What are examples of how “what if learners” learn?

These are examples of how “what if learners” learn:

Research and critical thinking
“What if learners” like to do independent research on topics they are curious about. And they like to analyze what they learn. They examine information, evaluate evidence, and consider alternative perspectives. They learn by challenging assumptions, asking questions, and analyzing the underlying logic behind different arguments or theories.

Role-playing is a popular method for “what if learners” to learn and understand different perspectives. They can take on the role of a historical figure, a character in a story, or a professional in a specific field. By immersing themselves in these roles, learners can explore alternative viewpoints, develop empathy, and gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

Creative thinking
“What if learners” like to work on finding solutions to open-ended questions and challenges that do not have a single right answer. They are motivated by the opportunity to explore multiple possibilities. Using their curiosity and imagination, they may ask questions like “What if this event had turned out differently?” or “What if this decision had been made instead?” By considering alternative possibilities, they can gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter and its implications.

“What if learners” like to also experiment with different approaches. For example, physicists often use thought experiments to understand complex concepts in quantum mechanics or relativity. “What if learners” thrive in environments where they have the freedom to pursue their interests. They enjoy exploring new ideas on their own. This can include brainstorming new concepts, imagining hypothetical scenarios, and exploring imaginative possibilities. Creative projects and activities that encourage them to think outside the box can be particularly effective for their preferred ways of learning.

Sharing ideas with other people
“What if learners” often express their ideas and insights through writing, storytelling and/or art. They like to have dialogues with other people – in particular with people who have different perspectives and ideas. Communicating with other people as well as doing collaborative projects provide opportunities for them to explore alternative viewpoints, challenge their assumptions, and refine their thinking.

Practical applications
“What if learners” thrive when they can see the practical applications of what they are learning. They appreciate opportunities to apply theoretical concepts to real-world situations, for example through project-based learning experiences. This hands-on approach allows them to test their hypotheses and see the tangible results of their efforts.

Sources of inspiration
chat.openai.com
you.com

What are examples of how “common sense learners” learn?

These are examples of how common sense learners / “how learners” learn:

Seeking usefulness and results
Common sense learners / “how learners” are motivated by practicality and results. They are interested in learning things that have immediate usefulness and can be applied to real-life situations. They are more likely to engage with learning materials that have a clear purpose and tangible outcomes.

Trying things out themselves
Common sense learners like to engage in activities that involve building, creating, and fixing things in a hands-on way. They learn best when they can actively engage with materials or tools, apply their knowledge in a practical context and see the direct impact of their actions. They value practical application and are more likely to remember information when they can see its relevance in action. When making mistakes as they try things out, they use their experiences to improve their understanding.

Common sense learners / “how learners” are curious about what experts think. However, it is important for common sense learners to try things out themselves and see if they work in practice rather than relying solely on theoretical knowledge. They want to test their understanding of concepts, ideas and theories. Therefore, they try things out themselves to see if those concepts / ideas / theories align with their own observations and experiences.

Observing
Common sense learners often learn by observing others and paying attention to how things are done. They may learn new skills simply by watching someone else perform them, for example via YouTube.

Feedback and reflection
Common sense learners / “how learners” value feedback from their experiences. Whether it’s from their own trial and error or from others who have observed their actions, feedback helps them refine their approach and improve their skills. Common sense learners learn by reflecting on their own experiences as well as the feedback they receive and and draw conclusions from them. They analyze the situations they encounter and try to understand the underlying principles or mechanisms at play.

Sources of inspiration
chat.openai.com
you.com

Listening beyond words

In a highly interactive workshop, wonderfully developed and facilitated by Irene Contreras and Matthis Lauebli, I learned more about the power of listening. The workshop took place at Impact Hub Basel.

These were my favorite workshop exercises and conversations:

Exercise # 1: Listen for 7 minutes to another person
Listening for 7 minutes to Thea, whom I teamed up with for this exercise, was really interesting. At the beginning of the exercise, Thea suggested that we walk and talk in the large workshop room as we listen to each other. Having had numerous great experiences with walk and talks, I was perfectly ok with her idea. It almost made me cry of joy, as I listened to Thea expressing strong gratitude for this unique opportunity that we – as a small group of people – had taken to practice listening with each other on this Saturday morning in Basel.

Reflecting on what Thea said, I came to think of the power of thankfulness. What I also learned during this simple and impactful exercise is how important it is that a person truly listens when another person speaks. When another truly listens, the person, who speaks, feels really heard. Truly listening can, I experience, significantly increase the degree of psychological safety that people feel in their hearts and minds.

As Irene rang the gong after the last 7 minutes, indicating the end of the exercise, Thea and I spontaneously hugged each other. It was a special moment that came naturally. And I felt that hugging somehow also helped to strengthen listening. Reflecting on this, I came to think of the power of humans’ sense touch.

Exercise # 2: What is your best listening experience? What is your worst listening experience?
This exercise initiated by Irene Contreras and Matthis Lauebli at the very start of the workshop was powerful. Thinking about the best listening experience I had, I came to think of listening to children. I experience that many children are curious and think creatively. I find that valuable.

Reflecting on the worst listening experience I had, I came to think of listening to myself – especially to my heart. For me, listening to my heart means to listen to emotions that feel – including being curious about where they come from. I would like to get better at that. For example, when I feel shame, I would like to get better atbl understanding where that comes from. That means to be being curious about and asking my heart brain as well as my head brain to name emotions I feel and try to figure out why I feel those emotions.

Exercise # 3: Listening to music
During another fascinating workshop exercise, which made me feel joyful and inspired, we listened to The Moldau. It was a creatively thought exercise, I found. This listening challenge made me reflect on the purpose of music. Also listening to the music helprd me to get in touch with my heart. As I heard the wonderfully soft movements in the composition, it felt as if my heart softened and somehow also widened. While listening to the music, I mostly looked out the window – at the sky, the clouds and some trees. I noticed how the focus on senses – in this regard listening as well as seeing – helped me listen better.

Exercise # 4: Draw and tell exercise
During a draw and tell exercise I noticed and learned from stories, which people shared, that several workshop contributors focused on creating drawings, which had to do with relating to other people. In other words, it was dimension # 3 of the inner development goals which, for several participants, was at play here.

This resonated with me, as I had I found out something similar while writing a book about love as well as searching for and thinking about exercises to strengthen love. The drawing that inspired me the most was a drawing by Yuliya Romayuk – a drawing that resembled the sun and to me symbolized energy.

Conversations after the workshop
After the workshop I had a fantastic chat over an ice tea with Eleftheria Egel. We talked about possibilities to create systems in companies that pay people not only for talking and providing answers – but also for listening and asking questions. It could be questions that help us all discover values we have.

On the train ride back to Zürich, I had some really interesting conversations with Matthias Lauebli and Irene Contreras. I recall conversations about purpose driven organizations that strengthen self management. We talked, for example, about Buurtzorg and Morning Star. More broadly, we discussed our common history of societies being organized quite hierarchically. Asking Irene Contreras about Spain, which I had read about in Tim Marshall’s fantastic book The Power of geography I learned, what is also mentioned at page 280 if the book, that Spain’s mountainous terrain and large size hindered trade links between regions and ensured that the country’s regions retained strong cultural and linguistic identities. Also, I read, on page 301, that in 1977, Spain held its first democratic election since 1936.

Thank you Irene Contreras and Matthias Lauebli for a highly important and useful workshop.

Learning to draw

Participating in a workshop focusing on the foundations of Tibetan art – and more specifically on colorful thangka paintings – this is what I learned:

1. Thangka, which means “recorded message” in Tibetan, is an ancient form of Buddhist art that originated within Tibet around the 11th century.
2. A Thangka is a sacred picture. It is seen as the visual representation of a spiritual reality.
3. A thangka can have many purposes, for example as a teaching material and a help for meditating.
4. Most thangka painters are lay persons who have undergone training.
5. Students start with simple forms – learning the basic proportions of the Buddha’s head and body.
6. A structure such as vertical and horizontal lines is helpful when you draw. When you draw, the most important line  is the middle line, which is also called the Brahman line. This middle line can help guide you when you draw. For example, the middle line helped me find out where to draw the left eye, after I had drawn the right eye.
7. The artist uses pencils and fine brushes to better paint details. During the workshop I used sharpened pencils and found that helpful.
8. Color is of great significance in Tibetan Buddhism. I was positively surprised about the extraordinary diversity of bright colors in the paintings. The use of a few beight colors helped make paintings beautiful, I found.
9. Drawing can serve as a mindful meditation, for exxmple because you focus much on what your hand is doing when drawing, and because you concentrate when you draw. Concentration is particularly strong, when you focus on drawing details, I experienced.
10. Mindful meditation, concentration and seeking support from others / coaches / teachers / guides are three concrete initiatives that can help to overcome the five defilements, which can block your way towards enlightenment. Source.

Examples of thangkas:

Source

Source

What I was drawing during the workshop:

I learned that when you draw it can be helpful, now and then, to turn around the paper you draw on, as you will then see more clearly what you draw:

The workshop room was designed in a way, which helped to create an atmosphere that was beneficial for drawing. For example, table and chairs were useful, and there was good lighting – both natural light and lamps. The large screen on the wall provided inspiration for us amateur artists, as we were learning to draw. And during the creative process, we had good laughs and enjoyed fine Indian coffee.

Additional sources:
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-process-of-thangka-painting-dastkari-haat-samiti/-QWh8YagYf4tIQ?hl=en
https://education.asianart.org/resources/tibetan-thangka-painting-sacred-pictures/
https://enlightenmentthangka.com/blogs/thangka/thangka-tibetan-art
https://www.invaluable.com/blog/thangka-tibetan-buddhism/

WEF open forum about finding innovation solutions to air pollution

Listening to the WEF open forum dialogue Take a deep breath with technology I learned that 99% of the world’s population breathes air that is harmful to their health. These are examples of innovative solutions suggested during the session:

Solutions suggested by Temuulen Enkhbat:
– Include as many people as possible in communities to strengthen the development of innovative solutions. Being invited to participate is important.
– Use more clean energy solutions such as solar energy – and less coal and oil.
– Remain hopeful and take action.
– Instead of using the word climate change, use words that local people can better relate to. A young participant from Pakistan, who studies at Oxford University mentioned that for people in some places in Pakistan air quality is about survival. It is a must have.

Solutions suggested by Peter BenHur Nyeko:
– Use whatever is in the communities. Example: Use waste in innovative ways to create electricity and heating in houses.
– Believe that solutions and innovations are there and allow them to flourish.
– Give out free sustainable cooking solutions so they can switch from firewood.

Solutions suggested by Benjamin Von Wong:
– Use visualizations to make an issue more interesting for people – thereby helping strengthen motivation for people to participate in finding solutions. He asked the question: “What does a beautiful future look like?”
– We need more entrepreneurs that help solve and are paid for solving social problems and environmental problems.
– Benjamin mention Biochar which turns agricultural waste into a resource that not only combats climate change but also heals the soil.

Solutions suggested by Jane Burston:
– Hand held air quality monitors, which are given to citizen scientists, can help people like you and me measure air quality. When people share measurements and photos of what they measure, for example via social media, it can help strengthen air quality innovation.
– Make cycling easier for people.
– Translate large research reports to concrete, locally relevant problems that people can take action on.

Solutions suggested by Ma Jun:
Create more data transparency.
– For example, in China, digital air pollution maps are created that help people to easily find out which places are polluted. The transparent digital pollution maps, which include pollution generated by millions of companies, help people take action, for example by sharing data via social media and taking further action to make sure that pollution is reduced. The digital pollution maps as well as work that people do help people in government provide support that create additional sustainable change.
– Mr. Jun also mentioned the Canadian data transparency solution Air Quality Health Index.

What do you talk about when you see people you haven’t seen for a while?

Examples of what you can talk about when you see people that you have not seen for a while:

Shared experiences
For example, you can talk about events that you both attended and/or shared experiences that had a positive impact on both of you.

Interests you both have
Share, for example, experiences you had doing doing things you are interested in and things you love to do.

Family and relationships
Ask about how the other person’s family and friends are doing.

Travel experiences
A possibility is to share what you learned on a recent trip to a place you have not been to before. Also, you could talk about what you look forward to experiencing next time you travel to a certain place.

Things you like to do
Exchange experiences from something you like to do. Ask, for example, “I saw your postings on Instagram about [y]. What in particular did you like about what you did?”

Something you would like to learn
Share with the other person, for example, what book you want to read and/or what idea you would like to try out to in order to learn something new.

Music you enjoy
You could also talk about music you enjoyed recently, for example a song you have been singing alone and/or with others.

Ideas
Talk about ideas you have.

Sources
bard.google.com
chat.openai.com
you.com

Concrete initiatives that enable children to have joyful learning journeys?

8 concrete initiatives that enable children to have more joyful learning journeys:

# 1: Focus on needs children have
Children are more likely to be engaged and motivated to learn when the material is relevant to their interests. This means incorporating topics that they are curious about into the curriculum, and giving them opportunities to explore their passions. Personalized learning experiences can involve providing differentiated instruction, offering choices, and incorporating student-centered approaches that empower children to take ownership of their learning.

# 2: Play-based learning
Include learning games in the curriculum that children can play individually as well as in groups of different sizes. Learning games can strengthen, for example, creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

# 3: Hands-on learning opportunities
Children learn best by doing, i.e. being actively engaged in the learning process. Therefore, they need concrete opportunities that make it easy for them to try technology and other things out as well as create things.

# 4: Interactive lessons
Make lessons highly interactive so children continuously do things with each other, with teachers, with parents, and/or with other caregivers.

# 5: Fun learning apps
Use fun learning apps – including interactives website that strengthen engagement and foster digital literacy.

# 6: Learning outdoors
Example: Take a walk with children and bring some great questions along that children can ask each other.

# 7: Promote reading
Cultivating a love of reading in children can significantly enhance their learning journeys. Initiatives such as organizing read-a-thons, book clubs, access to a wide variety of books, as well as reading-friendly environments can foster a lifelong love of reading and improve literacy skills.

# 8: Celebrate
When children feel successful, they are more likely to be motivated to learn. Therefore, celebrate in a variety of ways.

Sources
bard.google.com
chat.openai.com
you.com

What is the story about the development of democracy in Greece?

1. When were the first steps towards democracy taken in Greece?
   Democracy started to evolve in Greece between the 8th century and the 6th century before the birth of Jesus Christ (BCE). Before that time, many city-states in Greece were ruled by kings and a few other people, who had very large economic and political power. Experiments, which served to develop democracy in Greece, were led by a number of reformers such as Cleisthenes, who is credited with being the father of democracy.
2. Solon’s reforms in the year 594 BCE
   A major turning point in Athens’ political evolution occurred when the statesman Solon was appointed as an archon. Archon is a Greek name that means ruler. In Greece, the power of kings was first delegated to archons. Solon enacted a series of reforms to alleviate the social and economic tensions – including debt relief for the poor and curbing the power of the few people who had large economic and political power. The reforms initiated by Solon laid the groundwork for future democratic developments.
3. Cleisthenes’ reforms in the years 508 – 507 BCE
   Cleisthenes, a statesman of Athens, formalized the democratic system. He introduced a new system of tribal organization and redistributed political power among citizens – regardless of their social status. Cleisthenes is considered the father of Athenian democracy.
4. Direct democracy in Athens in the early 5th century BCE
   By the early 5th century BCE, Athens had established a direct democracy. Only male citizens over the age of 18 had the right to participate in the Assembly, where they could debate and vote on important issues. The Assembly was a crucial institution, allowing citizens to have a say in the city’s governance, pass laws, and make decisions about war and other significant matters.
5. Pericles and the Golden Age in the years 461 to 429 BCE
   The 5th century BC was a golden age for democracy in Greece. Pericles, a statesman in Athens who is considered one of the greatest democratic leaders of all time, significantly shaped the development of democracy during this time. He expanded the power of the Assembly, made it more inclusive, increased public pay for jurors and public officials, and encouraged participation in public affairs. During this period, Athens experienced a flourishing of arts, culture, and philosophy and reached the height of its power. At this time, democracy is Greece was strongly admired by other city-states.
6. The decline in the 4th century BCE
   It is important to note that the Athenian democracy had its limitations. Only a fraction of the population had political rights. Women, slaves, and foreign residents were excluded from participation. Also, decisions made by the Assembly could be influenced by persuasive orators, leading to potential manipulation of public opinion. In the years 431 to 404 BCE Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War. Democracy in Greece weakened and at the end of the century. It was replaced by a series of oligarchies and dictatorships. In the 4th century BCE, Athens was conquered by Macedonia.
   

Despite its decline, the development of democracy in Greece had a profound impact on the development of Western political thought. The ideas of democracy were preserved by scholars and philosophers, and they were eventually revived in the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Today, democracy is the most common form of government in the world, and it owes much of its existence to the ancient Greeks.

These are some important characteristics of Athenian democracy:
Direct participation: Athenian citizens actively participated in political decision-making through public debates and voting in the Assembly. The Athenian democracy was a direct democracy. Citizens had the opportunity to participate directly in the decision-making process. This was in contrast to representative democracies, where citizens vote for representatives who make decisions on their behalf.
Random selection: Some positions of authority, such as juries, were filled through random selection rather than elections.
Limited citizenship: Only adult male citizens, who were born in Athens and had completed military training, were eligible to participate. Women, slaves, and foreigners were excluded.
Ostracism: The practice of ostracism allowed citizens to vote to banish an individual from the city for ten years if they were deemed a threat to the democracy.
Majority rule: Decisions were often made by a simple majority vote, although some critical decisions required larger majorities.

Sources
bard.google.com
chat.openai.com
you.com

What are concrete examples of expressing vulnerability?

Admitting a mistake and apologizing
Admitting a mistake and apologizing demonstrates vulnerability. It also means that you accept responsibility for the mistake you made. Doing this shows that you are human and that you are willing to learn from the mistake you made.

Expressing emotions
Openly expressing emotions, you feel, is a form of vulnerability. This involves being honest about emotions, you feel, and not suppressing or hiding them. Example # 1: Revealing that you really like a person and feel love in your heart for the person can be one of the most vulnerable things you can do – especially if you do not know how the person will respond. Example # 2: If you feel fear about doing something, you show vulnerability by communicating to people that you feel fear of doing this and describing needs you have. Openly expressing the fear, you feel, shows that you are not trying to appear perfect.

Doing new things and/or doing things differently
Stepping outside your comfort zone to a) do something you have not tried before, or b) do things in a new way can be a way to express vulnerability. Breaking the status quo by doing something new and/or doing things in a new way can help you learn and grow.

Sharing personal struggles
Sharing experiences of difficulties, problems, traumas or abuse you experience can be a very vulnerable act. Example: Openly sharing mental health issues such as dealing with a loss.

Reaching out and asking for help
Asking for assistance, help or guidance when you need it is a form of vulnerability. It could involve reaching out when you have a need to be listened to, seeking help to solve a problem, or asking for advice or input on a challenge you are working on.

Sources of inspiration:
bard.google.com
chat.openai.com
you.com

The telephone game

In module 2 of the course Narrative Economics by Robert Shiller, I learned about the telephone game. It is a game during which a story is communicated through gestures from one person to the next. The more people the story is communicated through, the more distorted the story becomes. Here is an example: