The Boring Part of Communication

I don’t suppose that anybody was wondering, in reading my ecent posts, what bored Geeks have to do with homework. Or with brain-based communication. The common link, of course, is boredom. Not that boredom is a great contributor to brain-based communication. But you could think of it as a side-track in the channels of communication.

A little speculation here. Boredom is your brain’s way of telling that it doesn’t understand the importance of that you were attending to. Notice the circumstances of boredom. You were attending to something as a result of a socially imposed obligation. That’s the voice of the Shudoffs in the Thinkerer. Your verbal system heard that voice and accepted the obligation. But the rest of your brain doesn’t know what it is supposed to do with all this sensory input that is being dump on it.

You will notice that most of this sensory input is running through your verbal system. That serves your verbal system right. The rest of you brain says: “Ok, Talker. You bought into this job. You came here for this dump. Now you figure out how to flush it.”

In the case of the bored Geeks, somebody called a meeting. That person probably had a good reason for holding the meeting. But that person only communicated with the verbal system of the Geek. The rest of the brain didn’t get the memo.

Who’s to blame? I leave that to the Shudoffs. My slogan on that:
“Who’s to blame?” is a childhood game.

Try a different viewpoint. You foot goes to sleep. The main reason is that you were not using it. Something about the position may have reduced the circulation. But your foot does not go to sleep when you are using it. So when your foot goes to sleep, you don’t worry about who is to blame. You start using your foot. You understand that those feet were made for walking. And that’s just what they need to do.

And your brain was made for brainwork. And that’s just what it’s gonna do. It’ll either work on your job or walk out from under you. You get the quiet parts of your brain to work on your job by visualizing or imagining parts of the job and the concrete results.

What if a job doesn’t have any concrete results? Then why do you need to do it? What difference will it make if you don’t do it? Two possibilities here:

1. The job really does call for concrete results. You just haven’t found out what they are. Ask around. Somebody knows. Maybe the person who gave you the job. But don’t take abstractions for an answer. Ask what people will look for to know that the job is done.

2. The job doesn’t call for concrete results. Relax. Daydream. Do something else. The job calls for you to do nothing. You’ve had experience at that.

So what is the boring part of communication? There is no boring part of communication. If it is boring, it is not communication.

The Case of the Bored Geeks

A problem or another mismanaged opportunity? I was talking, before I got distracted, about the silly idea that Geeks suffer from AD/HD. The “symptom” was that they could not maintain attention throughout a meeting. I contend that this is an opportunity. But only for innovative thinkers. The kind of people who get bored in meetings. And ask themselves what is wrong with this picture.

Naturally, they ask themselves this question in middle of the meeting. When they should be attending to what is being said. Obviously, these are people who fail to recognize the symptoms of AD/HD.

But back to the opportunity of offered by those bored Geeks. Who could benefit from it?

Management. What is the hourly pay rate for a Geek? I will guess it is well over $100/hour, including overhead. So a meeting of ten Geeks costs $1,000/hour. Is it really worth that price to pay Geeks to be bored? Treatment: Insist that your first line supervisors report cost and effectiveness for meetings.

First line supervisors. Where are your Geeks most productive? In their tech work or in meetings? Treatment: Be specific about the results you expect to get out of a meeting. Decide on the most efficient way to get those results. Get advice from the Geeks. Be flexible about methods. Report to your management about how much Geek time you are saving.

Geeks. Do you know what you are supposed to get out of a meeting? Do you know what you have to do to get it? Do you notice in meetings what is keeping you from getting it? Do you do something about whatever is keeping you from getting it? Treatment: If you don’t know the answers to these questions, ask around. Be sure to ask whoever called the meeting. Be sure to ask these questions in meetings whenever you notice your attention has lapsed.

Business consultants. They already provide advice and training on how to run effective meetings (and on other effective means of communication). Geek management seems to be an underserved market. Treatment: Look for a way to market more effectively to high tech businesses. Don’t as me how. You are the consultants. But one suggestion: hire people who are part Geek. Be sure they speak Geek without a muggle accent.

The doctor who raised this issue noted the difference between passive and active attention. I would liken this to the difference between state statements and quest questions. Or the difference between TV and computer games or computer programming. Maybe even the difference between Aristotle and Aesop. Or the difference that Kierkegaard might see between being driven and driving. Or the difference Geeks might see between being bored and taking charge.

So is the case of the bored Geeks really an opportunity? Only for those who see it that way.

The return of the Brain Borers

A few days ago, I commented about the idea that Geeks suffer from AD/HD. A physician with many Geeks in his practice raised the issue. He speculated about connections between “poor attention span” and Geeks.

Here, I want to extend an intriguing suggestion he made: Geeks use computers to keep themselves mentally stimulated.

Think about that for a moment. Environmental Adderall! The prescription treatments for AD/HD are stimulants. So it may not be a complete surprise to discover that inadequate environmental stimulation would mimic (or create) the symptoms of AD/HD. Nor is it remarkable that adequate environmental stimulation would “cure” those symptoms. Perhaps a permanent change in the environment would “cure” the underlying disorder. A disorder, mind you, that otherwise requires chronic medication to control.

So working on computers may be a form of self-medication for people who might otherwise suffer from the Brain Borers. But what a way to self-medicate! No prescription. And they get paid (well) to do it. Lots of people might wish they had this disorder. The Geeks might even be glad that nobody cured them. Indeed, all of us can be glad that the Geeks have not been cured. If they ever cure the Geeks, who will fix our computers?

But this self-medication only works for Geeks. Where else could people find the environmental stimulation they need to fight off the Brain Borers? Actually, I just picked up a clue from the New York Times Syndicate:

“Watching too much violent TV and playing too many violent video games takes a toll on children's social and physical development, researchers report.”

I won’t go into the details. I think the New York Times has been running this story every few months for the last ten years. Before that, there weren’t enough violent video games, so the story had to be about violent TV. I can’t remember whether they did stories about the threat of violent radio.

But you realize that TV and video games (violent or not) are another weapon in the battle of the Brain Borers. Less satisfactory, because there is not a big labor market for TV watchers or Video game players. But a clue, nevertheless.

The doctor pointed out in his blog that there is a big difference between passively listening to (other) people talk at a meeting and actively working with software to make it do the job. I described a similar issue (not limited to Geeks) in an earlier blog: State statements and quest questions. State statements are declarative statements. They invite passive listening. And perhaps a little nap. Quest questions ask you to search your brain and the information available to you for answers. The invite interaction between the information you are getting and what you have stored in your brain.

A while back, I took up the topic of Brain-Based Communication. This discussion is an example. First, a simple and generally accepted principle of psychology: The more brain modules you get involved in what you are doing, the better you will understand it. Now I will extend this principle (by speculation): The more brain modules you get involved in something, the more effectively you will be able to focus on it. That may lead to a longer attention span. Or it may lead to a more effective use of that 10 minutes you can muster before you meet the Brain Borers. Either way, you will get better service out of your brain.

And here is a trick I use when I notice the Brain Borers hanging around. The Brain Borers are a problem. My view of a problem is that it is an opportunity being mismanaged. So in a few days, I will have some things to say about the problem (or opportunity) of bored Geeks in meetings. And about how to use the Force against the Brain Borers.

Do Geeks Suffer from AD/HD

I like to start with a really stupid question. It is bound to get better from there. Speaking as a Geek, or as at least half-Geek, I have a short attention span. I certainly don’t suffer from it. Maybe other people suffer from it when I tell them to get to the subject.

But, of course, this title is really to mock the people who say that lots of children “suffer from AD/HD.” The children don’t suffer any more than I do. Their teachers suffer. Their parents may suffer. But the kids don’t suffer until somebody tries to cure them.

I looked at some recent comments from a currently practicing board-certified Internal Medicine physician in a tech community. His practice includes lots of Geeks. He says this:

“I am always amazed at the number of people that mention to me that their attention span is poor. Frequently they will wonder if they have ADD. Sometimes they will even complain about the inability to stay awake during long meetings or stay focused on non-computer tasks.”

These Geeks in his practice probably start at close to $50K and go up to $100K with experience and responsibilities. You call this suffering?

Maybe you could call it suffering if you think there is something wrong with you. I suppose that these Geeks might be said to suffer a bit from the label of Attention Deficit Disorder. And from the idea that since the culture has labeled something a disorder, it must have some sort of a cure.

The doctor points out that these Geeks have no problem staying focused on their computer work. The doctor is focusing on reality rather than on verbal claims made popular by the culture.

I think almost all instances of “attention deficit” occur when you don’t maintain focus on something that somebody else wants you to focus on. In the Geek story above, somebody else is trying to set the focus. Furthermore, somebody else is setting the requirements for attention span. I don’t think this is a Geek problem at all. So I will state is as a general principle:

If you let somebody else run your brain, you will let somebody else run it off track.

Now, back to my short attention span. I used a language trick there. The only way you could interpret short is as relative to some other attention spans. You probably assumed the context of other people. But I meant the context of expectations. And that was the problem the Geeks had, too.

Since people schedule meetings (and lectures) to last an hour or more, they must expect that the normal attention span is an hour or more. It is hard to do good research on attention span, but what has been done suggests that the typical attention span (during a lecture, for example) is closer to ten minutes. From observing my own behavior, I think my attention span is about ten minutes. That’s when I am focusing on content that is unfamiliar and takes a lot of cognitive processing. As in lectures and meetings.

So why am I not bothered by an attention span that doesn’t match the span of meetings and lectures? Because I take that into account when I plan what I will do. As most people learn to do before they get to my age.

There is more to say on this. But I will save it for another time. Wouldn’t want to run readers over their attention spans. Even if they are not Geeks.

Strange Symptoms of AD/HD

Recently, in my blog about cognitive engineering, I listed some criteria for AD/HD, as posted by West Virginia University. Don Dansereau suggested that I check the DSM-IV, since that would give the technical criteria used for diagnosis. I found a version summarized by Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It is modified to be readable by the public, but should represent DSM-IV adequately.

Since these are diagnostic criteria, they have important qualifiers on them. Probably the most important qualifier is:
There must be clear evidence of significant impairment in social, school, or work functioning. This is a standard qualifier in clinical psychology. Basically, it says that being weird is OK as long as it doesn’t create problems.

Some symptoms that cause impairment were present before age 7 years. I think the behaviors listed as symptoms are present to some extent in all children under the age of 7. And in lots of children over that age. And in most adults.

Some impairment from the symptoms is present in two or more settings (e.g. at school/work and at home). That way you can tell the difference between problems of the situation and problems of the individual.

The symptoms are generally similar to those in the WVU site. One symptom, however, caught my attention:

Often avoids, dislikes, or doesn't want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).

I take it that people who do not have this disorder seek out, like, and want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time. Here is your opportunity to test yourself. Go to five of your friends and make the following statement:

“I assume you have noticed that I seek out, like, and want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time.”

You must do this with a straight face. You may award yourself one point for each friend that agrees with you while maintaining a straight face.

The theme of my comments on AD/HD is that the symptoms being used for diagnosis are common behaviors. They don’t trigger the AD/HD diagnosis unless they create problems. Those problems usually appear as a failure to conform behavior to the requirements of school. That’s why I call it an ethnogenic disorder. It is created by the cultural requirement to get an education and, in support of that requirement, to conform to the requirements of public schooling.

The label ethnogenic does not mean that something is not a problem. It does suggest that it is not a medical problem. There are other possible solutions. If the culture is the problem, perhaps the culture has the solution. I see that some parents respond to the problem with home schooling. This is an expensive route, not open to many parents.

Other routes are cited at Medicine.net. The non-medical routes are on page 2. Of course, nobody would stop reading on page 1. That might be a symptom of AD/HD. Shifting from one uncompleted task to another, you know.

Gaming the Brain Borers

Speaking of attention deficit, people who want to develop educational electronic games suffer from no attention deficit. Here is recent article: Chemistry: the video game

This article reports on the efforts of Gabriela Weaver, an associate professor of chemistry at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. She is developing a computer game about chemistry. It also reports comments from Eric Klopfer, co-director of Education Arcade, a game project run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

One of the main themes of this report is that it is hard for educational game development to compete with giants like Electronic Arts. I had two thoughts right away: Cosmeo and Second Life. (I know those are not sentences. I don’t know of any requirement that I think in sentences.)

Cosmeo is a commercial enterprise by Discovery Communications Inc. It provides video clips, educational games, and other services to some schools and (via the website) to individuals. Apparently, this corporation believes it can make money with these services. And some school systems apparently believe that the services provide appropriate educational experiences.

Second Life is an online, massively multiplayer, 3D environment. It is not a game, but offers resources that support the development of games. There are dozens of games presently available in Second Life. One, sponsored by Wells-Fargo is intended to provide educational benefits as part of the play. Here are links:
Video Stagecoach Island Preview.
CNET report of game, Stagecoach Island.

The Stagecoach Island plan is a bit different from the usual educational game concept. The learning objectives are about managing money. How effectively the participant does that determines access to things that the participant wants. Rather like in real life.

But what is the cost of this 3D environment? The level of access needed to play a game is available at no cost. Access would demand a computer with fairly modern graphics. But I think the requirements would be similar to the requirements for MS Vista. So any Vista-ready computer can probably handle the job. The cost of facilities to develop a game would be $1,250 plus about $200/month for maintenance. There would, of course, be costs for technical assistance. But Second Life already provides the basic programming infrastructure.

Now back to those people who are focused attentively on developing educational electronic games. I hope they are not so focused on their project objectives that they overlook the possibilities I just described. But they might be. Another name for focus is tunnel vision.

Could the Web Treat AD/HD?

In my other blog I was commenting on AD/HD. I suggested that is was an ethnogenic disorder (created by cultural conditions). Here are some of the symptoms:
1) fidgets, squirms, or is restless.
2) has difficulty remaining seated
3) is easily distracted
4) has difficulty waiting for his/her turn
5) blurts out answers
6) has difficulty following instructions
7) has difficulty sustaining attention
8) shifts from one uncompleted task to another

Attention deficit disorder? Pathological condition? Or just the work of the Brain Borers? Last week, I commented on a web site (Cosmeo) launched by Discovery Communications. It offers:

video clips, interactive educational games and other tools. Discovery says the resources were selected to comply with the curricula and education standards of all 50 states.

Now here is an experiment that any parent can try. It might be especially useful to parents of a child with symptoms of AD/HD. Provide the Cosmeo web site to the child .(There is a 30 day free trial.) Ask the child to evaluate web site and tell you whether it is more interesting than the school work that covers the same material. Observe what the child does. Write your observations. Compare them to reports of what the child does in class with similar content.

Caution! DO NOT TELL THE CHILD TO STUDY! Ask the child to evaluate. Of course, you will indicate that if the child prefers this material, you may continue the subscription.

I leave the interpretation of the results to the advanced reader. (All readers of this blog are advanced readers.) Remember, however, that this is not a treatment. It is merely diagnostic information that parents may find helpful in distinguishing AD/HD from the brain borers.

As a treatment, Cosmeo may be useful or not, depending on the circumstances. If Cosmeo provides effective and engaging instruction, the child may learn easily and get ahead of the class. But that advanced preparation could make the school work more boring. The child might have even more discipline problems is school. But the problems are less likely to be attributed to AD/HD if the child shows competence with the material.

Of course, schools can also use Cosmeo. According to the news release, some 70,000 already do. My theory is that “attention deficits” are more often caused by boring content than by neurological problems. If the Cosmeo content is engaging, schools that use it may have fewer attention deficits.

A new opportunity for entrepreneurial psychologists. I see the headlines now.

Web treats AD/HD!