Meditation

Meditation kan berige mit liv, både når jeg finder mig i en uønsket tilstand, eller når jeg gerne vil et helt nyt sted hen.

Når jeg dvæler i en uønsket tilstand, så kan meditation dæmpe pulsen, sortere i tankerne, eller give et helt nyt perspektiv på en ubehagelig situation.

Når jeg gerne vil et nyt sted hen, så kan meditation give energi til at drive mig, idéer til eksperimenter, eller en levende og motiverende vision af målet. 

1st to Die - by James Patterson

“1st to Die” by James Patterson, featuring inspector Lindsay of San Francisco, first book of “Women’s Murder Club” series.

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5). I liked listening to this book as an audiobook, it was good entertainment, not terribly enriching, somehow clichéed. I see it’s got an average rating above 4, which is probably reasonably within it’s genre, and I guess if you’re into fast-paced mysteries/thrillers it will be a perfect fit. I will only give it 3 stars however, since I’m not that fond of the genre, and read it in order to ‘cross-read’ for other genres and also to read James Patterson for the first time. It was a good experience, but I will probably read a lot of other authors and books before reading another James Patterson book.

Plot: Inspector Lindsay investigates a brutal murder of a newly married couple, while juggling health and love challenges.

View point: Apart from the first-person view-point of Inspector Lindsay, we also follow other characters from a third-limited point of view. This works well, I think, as a mystifying device. 

Pros:

• Inspector Lindsay, the main character, and first-person view-point of most chapters, has a catchy ‘voice’. She is likeable and I got emotionally attached to her, a few passages gave me misty eyes.

• It’s a real page-turner, with a clever plot, with lots of between-chapter cliff-hangers. 

• The short chapters, more than a hundred in total, gave it a really high pace.

Cons:

• There were some cliches in the language of the book, particularly through adverbs and consecutive adjectives, sometimes too much telling instead of showing.

• There’s not much of a story arc for the third-person view-point characters.

Reduction of coronavirus epidemic - a model

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a doctor, not a virologist, not a virus expert whatsoever. I'm just curious, and worried, and like to make models of the world.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is here, and it is essential to slow the spread.

A very simple model, which is by no means correct, can however still illustrate the importance of reducing number of contacts in order to slow the spread of a virus.

Start input:

• Number of people in the population (example: Denmark: 5.800.000)
• Number of initially infected people (example: 1)

Model parameters:

• Number of people in contact with infected person, on average (example: 5)
• Probability of infection for a person in contact with infected person (example: 10%)
• These values for the model parameters fits such that Denmark went from 1 infected on February 27th 2020 to around 400 infected on March 11th 2020. 

And then I created a simple Google Sheet, which calculates the new number of infected persons, one day at a time:

Explanation of the model, and the columns in the spreadsheet:

• A: Day: The date, one day at a time
• B: Population: The total population (constant)
• C: Has or has had virus: People who currently have or have had the virus
• D: Has not had virus: People who have not had the virus (D = B - C)
• E: Has virus: I assume that the virus lives for 14 days in each infected, so it's the sum of H for the last 14 days
• F: Number of people who is in contact with virus (F = E * Contacts per infected)
• G: Number of people who has not had virus, and who is in contact with virus (G = F * D / B)
• H: Gets people: Number of people who gets virus that day (H = Infection rate * G)

Very simple. And here is a chart of infected as time goes by:

It is seen that there is a peak in the number of people that has the virus at the same time.

I'm totally aware, that the model is not correct, and lacks things like not all people can get infected. However, I find the model interesting in the fact that, by changing the number of contacts per infected, I can see the impact on how many people get infected in total, and when the infections peak.

So, in this model, by reducing the average number of contacts per infection from 10 to 5, the peak date is delayed by two weeks.

The morale of this model, is just the same as the experts and politicians keep telling us:

• We need to delay this as much as possible.
• And we delay it by reducing contacts (low number for contacts per infected in this model).
• And of course we need to have a good hygiene as well (low number for infection rate in this model).

Driving a car

For me, driving a car has been a learning process that has taken decades. I recently decided to seek inspiration from various articles online about what people think constitutes a good driver, and I took a few things from there, that I have practiced.


Reversing into a parking slot:

I used to drive forwards into a parking slot, and then reverse when leaving, but I read about some advantages and disadvantages, and has practiced reverse parking for some months now, making it my default mode of parking.

Advantages:

• Safety: When I reverse into a parking slot, I reverse into a known space without any traffic. When I reverse out from a parking slot, I reverse out into an unknown space with other traffic, both cars and pedestrians. So there's less risk of accidents when reversing into a parking slot.
• Convenience:  I now find it easier to reverse navigate into a tight parking slot than I usually did while driving forward into it.

Following the speed limit:

I have never been driving too fast, I have never received a speeding ticket. On the other hand, I have for many years strived to hold the needle of the car's speedometer right on the allowed number. However, cars are allowed to show up to 10% more than the actual speed, and most cars show at least 5% more. So I have effectively been driving 5-10% slower than the limit. This has both made me arrive later and waste some minutes every day. But it has also made my driving more dangerous, because other drivers who follow the actual speed limit, would find me very slow and maybe tend to take over, which can be risky business on smaller roads. So now I have found a simple speedometer app on my phone, which I can follow when driving. And it turns out that I can now add around 10% to my speed and still follow the speed limit.


Rehearsing catastrophe braking:

... on small roads without traffic, of course.


I believe it has improved my overall driving skills.

Learning phases

Three phases of learning:

Encoding:

• How I understand the subject and translate it into something comprehensible for me
• Can be enhanced by using all three major methods of learning: auditive (for example by listening to a podcast or a lecture), visual (for example by looking at a diagram, might also be through reading), and kinetic (for example by doing an exercise, writing, getting your hands into stuff)

Storage:

• How I store the subject in my memory
• Can be improved by various techniques, for example visualizing a house with various rooms, where I can put items to remember

Retrieval:

• How I retrieve the subject from my memory
• Can be practiced by thinking back after any learning experience, and trying to recall what I have actually learned
• For example, when reading a book, after each chapter, write down the major things that I remember from that chapter

Mirroring

Mirroring: echoing other people's words, emotions, interpretations, intentions, or body language.

Types of mirroring:

• Mirroring words:
• Repeating back the last few words, or significant words, from what the other person just said.
• Shows the other person that I listen, lets other person hear what I take from what they are saying, gives the other person the opportunity to reflect on how their own words sound, and allows the other person the chance to correct or expand on their words, if they feel that I have not understood it well enough.
• Mirroring emotions: 
• Internalize the emotion that I perceive from the other person, feel what it does to me, and let that guide me in my responses.
• To supplement this, I can also put a label on the emotion, for example "It sounds like you are very upset about this". Similar to mirroring words, a label on an emotion, allows the other person to reflect and expand on it.
• Makes it easier for me to connect with the other person, and through how I act or respond it can also shows the other person that I try to connect and understand on a deeper level than just words.
• Mirroring interpretations:
• This requires some more work from me: I have to reflect on how the other person sees the world operate, and try to formulate how the other person interprets the world.
• For example, I can mirror the other person's words and feelings, and then I can say something like "when your sister says that to you, you get very upset, because you would like her to do X and when she said that you realized that she was not going to".
• Mirroring intentions:
• Trying to hear or anticipate the action that the other person would like to take, and simply formulate it, for example "so, you would like to call your sister".
• Mirroring body language:
• Show the same degree of energy, use the same kind of movements, sit in the same way. This can show the other person that I have tuned in to where they are, that I am willing to stay with them, that I am walking with them.

Some examples where I have had great success with mirroring:

• A colleague came up to me and asked me about a problem. I repeated back, and he immediately got an idea about how to proceed.
• My two-year old son getting to bed, he cried and called for his mother. I repeated what he said, like "mooother" and "oooh", mirroring the sounds and cries. I used labeling to say something like "you sound sad". And when he cried, I focused and listened intensely to the cry, instead of wishing it go away. This made the whole deal less stressful for me and for him, and now we have a nightly routine where there's either no crying at all or a little crying, which is mirrored by me and kind of absorbed and neutralized quickly.

Some challenges I have had with mirroring:

• If I am too slow to formulate a mirror, especially in group settings, I end up being very passive.
• I'm very inclined towards just mirroring words, which might be a good first step, but I believe it will be more efficient if it is quickly followed up by some of the other and deeper kinds of mirroring.

Multi tasking

Pattern:

• Multi tasking

Definition:

• Multi tasking is when one entity performs two or more tasks at the same time.

Anti-pattern:

• Task switching, where an entity frequently changes back and forth between two or more tasks, but actually does not perform the tasks at the exact same time.

Advantages of multi tasking:

• When done right: Getting more tasks done in the same amount of time.

Risks of multi tasking:

• Not doing the things properly.
• When done wrong: Getting fewer tasks done in the same amount of time, due to a drastically lower focus or concentration.
• If not really multi tasking, but task switching instead, then the focus or concentration can also be very low.

Scenarios where I believe that I have benefited from multi tasking:

• While walking: Listening to podcasts
• While driving car: Doing peptalk to myself. Doing breathing exercises. Doing voice exercises. Eating an apple
• While eating (alone): Checking emails
• While writing or coding (alone at home): Listening to music (occasionally, for a limited period of time)
• While watching video or movie: Practicing guitar

Scenarios where I do not enjoy or benefit from multi tasking:

• When doing fitness
• When running
• When coding in my company's office