A Good Example of The Creative Mind At Work!

Fits Henry Gurr Theory, B/c Shows Creative Role of Brain’s Automatic =>
Inspirations, Insights, Realizations, and Flashes Of Insight!!

In Order To Be Productive & Creative In Computer Application Tool Development, You Must Have A “Critical Mass” Of Knowledge, Skills, & Experience. A Very Active Mind Is Essential, But Also Crucial Is The Ready Assistance of Other Knowledgeable Persons

AN INTRODUCTION by Henry Gurr

When I arrived Ed showed me his Mazda Pickup Truck he had converted to Electrical-Battery Drive. I really enjoyed seeing it and hearing Ed explain how it was built, including where he obtained all the needed parts & knowledge. He did an amazing job!

Ed has wide ranging interests beyond computers and computer programming. These include => Psychology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, etc. So after we toured a) his 5 acre homestead, b) his HUGE workshop & mechanical maintenance Quonset Building, AND c) his computer + big-screen TV work area … I saw my chance: I began telling Ed of my major Theory Project, while opening my Laptop to my “Theory of how Our Mind Works “,I slowly read aloud the Page Titles + Introductory Paragraphs. I was careful to emphasize how the “Flash of Insight” is central to understanding the operation of our mind!

In immediate excited response, Ed started telling me about his 2005 Computer Programming Project, and his hard work prompted, and guided by, an expanding series of Creative Inspirations, Insights, Realizations, and Flashes Of Insight!! His initial phases of this effort were completed over a an intense several months of working his way to a conclusion.

After I departed, Ed kept on thinking about his Project, and decided to write up a more complete explanation,(which a day later arrived by email), as you see (with additional editing), below.

Later Ed said on the phone “This writing was done in near continuous “flow of Consciousness”, as I was typing away on my computer.”

In Software Project Development: I Just Realized, The Occurrence The Nuclear Term, "Critical Mass" And Other Observations. An Email by Computer Expert Ed Cooley.

This is a more complete account of my Computer Programming Project in 2005, which involved my learning of a new Computer Programming Language, named Perl.

I had lots of help, as I mentioned previously. But in addition, I essentially had to learn 3 things (almost) at the same time.

How did it go?
I already had programming skills that I had learned in college and had used these in a rudimentary fashion in support of various operating systems I had worked on in my career.

To start, I had a friend that gave me a sample of relevant Computer Code, which was critical to my initial success. The sample not only had Perl examples, but it also had database examples. I was able to, in a "monkey-see monkey do" fashion, emulate the functionality I wanted. I had other things that I wanted to do, but I had no idea how to accomplish those things.

So, I was slowly building a knowledge base about a new language and knowledge about a new database tool. I took an unrelated class I didn't want to take, but during break time, the instructor was very knowledgeable and was able to provide additional crucial pieces to complete my puzzle. Critical mass was building. I had finally built a tool that could be used, but I wasn't happy. It wasn't as efficient as I wanted, it didn't do all the things I wanted to accomplish - but it was a start.

All of this took about a month, during which I had put together a series of things that would help me and the folks I worked with. The time it took to research problems for our customers for some things reduced from 30 minutes to about 3 minutes. Success still, I wasn't satisfied, it still wasn't as efficient as I needed it to be. Converting the log files into something the database tool could use still took hours. Moreover, there were additional tools I wanted to build.

Two months later, I had the opportunity to take a class in Perl. I was excited, and looking forward to it.

What did I have at this point?
I had a few rudimentary tools that I barely understood, that were glued together in the most inelegant way. It worked, but it was ugly and inefficient. Refinement was needed. Some problems were identified, and tools (Perl, database) were identified that could do the work that was needed.

So, I took the class. Suddenly, because I HAD these rudimentary tools, I understood the instructor in a way that I never had before: I understood the NEW tools that he was explaining, moreover, I had a context in which they could be used: Improving my log parsing and database search tool. Moreover, I had additional ideas on how to build new things that I hadn't even thought of. I probably had an AHA moment 4 or 5 times A DAY, for A WEEK. Needless to say, I was flying high. I was so happy and excited to put these new tools to use. Everyone else in the class was probably annoyed with me (they were all coworkers, but I am sure they were later glad because they knew what I was working on, and they knew they'd get the benefit of the tool). We were all friends.

So, to sum up:
1) I had a problem that I wanted to solve. There were other things that were problems that I didn't even know *could* be solved.
2) I began my own approach, which was kludgy, but familiarized me with the language, the tools, that I had chosen to use.
3) I had tips and helps, had a few AHA moments from time to time, but they were hard-won, stressful even, until I got one.
4) I had the class. Suddenly, I knew not only how to make the search tool more efficient, I knew about how to solve these other problems.
5) I BEGGED my teammates for assistance: What new things did THEY WANT? (What Problems did they see, that they want solved?) Everything in the class was fresh on my mind, I must have made 20 improvements inside of a week, and wrote 4 or 5 brand new tools in 2 weeks.

Read number 5) again.
My point in this statement was that sometimes, we "just live with something" - we "are used to it" - and do not see a need to fix something that has a workable solution. Sometimes, we don't see the problem. Sometimes, I kick myself for not thinking of the solution myself.

UPSIDE DOWN KETCHUP BOTTLE. A friend of mine had the idea when he was a youth. Everyone ignored him.
He'd probably be on his way to creating new solutions, creating new patents if he had not been marginalized at that critical time. He would have made a nice nest-egg of money that would have encouraged him to invent more.

So, what is required for AHA moments?
1) You need a critical mass of information to succeed, and sometimes when new information is added, AHA moments can take place in quick succession.
2) Sometimes, you need someone who is IGNORANT of all the institutional restrictions and doesn’t know how hard change might be.

2) Cont. This may seem to contradict (1) They are UN-initiated to the larger picture of how things are done ... perhaps they are ignorant about the TRADITIONS in the task/job/industry.
3) Sometimes there are good reasons.
4) Sometimes, there are horrible reasons.
5) Sometimes, you need a problem identified, and help request to fix it,
6) And offer many THANKS afterwards.
7) Sometimes, you need encouragement along the way,
8) And THANKS is sometimes more than sufficient to keep you going. The THANKS tells you that you are valued, needed, wanted.

In my quest to build this tool,
I would sometimes use a coworker as a sounding board. He had little to no programming skill. How could he help?
He was intelligent and would ask questions that would kick me off my assumptions. Moreover, when I explained things to him, I KNEW he knew nothing about programming. I would explain things to him (a) because he was intelligent, and (b) because I knew that in doing so, I would go step-by-step over the problem. This requirement to SLOW DOWN and RE-ANALYZE the work I'd done, frequently provided AHA moments about the mistakes I had made, or incorrect assumptions I had made.

There was a Psychology Experiment Story told long ago (1950s? 1960s?):
Some college paid kids to dig a hole, they'd be paid a wage.
They were told to fill in the hole the next day, and dig a new one.
They had a wage, but the work was meaningless.
Eventually, most everyone had quit the job because they realized that the work had no lasting value.

Epilogue:
The tools I wrote have long since been dismantled, and there exists commercial software today that does a far better job than the tools I wrote.
But, for 5 or 6 years, these tools made it so our group was able to provide better customer service, faster.

All this to circle back around to my 'Journeyman' comment - a process and procedure for education that is not used as often as it could be today.

Assume someone wants to build bridges for a living. We need bridges, they can be things of beauty, and they are needed. Perhaps the person likes outdoor work.
Get a youth to assist - have folks teach this person rudimentary tools - Welding, tightening bolts, running cables, moving steel around. Give them some ideas, explain the problems. Build their toolbox. THEN send them to college or a technical school. Not only will they most likely be more eager to learn, AS they learn, they'll have a context in which to place the knowledge: THIS tool will help me design a bridge when the ground is sandy, or the span is rocky, or the water is fast, or salty, or windy. THIS tool will help me make a better weld when I'm using steel or aluminum. THIS tool will help me prevent rust, as 2 different types of metals are joined in a salty environment.

I hope that this helps.
Writing this helped me, as I'll need these procedures when I start a new job.

I know that this isn't in a proper format, but it is the first draft. Perhaps if you wish, I can reform these ideas into something more coherent.

Best Regards, Ed Cooley

Concerning A Theory of How Our Mind Works, What Does Mr Ed Cooley’s Computer Programming Project “Complete Account” Tell Us?

A CLOSING SUMMARY:
by ZMMQ SiteMaster Henry Gurr

Mr Cooley’s above “Complete Account”, is a very good example of how a person’s mind, in actual practice, can all-at-once suddenly:

And as Mr Cooley tells us, these “Realizations”, step by step, blossom into very powerful motivations, then automatically emerge as a series of concurrent detailed plans how to accomplish the plan, with well-focused & excited action naturally following!!!

The Well Focused & Excited Steps of a Project Development Program Include:

Readers are invited to send their own thoughts to HenryG__USCA.edu

END

On, Mar 10, 2020, Mr. Ed Cooley Sent His Added Thoughts About How We Develop, Learn, And Keep Life Running Efficiently. These thoughts, from a correspondence between him, HSG, and Derek Zelmer, are posted below

Text in [brackets] has been added by site editor Ryan George

To Henry Gurr & Derek Zelmer

These days it is TLDR (Too Long, Didn't Read). I wrote too much. Sorry... but I left it anyway.

I don't know how to integrate this, but I'll try to keep it short. This should be step 0 or step 1. I think that 0.0 and 0.1 should be somehow mentioned, not sure that 0.2, 0.2.1 detail is needed in a summary.

0.0 Starting with a baby – [The] baby's brain is continuously collecting data (sight, touch, smell/taste, hearing.).

0.1 As we grow, more data is added, organized, categorized
DISCUSSION: What gets added, [as well as] how it's organized depends on person and their interests. Things that don't interest them don't get noticed, how data is organized depends on how their brain works, whether or not they've trained themself [or are genetically predisposed] to study/retain certain data)

0.2 As data-RELATIONSHIPS form in our brain - some of which surprise us, we develop an understanding of the world.

0.2.1 Depending on our ability to RECALL relationships (due to brain organization ability), sometimes we MISREMEMBER relationships. Sometimes this is how MISTAKES are made, sometimes this is how DISCOVERIES are made.

0.3 As we TEACH OTHERS, as our ”students” ask questions, we realize that there are relationships between data points that we didn't know existed. This realization comes (a) as we study to teach (b) as someone asks a question and (c) as we explain, new relationships form in our brain that we didn't know existed.
DISCUSSION: As a computer programmer guy way back when, I think of data in our brain as a linked list multi-branch tree model. In my brain, the links don't always fully form. I will remember someone has a blue 4wd Toyota, 3 kids and a wife, but not remember their name - and when someone mentioned their name, YEAH!! That's them!! It's really annoying to not be able to recall names. Any idea why this occurs, and how the brain can be trained to fix it? [Mnemonics can be helpful, and this is how many people teach it in networking tasks. One might take elements of a name and link them with something associated to the person. For an example, Ed Cooley is familiar with computers, which can tend to overheat, unless Cooled. The effort and time-on-task may be at least as useful as the mnemonic for later recall!]

An Example of Linked List Idea Continued,
I'll remember an Actor A in Movie A, can't remember either the name of either movie or the actor.
Movie A will be the point of interest for me.
I'll remember that Actor A worked in Movie B. I'll google movie B which I'll remember, look up the list of actors, recall their name when I see it (Actor A finally has a name) - Look up the list of movies they were in, "recall" that it was within the last 3 years, find out it was actually 10 years ago, and finally collect movie A's name.

An Example of Linked List Idea Continued,
Movie A -> Actor A -> Movie B -> Actor A becomes Bob, Bob is in Movie A, search for all movies Bob is in, find out Movie A's name.
I've done this round-about method of research to recall a movie's name 100s of times, that it is now a regular process I perform for figuring out movie's names.

My brain has been badly categorizing/storing data for so long - here is a question for improvement (for me, and for others interested).
How do you - starting at a given point in your life, depending on your own consciousness (baby, teen, older adult), start remembering data in some kind of organized form (and how early can you start TEACHING children this new process, whatever it is)?

I think the issue is: What is important to me at any given time, that I remember anything at all? (and how do you make it important?)

The other day I misplaced a $100 Bluetooth Keyboard (still can't find it, it's in the house somewhere, house is a mess).
The goal at the time was 'it is in the way, move it' - I distinctly remember it was in the way, and moving it. What I don't remember is where I was, or where I put it. I put it in a temporary location so that I could accomplish the task it's current location was preventing me from finishing - and I do not remember that temporary location. It is IN THE HOUSE SOMEWHERE. This, I know (the task was changing the bedsheets, the keyboard WAS on the bed).

So the immediate goal: change the bedsheets, was all I apparently could focus on, and whatever was on the bed got 'thrown' odd places. All the remotes for the Roku/Tele went in the same place. THEY HAD A PLACE. The Keyboard did not, so it went to some random currently unknown place.

I remember as a kid wanting to build a doghouse. I was going through geometry at the time, so I knew how to calculate how to build the triangles for the roof.
BUILDING the roof was important to me, so I remembered and used Sin/Cos/Tan to calculate angles (which builders have done so often they simply memorize specific angles these days).

Thank you for asking me the question, and including me on this list.
It has been interesting to articulate this, and to some small degree, write down how my own imperfect brain remembers badly stored/categorized data.

[Signed] Ed

Compsd HSG + Ed Cooley Oct 27 2019, edit RPG March 18 2020
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