#19 Don’t play chess with a pigeon

Learning how to learn for the new world

We grew studying biology, chemistry, arithmetic, social studies etc in our school. This curriculum has not changed for over a century. These subjects do not directly help in our professional or personal life. And, we learnt them in ways that did not prepare us well for learning new things. That's the challenge for our education.

Seth Godin recently wrote a blog proposing a new curriculum to suit the new world. In his words...

It doesn’t eliminate the fundamentals of being educated, but it puts them into context. More important, because it’s self-directed and project-based, kids can choose to learn, instead of being forced to. …it’s more important to want to know the answer and to know how to look it up...

His recommendation includes subjects like statistics, programming, decision-making, communication & real skills like honesty, empathy, curiosity and problem-solving.

We're already in session #19 for this new curriculum. Let's get to today's class.

1.

I don’t like or share quote lists. Recently, I stumbled upon something that has forced me to take an exception.

Its author Karthik tells “I badly want to share them with my teenage daughter and I wish I knew them earlier in my life.” And that prompted me to check it out. Glad, I did that. I’m bookmarking it for my daughters.

But, it is not just for the parents out there. I can assure you that all of us can learn a thing or two (or actually 25 of them) from this one. Here’re two of my favourites:

1. If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

2. Don’t play chess with a pigeon. It’ll just knock over the pieces, shit all over the board and then strut around like it won the game.

3. Making the bed every morning does one thing clearly, reinforces in the mind that small rituals trigger a sense of accomplishment.

2. 

“Listening is the number one skill all mankind needs to know really well” — and it turned out, a lot of people could use someone like that in their lives. Now, each day, a handful of people come by just to vent or share what’s on their minds.

This is the story of Al Nixon - also known as - the friend on the bench. Stories like these reaffirm our faith in humanity and that there is goodness all around us. 

Don’t forget to read the bonus fact covered at the end (and also the one from the archives). Now I know is a brilliant place if you’re looking to discover joyful stories from across the world. No particular topic, just the plain and beautiful discovery of new things.

3.

We had a course called LAB (Legal Aspects of Business) during our MBA at IIMA. Prof. Anurag made it a point to make the fun & engaging. We learnt the basic tenets and the reasoning behind them. There was no need to memorise any laws or cases. It really made it interesting and fun to attend those classes. Very few of us get to engage in legal aspects in our professional or personal life. And we will generally do whatever it takes to stay out of this. Still, this course taught a great deal about common sense and reasonableness.

This post simplifies the complex topic of the President’s Rule & the role of the Governer in a political crisis It reminded me of those LAB classes.  I wonder, how much fun our history & political science classes would be if they were taught in such a manner.

4.

Austin Kleon does some amazing graphic stories. He recently shared a beautiful zine called 'What does a seed look like?'

Pic credit: Austin Kleon’s blog

Don't miss it, it's a short read. Don't be surprised if you start using this story when talking about 'ideas'.

5.

Some random goodness from the internet:

1. Twitter thread: If you’re amazed watching the server in Vidyarthi Bhavan carrying dozen of plates, this thread about "demae-mochi" will make you go ‘Whatttt!’. I’ll never get tired of saying the Japanese will never stop to surprise us.

2. Web: There is an award for funny wildlife animal photos. The submissions & the final winners are just amazing. We’re not the only clowns in this world!

3. Instagram: If you liked Austin’s Kleon’s work, check out gapingvoid. They do some amazing graphics to describe work & life.

Before we sign off, here's a snapshot of a tweet worth saving.

That's all for this week, folks!

Last week’s post had a 42% open rate. 115 subscribers will get ‘Stay Curious’ in their email this week. 

I write this newsletter to share what I learnt from others. If you learnt something from this today, why not share it with a couple of your friends to continue this chain?

PS: Today's post is grade 5 as per https://hemingwayapp.com/