Comments on: Doing Something New

By: Toby Doncaster

Toby Doncaster — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:42:21 +0000

@Sherman Hu: love the waiter idea, ’cause I always do the same thing. However, I also go for “comfort zoning” by eating the same dish at the same restaurant; Chao Ho Fun Beef & Veg at the Wong Kei in Soho, London, for the last 25 years!

Last year, it was becoming a motorcycle instructor, passing the government’s assessment scheme and training to become a trainer in motorcycle instruction. This year, I’m applying to do an MA in education.

I find that choosing to do something different by spring-boarding from what I know very reassuring, so I was a biker for years, and decided that I could apply my skills in a different context which I feel is far more achievable for me than trying something completely new and unrelated.

By: Sherman Hu

Sherman Hu — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Hey Mark, thanks for the fabulously brilliant blog posts! I find myself consistently tweeting your entries to my tweeps

“Predictably Unpredictable” is what I’ve been known to be, so one of my common practice at restaurants is to ask the waiter to “Surprise me!” Usually ”fries the brains” of friends who are typically predictable.

For the uninitiated, ask the waiter for their favorite dishes to determine if you’re going to get a good recommendation, or ask the waiter to surprise you with a “popular & delicious dish”

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:32:57 +0000

@Francisco – I believe scientists have some type of standardized framework that shows how quickly a mouse can figure out a maze and recall it from previous experience. It might actually be simpler with mice than with humans, but obviously I’m not an expert on how mice are tested for IQ. Even if mice IQ is hard to measure on a absolute scale, the setting of the experiment mentioned made it a bit easier to test because they could compare the mice to each other on the same tests in the exact same setting.

When it comes to human intelligence, I’m not sure how hard it actually is to measure raw IQ. I think the thing that has made it more difficult is that IQ doesn’t correlate with success so people have started looking for things like “emotional intelligence” and other factors that can make you successful. So even if it is easy to figure out how smart someone is, it is much more difficult to determine how well they will do in life.

By: Francisco Carneiro

Francisco Carneiro — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:09:07 +0000

Mark,
although I agree with what you are saying, the idea of measuring a mouse’s IQ is strange to me. I can see an area of the brain being more active or the mouse being more efficient in solving puzzles, but if quantifying a person’s intelligence is already hard enough when we can speak in the same terms, imagine with animals!

By: Enrique S

Enrique S — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:44:38 +0000

I find the best way to get out of a rut is to jump into something new, whether it’s a book or movie or new restaurant. Once, just switching the brand of beer that I drank put me in a different mood (maybe it had a higher alcohol content?). Keep adding more wrinkles to your brain.

By: Positively Present

Positively Present — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:43:27 +0000

I love the list of ideas! There are a lot of ways to do something new here that don’t seem totally out there. I love it. Thanks!!

By: ezg

ezg — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:30:25 +0000

I tried a few things, like writing a blog in new language. My english isn’t very good, so started blogging in english and it helped me a lot. I also took some new books which looked to me not worth time, but I read them and found something new!
And of course, not the biggest new thing, but the big challenge was to try a new computer operating system. This was a real challenge, to learn a lot of new things in computer using, but il helped me a lot. When I see something new in computer apps and have to use it I don’t get confused, just trying to find what I need.