A not very timely note

This was a blog I once wrote during my high school and early college years. I keep it around for nostalgic purposes, but it is quite obviously no longer updated. I am looking to make a more professional blog presence in the future, but I still like to look at where I was mentally at certain points in time.

- G. Jan 2013

Monday, June 2, 2008

"Improvise" by G.


Yep I'm back after my little break wooo. Lets see what my mind came up with today eh?

Has any one ever watched Man vs. Wild? Bear Grylls gets dropped off in some fashion into desolate environments, where he has to survive with little equipment and unconventional methods. Now, its the idea that is important here, not how valid the show is. Since he doesn't have much of anything, he has to use his head to try and survive. He puts into play a vital skill; the power to improvise. Improvisation is a valauble skill that can make many situtations easier. To really use the power of improvising to its full potiential, there are a few things we have to check first. One is functional fixedness. Its a psychological term that represents a person's tendency to only use objects for the purpose that they have been given. To be good at Improvisation you should do your best to elimante this. You have to be able to see things fluidly. So lets say a butterknife drops out of the sky. What could you do with it? The chunky hippo says, "I can use it to slice my stick of butter into perfectly sized portions!!!". But if you were smart, you would look beyond that. It could be used as a lever to pry things open. It could possibly be a makeshift hammer. To Improvise, you look at everything you see as changeable; never solid. Also, you have to be decently calm under pressure. People Improvise most of the time when they are forced somehow. Whather you have to quickly come up with a explination, or you have to survive in a treachrous jungle, having a calm head is key. Leaders in particular would find Improvization highly useful. Leaders have to make many hard decisions, with many pros and cons latched to them. They can think of creative methods to solve their problems; they aren't restricted with the chains of being conventional. To be able to Improvise is to be a useful person indeed. You may not be dropped off a plane into a desert anytime soon, but in real life it could possibly save your butt in more ways than one.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome back G! A good article to re-kick things off with!

Da Old Man said...

Welcome back.

Reminds me of many things that folks find other uses for. Silly string is used in military zones to find tripwires, for example.

a.eye said...

Good example with Bear.