Reading Notes: Week 2 Reading Anthology

(The Man In The Moon. Source)

Story source: Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899)

What I liked:

The length of the story. A 300 word story kept my attention far more than a 1000 word story did.

Spacing of the sentences. Events were separated by blank lines in between them. This made it easier to follow along and not seem as intimidating.

Words that are easy to read and not too complicated.

Only two characters. Again, easy to keep attention and follow along.

The moral of the story: be happy with what you have because it could always be worse.

Use of two events where nothing significant happened and the moral of the story came out on the third event.

Other notes:

Stories about creation seem to get my imagination going the best. Maybe something about the creation of weather storms.

Week 2 Reading Overview

(King Arthur and the Knights of the Round 

Table with the Holy Grail. Source)

UnTextbook Plan
Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3: Homer's Iliad

Week 4: Homer's Odyssey

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: Ancient Egypt

Week 6: Arabian Nights

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.]

Week 7: Japanese Mythology

Week 9: Tibet

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: Alaska

Week 11: Inuit(Eskimo)

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: Beowulf

Week 13: King Arthur

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: Ashliman

Week 15: Hunt

Reading Interests

I would say the units I am most interested in are King Arthur, Beowulf, Ancient Egypt, and Arabian Nights. King Arthur and Beowulf appeal to me because a lot of the creatures from the video games I play come from the medieval time period. It would be good to know the stories behind dragons, wizards, knights, etc, and know the origin of those creatures and characters. Ancient Egypt and Arabian Nights appeal to me because there is a lot of mystery behind Ancient Egyptian culture, Ra, and the many stories of hidden treasure.

Image Selection

I chose this image because the King Arthur unit is the one I am looking forward to the most. The picture of all the knights together at the table gives off a sense of unity, courage, and accomplishing something as a group.

Time Strategies

(Pretty accurate. Source)

Ironically, I put off some this assignment until it was late in favor of things that were more interesting to me at the time. These are my thoughts on the subject.

The Important Habit of Just Starting

First, let me start by saying I agree with the importance of starting. Last semester, a certain pattern emerged with my computer programming projects. I would wait to start on a project, but once I got started I would spend all of my waking hours working or wanting to work on the project until it was completed. In hindsight, this is because once I started the project I got the problem solving juices flowing on how to implement the requirements for the project. Now that I think about it, in my first object-oriented programming class (Programming Structures and Abstractions), I would read the project requirements and thinking about how to implement those requirements made me want to do the project rather than other things. This semester, I will use that same strategy on not only the projects but also the homework assignments.

How To Beat Procrastination

As I read the article, I could help but notice the claim that "it's easier for our brains to process concrete rather than abstract things." I believe this is true for the population in general but not sure if this is true for each person individually. Personally, I interact more often and am more interested in abstract terms rather than concrete ones.

Another part of the article suggests making a commitment by telling other people and mentions that "research has found that it matters greatly to us whether we're respected by others-even by strangers." This seems to be another generalization on the population but isn't true for every person individually. Respect from others is certainly not all that important to me. For example, instead of mowing the lawn because it was getting long and "time to mow" I would put it off and put more energy into improving my poker strategy because that was more important to me.

These are good ideas for some personality types but most of these ideas don't seem to be the best suggestions for mine and similar personality types. Like the previous article mentioned earlier, getting started on a simple part of the task would be a good strategy for me. As a competitive person, another good strategy for me is to create competitions with myself and see how quickly I can get something done.

Other thoughts
I want to talk a little bit about views on procrastination and laziness. Sometimes people get incorrectly labeled as lazy and a procrastinator. The opinion of someone procrastinating and being lazy depends on whether or not one person thinks there is value to what the other person is doing. Sometimes, it's easy to see the value in what someone is doing. For example, cleaning the house. Just about everyone can see that there is value in cleaning a house, such as keeping things organized and making it less likely to lose something, preventing cockroaches and other critters from coming around, proving to other people that they are a clean person, and other reasons. So a person who spends a lot of time cleaning the house is likely to not be viewed as lazy. However, sometimes the value isn't so clear to the majority of people. Albert Einstein, the same personality type as myself (INTP), was likely labeled as lazy by his peers when he dropped out of school. It took major achievements such as the Theory of Relativity to shed this label. As an INTP, I can somewhat relate to Einstein. Executing rational tasks (ex. writing this blog post...just kidding...kinda) is just not nearly as interesting as solving complex problems (ex. gaining mastery on the topic of personalities and developing my own theories) to improve my own understanding of the world and my life. My best friend, an ENTP, also struggles with executing rational tasks in favor of much more interesting things. In a nutshell, we see more value and are more interested in abstract ideas and theories rather than doing the rational task that provides a clear (monetary) value. We aren't lazy procrastinators, but rather we seek to gain abstract value (developing new ideas and theories) than concrete value (money or other tangible resources). Was this assignment late because I was lazy? Or was it because I was doing something else more interesting?

Thoughts on Technology

(The Ever Increasing Amount of Technology in our Lives.

Source)

The technology tools I am most excited about are creating our own blog and website. I've never made my own blog before but it's something I've wanted to do to improve my writing and communication skills. I've also wanted to make a website but never made one of those either. As a computer science major it's a bit embarrassing that I've never made a website before but I just haven't had a particular reason to create one. Hopefully this will get the ball rolling and generate enough interest to want to create a website of my own.

Another tool that sounds pretty interesting is the graphics creation tool. I have always wondered where meme creation came from, especially the ones that are clearly custom created and not just downloaded from the internet. I am looking forward to making my very own custom memes. 

Review of Week 1 Assignments

(What Writing Used To Look Like. Source)

My first impression of the assignments we've done so far is that there is going to be a lot of writing. It's been a while since I've taken a class that requires a decent amount of individual writing, and if I remember correctly we had the same amount of writing for our final essay as we did in the first week of this class. As someone who has an easier time problem solving than expressing my thoughts, this class will be a bit of a challenge for me. However, I am looking forward to the challenge because communication is important and is something I want to improve on.

The idea of grading ourselves with the professor mainly used for feedback is definitely something that hasn't happened in any of my other classes. For some people, such as myself, this is a good approach. It requires the student to be honest and a drive to want to learn instead of getting a certain grade. However, human nature is such that most people will do what is most convenient for them to accomplish a certain task. I think the idea of being process oriented in school instead of focusing on grades makes more sense in elementary and secondary school. Once education gets to the college level grades become important as employers want to know performance to aid them in the hiring process.

Anyway these are some of my first thoughts that came to mind. Writing is something that takes me out of my comfort zone and something that I want to improve at and get more comfortable with.

Growth Mindset

(Our brains need challenges to get stronger 

just like our muscles. Source)

Carol Dweck's ideas on having a growth mindset make a lot of sense to me. I wasn't aware of her work before but I agree with a lot of what she says. In particular I agree with her thoughts on focusing on the improvement instead of past results and encouraging people to get out of their comfort zones.

In order to play winning poker it's more important to analyze one's thought process instead of being results oriented. For example, when I started out in poker I was a pretty bad player compared to my peers. They had years of experience and I had never played poker before in my life. Needless to say they got the better of me. However, I am a very competitive person and couldn't stand being worse than them. I did a lot of research, analysis, and practice on my own until I was not only the best player at our home game but became good enough to make a living at the game.

In my internship at Tinker AFB this summer a significant amount of time was spent on resiliency training due to a rise in the number of suicides in Air Force Civilian Service. The focus was on being resilient and not quitting when life gets hard and to recognize what we are grateful for. With Carol's growth mindset and Air Force's resiliency training it seems to me that there has been an increased focused in the area lately.

As an INTP personality type, getting out of our comfort zone is a big struggle for us and something that I had trouble with in the past. For example, I would choose my major based on whether or not it required a public speaking course. That fear seems pretty silly now. Although public speaking still makes me uncomfortable, I don't make big sacrifices just to avoid it. Now I have an increased confidence and look for ways to challenge my comfort zone.

Introduction to a Computer Scientist, Poker Player, and Personality Researcher

(Picture of me, Spring 2019)

Hello there! My name is Daniel Thomas and I am a Computer Science major. This is (hopefully) my last semester as an undergraduate. My other areas of interest include poker, and more recently, personality research.

(Source Code Example. Source)

It took me a long time of schooling and switching majors and taking breaks before finding the Computer Science path. Just the other day I had to get my adviser to sign a form and turn it into financial aid because I now have over 150 total hours and they need to verify that I'm taking the correct classes and on a path to graduate. I've been lots of majors, from X-Ray Technician to Accountant to Mechanical Engineer to Math to Industrial Engineer before finally landing on Computer Science. Needless to say it's taken me a long time to figure out my interests but I feel like I've finally found the right one.

(Me Playing Poker)

Another part of the reason why it's taken me so long to get through school is my passion for poker. Just this last summer my friends and I took a trip to Vegas for poker. I've been a poker professional for about the last nine years or so. No, that doesn't mean I was making millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars like they show on TV. What it does mean is that it's been my main (and only) source of income and I've been able to make a living off of it. The reason behind my passion for poker is not the thrill of winning a bunch of money like most people would assume, but rather the complexity and amount of problem solving involved in order to win over the long run.

(The 16 MBTI Personality Types. Source)

My last area of interest is personality research. I like thinking about things from a big picture point of view so trying to understand why people are the way they are is fascinating to me. It turns out that the 16 MBTI types (ex. ENFP, ISTJ, INTJ, etc) are actually a code for determining what your main cognitive functions are. For example, my MBTI type is INTP, and so my main cognitive functions are Ti (Introverted Thinking), Ne (Extroverted Intuition), Si (Introverted Sensing), and Fe (Extroverted Feeling). The Ne function can be described as looking for possibilities or paths (ex. pattern recognition - looking for a relation between things), and the Ti function can be described as determining if something is true or false (ex. pattern recognition - are those things related or not?). So with this in mind, and with the use of so many if-then statements in computer programming languages, I now understand why I am interested in Computer Science and problem solving in general. This is just one example of how my research into personalities has helped me and my understanding of the world.

This is just a brief overview into the type of person I am. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions or found this interesting.

My Storybook Favorites

(Random story books. Source)

The following are three of my favorite storybooks and my thoughts and opinions on each topic, introduction, and design. All of them are topics that I have a connection with and have an interest in.

The Adventures of Merlin

Topic
This topic stuck out to me due to my time spent playing wizard characters in video games and not really knowing where the idea of wizards came in the first place. The title is straightforward and lets me know that this storybook will be about Merlin's adventures.
Introduction
The author does a good job of grabbing the reader's attention by starting with a story about a princess who becomes pregnant with seemingly no father.
Design
The design of this storybook was my favorite of the three. Each section grabs attention by starting with a picture full of color. They are also clean looking with little wasted space. The added navigation links at the end of each section adds a nice touch and makes it easier for the reader to follow the story in the correct order. Finally, the font has a medieval look to it and matches the topic nicely.


Tales of the Ancient Egyptians
Topic
This topic reminded me of the mystery behind the Egyptians and their tales. Many movies and books have been made that created stories and interpretations out of the hieroglyphics, pyramids, mummies, and other artifacts found in Ancient Egyptian culture.
Introduction
The introduction starts off by talking about the religion of ancient Egypt which is confusing because the title doesn't say anything about religion. If the storybook was going to be about religious tales then the author should have defined the title as "Religious Tales of the Ancient Egyptians."
Design
The design of this storybook was my least favorite of the three. Pictures are bland and throw in at the bottom of the page instead of grabbing attention at the top of the page. Lastly, the font size is inconsistent between sections.

Creation and Myth
Topic
This topic grabbed my attention because I've always been interested in religious tales and whether these stories were true or not and where they came from. However, the title is a bit vague and would give more insight into what the storybook is about if the author gave a more descriptive title.
Introduction
The author does a good job of grabbing the reader's attention by talking in first person from the viewpoint of the creator. Pictures of each planet are inserted next to their respective paragraphs, providing the reader with a good visual and clearly separating one planet from the next.
Design
The font of this storybook adds a nice touch with a tech type of feel to it. However, there is a lot of white space that needs to be covered. Also adding pictures at the top of each section would help grab the reader's attention.

Vegas...My Favorite Place

Las Vegas, Nevada. Declaring Vegas as my favorite place might make it seem like I have a gambling problem but I don't have one. Outside of peer pressure from friends, I don't play slots, blackjack, craps, roulette, lottery, scratchers, or any other gambling game where I expect to lose money in the long run. I do, however, play poker, which is a gambling game that includes the element of skill to go along with the element of luck. In poker, players who have a significant amount of skill over their opponents expect to win money in the long run. It can be similar to investing except that you're investing in yourself and your poker skill compared to your opponents. In fact I currently play poker professionally (i.e. as the main source of income) and have done so for about the last nine years. So naturally, my friends and I go to Vegas pretty frequently where they have the most and biggest variety of poker games in the world. Anyway, here are some pictures I took from our trip to Vegas last summer.

(Personal image of me playing Texas Hold'em, a 

popular poker variant, at Flamingo casino 

in Las Vegas, Nevada)

(Personal image of Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada)

(Personal image of Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada)

(Personal image of Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada)

(Personal image of me on the escalator at 

Hash A Go Go restaurant inside the 

Linq casino in Las Vegas, Nevada)

Test Post

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