fight-or-flight system is appeased, and once their interest is peaked, selective attention is ignited, which allows someone to focus on the sensory input they need to process information. This state cannot occur unless an individual can link their own interests and ideas to a topic and raise questions that are meaningful to the path in life they are following. 

This is the impetus of motivation. 

When we are tuned in to something and when we care about it, we will naturally seek the tools we need to solve any given problem. 

During this elevated state of selective focus, the frontal lobe executive functions are stimulated. Just as with any repeatedly used and stimulated brain circuitry, the more you use something, the stronger it becomes. 


"Use it or lose it" is a maxim people all over the world understand. 

If you do not bore a person into a coma, more dendrites and synapses will grow, which increase the brain's efficiency while simultaneously entertaining us. 

THE RESULT

Confident, motivated, capable, higher-thinking, non-bored Homo sapiens. 

ADD Humor

Attention deficit disorder (ADD) refers to a condition that interferes with a person's ability to concentrate and control impulses and behavior. Someone who has ADD is not hyperactive, per se, but will often experience difficulty sustaining a functional level of attention in performing... 

What was I saying? 

Oh yes, sustaining a functional level of attention in performing (and completing)...

Oh, that reminds me, did I tell you the joke about the millionaire who made his fortune in carrier pigeons? Guess how many he sold? Only one, but it kept coming back!  

Completing tasks or play activities. 

I love playing. 

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) describes... 

a lot of kids who are bored out of their minds and frustrated with the contradictions they encounter between the real world and the outdated philosophies their parents don't question (and when they do, they blame and medicate the kid). 

By the way, isn't this a pretty picture? 

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) describes a disability that interferes with a person's ability to regulate activity level, inhibit behavior, and attend to taks in developmentally appropriate ways. 


Perhaps kids just want to get through outdated information so they can play with their iPads. 

Now, what was I saying? 

Who cares, let me tell you what I'm thinking! 

Our present-day educational models are a bunch of baloney. 

It is said that the common characteristics of AD/HD include difficulty sustaining attention and concentration... supposedly people with AD/HD exhibit developmentally inappropriate levels of activity, distractibility, and impulsivity. 

Does anyone else think this is bunk? 

If you didn't finish watching this video earlier, here's another chance. 

And they give kids medicine for ADD? 

Seems to me like the people putting kids on medicine before reforming education are the ones who need medication. 

Logical Humor

Nothing is more natural to a good conversation than a good argument. Trying to convince someone that our conclusion follows from something that they will accept as truth is an amazingly joyous experience, certainly one worth paying for. Yet, this joy would not exist were it not for logic, the course of action, line of reasoning, codification of principles of proof and inference, in other words, the act of quality thinking - beauty to my ears. 

There's nothing quite as fascinating as a person operating under the libidinous load of their cerebellum...

How can one write a sound joke while avoiding fallacious reasoning? The answer is that most people utterly fail to do this - and people go along with it anyway. Why? 

Let's ask Paul MacLean. His famous triune brain theory states that three distinct brains emerged successively in the course of evolution and now co-inhabit the human skull: the reptilian brain, the limbic brain, and the neocortex. 

Patrick Renvoise 

The reptilian brain is the oldest of the three, and controls the body's vital functions such as heart rate, breathing, body temperature and balance. The main structures are the brainstem and the cerebellum. In a nutshell, it's a reliable part of the brain, but it's a bit rigid and compulsive. Low-brow and slapstick humor would more than likely ignite this region of the brain. 

The limbic brain emerged in the first mammals. This part of the brain records memories of behaviors that produced agreeable and disagreeable experiences, so it's responsible for what we call emotions. The main structures are the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the hypothalamus. This is our judge, and judges exert strong influences on our behavior. Self-deprecating, cultural, and dry humor would conceivably ignite this region of the brain. 

The neocortex emerged in primates and culminated in the human brain with its two large cerebral hemispheres, which are responsible for the development of language, abstract thought, imagination, and consciousness. This is the most flexible part of the brain with near infinite learning abilities. High-brow, bonding-in-the-moment, and laugh-at-life humor notably appeal to this region of the brain. 

Coming full-circle, what do the different regions of the brain have to do with a good argument? 

Absolutely nothing. I just wanted to see how many people would follow two separate trains of thought without questioning - the connectives of logic. 

This post is an example of surreal humor

Occupy Education

Occupy Education focuses on the relevant, cool part of learning, rather than the mundane rote learning and memorization techniques we're taught in school. However, how can you know whether an Occupy Education is for you? 

Answer the following questions to find out!

Attention Span Questions

1. Do you easily "zone out" when trying to focus on tasks for extended periods of time?

2. Do you get distracted easily (by background noise, other people's conversations, etc.)? 

3. Are you often late for work, school, or appointments? 

4. Do you jump from task to task because you can't seem to focus long enough to finish one completely? 

5. Do you have "issues" dealing with boring, repetitive tasks? 

6. When on the phone with a friend just as your favorite TV show starts, do you find it difficult to pay attention to the conversation? 

7. Do you find yourself re-reading the same paragraph or skipping ahead when reading a book or magazine? 

8. Do you have a knack for noticing details (typos in a document)? 

9. Do you lose your patience easily? 

10. Do you interrupt people during conversations? 

If you answered "Yes" to more than 5 of the above questions, an alternate, non-traditional, Occupy Education may be for you. 

We don't all learn in the same way... 

Enjoy the educational pics!