If You Fell From a Tree...

So Convocation went pretty well. I arrived what some might call "fashionably late," sprinting up the stairs just in time to sign in right as everybody was about to enter the building. We took our seats as some of the teachers and students processed into the lower floor seating; some people were recognized for various achievements and awards. Then the main speaker was introduced, Christopher McDougal, the author of the book Born to Run, and he gave a short but well-spoken talk about how to survive a 100 foot fall... wait, what?
This guy wrote a book all about running. The physical make-up of our feet structure. A story about freak athletes and crazy tribal runners. Ancient humanoid hunting techniques. And he talked about some completely unrelated guy falling from the sky?
As you might have guessed from my almost-tardiness that I had just rolled out of bed and had not fully woken up yet, so my brain wasn't quite connecting the dots.

The interesting thing about the Falling Man story is that he survived by doing the exact opposite of what human nature would have told him to do. He remained calm, didn't scream, tried to maintain a wide body position so as to have as much surface area and wind resistance as possible, and he stuck his arm out at the last moment to brace his fall. (How his friends were able to recount in vivid detail his mid-air maneuvering in the dark I'm not sure, but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt for the sake of making a point.)
By defying conventional "wisdom" or what he might naturally want to do, he kept his calm and tried his best to survive. And he did!

So if you ever fall from a metaphorical tree, instead of screaming and bracing for impact, try a new approach to an old problem. You might just discover something- and survive a 100 foot fall.

Technology

One quote I thought was interesting from the movie we watched in class was when one mother exclaimed, "It's like kids these days are pre-programmed with knowledge of how to work electronics from birth!"
I've grown up with all this modern technology around me; I had a computer class in elementary school where we learned basic skills and typing practice. It's just the way the world is, I haven't known anything different.
But it's interesting to look at older people, like say my parents, who have not had nearly as much practice (or engulfment) in technology, and notice how little they understand about computers. Even though I may not know how to do some task on a computer, I can mess around for a few minutes and normally figure it out. My parents do not have the slightest clue where to even begin. I remember once watching my mom clicking on random words on a website, not knowing the difference between which ones have active hyper-links and which ones are simple HTML text.

We really are immersed in a world so electronically driven with technology that didn't even exist just a short while ago, that it's hard to tell even amongst ourselves how it is changing the way we do life.

Week Two

This week we learned more in detail how bits are used to make up everything:  how combinations of 1 and 0 can represent squares on a grid.
We also played a game with bowling pins to represent how computers share packets from each other, one at a time, and have to rearrange the information in order. They also send copies to make sure no errors happen along the way.  We learned a "magic trick" that demonstrates how this idea works of counting up the 1's and 0's.
We also met in the library and learned a lot about how to do research, the intercollegiate library system we have, and what sources are considered more credible than others.

Overall it's been a fun week,  hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend, and this upcoming week too!