Global vs. local science

The world's collective knowledge is instantaneously available. It is just sitting there waiting for me.

However, the world's collective knowledge is wide but shallow compared to the narrow but deep impact that specific mentors had my intellectual development.

I choose every day which type of impact I make.

Inspired by this post.

Answering the "what" and the "how" in science

Empirical investigation of surface phenomenon is a common departure point for science. The "What is going?" question is best answered at the bench or in the field.

On the often-neglected flipside is the search for the mechanism underlying that surface phenomenon. The "Why does that happen?" question is best answered at the whiteboard, fueled by coffee, or on the back of an envelope, fueled by other adult beverages.

Both are the work of science. The former is the long work. The later is the hard work.

How I spent my winter break

Academia provides ample breaks (even though the work is never done).

I choose to spend this winter break "sharpening my saw" by improving my typing ability and learning a new computer language.

Improving typing is simple but not easy, any program or class will work. It is developing procedural expertise, you will get better if you receive immediate feedback and practice copiously.

The harder, more interesting project was learning Python. I have massive sunk cost in MATLAB programming. However given my move into web-based research, I need a language that is designed for where I am and where I want to go. Python appears to have the best return for minimal investment. "Learning Python the Hard Way" was the first step in my journey.

The magic was stopping the "doing" of work and pairing the two projects. Temporarily pausing other projects provided focused blocks of time to learn. Also, freely oscillating between cognitive and procedural challenges kept both fresh.

Biohacking lessons

I gave my final lecture for Sensation and Perception at Catholic University of America. The entire course was an amazing experience.

I ended the class by profiling "biohacking." Biohacking is a logical bookend, circling back to transduction and discussing a possible future direction for sensation and perception.

As a bonus, I was able to share an life-changing idea - Pick yourself to make the world a better, more interesting place. No one assigned the people in video biohacking as a requirement for a course. Independently, they leveraged the available resources to make a meaningful contribution to their own and others' lives. I hope the same can be said about my course.

Jerry Colonna on the "Good Life"

Excellent insights into modern work with a practical approach to manifesting them.

Why are you doing what you are doing?

I know my actions (including reading and responding to email) should be help me fulfill my life purpose - "Grow & Give." If I take too many actions that are not consistent with my purpose, it is time to calibrate. Sometimes I lack the awareness that I should recalibrate. Other times I lack a method to recalibrate. It is helpful to be reminded of the possibilities for both.

"Building Better Models in Cognitive Neuroscience" talks

Building better models in science is a personal passion. I think we live in a time of revolution. Our ability to understand the brain and, in turn, use those insights to understand cognition and behavior is growing at an exponential rate. Cognitive neuroscience models need to keep pace to leverage those insights. Additionally, we need to use more rigorous methods to build those models. I gave a series of talks about the approach I choose to use in "Building Better Models in Cognitive Neuroscience."

You can check out the slides for Part I here, based on Ashby and Héile, 2011.

You can check out the slides for Part II here, based on Ashby, Ennis, and Spiering, 2007.

The publication RSS water torture

Drip. Drip. Drip.

There is always something new to read inorder to keep current in a scientific field.

I could try to drink it drop-by-drop or I could let the glass fell up.

Part of my work is drawing connections between separate streams of research and design ground-breaking research, both of which require prespective. The latest and loudest of any field rarely includes prepective.