First impression
I read the first three chapters of Betty Edwards book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. These are my first thoughts. Which may well change into the opposite overtime after digesting the material.
I get a bit the feeling as if the left side of the brain (system 2) is treated as the enemy of the right side (system 1). I don't think that that is the case. They each have their own task and complement each other well. The reason why one system is dominant over the other at a certain moment is probably guided by efficiency. Brain resources are scarce, and generally it is cheaper to deploy system 2 when a task is not very often repeated. In order to ingrain a task in system 1, more energy is needed to make long term changes to the brain. Think of the priest who needed a cheat sheet to be reminded of the exact text of his daily prayer. The plasticity of the brain requires a certain amount of energy, and nature has build in a certain resistance against lighthearted changes of the brain.
We already defined the function of system 2, along with the problems it can cause: the function is to prevent a random approach in cases where that takes too much time (trial and error).
The problem is that system 2 gets easily lost into a tunnel (tunnel vision). In the previous posts I came to the conclusion that this happens in areas where system 1 has not been educated yet. Or maybe system 1 takes care of the retrieval of the thoughts of system 2 too, and is it just wrong educated. Think of the child symbols of the book.
The good news is that you can re-educate system 1 within a week, according the book.
In the book the following approach is advocated in order to prevent system 2 from dominating system 1: turn the model from which you are drawing upside down, so that old associations from your childhood are rendered useless and you are forced to look at the model as if you see it for the first time.
Just a few first thoughts.
I agree with you: "They [both 'modes' of the brain] each have their own task and complement each other well."
ReplyDeleteAs often happens when making a point that runs counter to prevailing educational orthodoxy, I think Edwards overstates the case for “shutting down” the (verbal) L-mode. She gives a more balanced view as she moves through the book.
Most people have very little (if any) personal experience of R-mode and its capabilities. As an aside, being in R-mode corresponds to the idea of “flow” in the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. A PDF summary of the book is at [ https://www.shortform.com/pdf/flow-pdf-mihaly-csikszentmihalyi ] Most people never experience “flow” except for very fleeting and rare moments.
The first exercise (Vase/Two Faces) is purposefully designed to provide direct experience of the cognitive dissonance caused by conflict between the two modes. L-mode is used to being "loud and proud and in charge," even while attempting to do tasks that are better handed in R-mode. Most people cannot switch modes as needed because of L-mode dominance. The second exercise (Upside Down Drawing) allows R-mode to take charge without objection from L-mode. The (visual) R-mode needs to be activated during attempts to "SEE" holistically [the "whole" AND the "parts" and the relationships between them], uninhibited by the verbal, logical L-mode.
That [unconscious] capability to switch modes (utilizing both modes complementarily) as needed is an essential part of the “trick” of the child prodigies. The older one is, the harder it is to switch modes without specific training; this is another reason why adults have such a hard time improving at chess.
One indication of L-mode dominance is the attempt to name, abstract and categorize rather than just direct experience and comprehension of the "thing as it is." I guarantee that you will switch out of R-mode (presuming you can get into that mode at all) as soon as you start trying to label [name and categorize] what you see rather than simply accepting what you “SEE” as WYSIATI [What You See Is All There Is]. Labeling provides the illusion that we “KNOW THAT” and consequently that we implicitly “KNOW HOW” to do THAT, whatever THAT might be. We already know that KNOWLEDGE and SKILL may be complementary but are NOT synonymous. I think that may be the over-arching emphasis of the book.
Reading was my (subconscious) introduction to the "feeling" of being in “the right side of my brain” until the meditative state is achieved (R-mode). I would engage so completely in the story I was reading that I was totally unaware of my surroundings and of time passing. Once I was reading when my Dad announced that supper was ready. I continued to read until the smell of cheeseburgers finally penetrated sufficiently to allow L-mode to assert itself – a half hour later. My brothers still tease me about that. My oldest brother used to complain that he didn’t want to read any book that I had read, because I sucked the print off the pages!
ReplyDeleteMy first foray into an intentional shift to R-mode came in college. I was working full-time, going to college full-time (straight-A honors student) and had a family with two small children. The stress was enormous. I began looking for ways to reduce that stress; otherwise, I thought I would lose my mind. My philosophy instructor recommended transcendental meditation. I took off-campus classes until I was able to easily shift into a meditative state, enabling me to release the stress. (I ignored the quasi-religious aspects of TM.) Every TM student is given a “mantra,” a meaningless short combination of words (actually, just sounds without meaning that are intoned repetitiously) which serve as the trigger to quickly switch states. This is somewhat similar in effect to the Upside-Down drawing; the same idea is just applied differently (one aurally, the other visually). All roads lead to Rome!
GM Jacob Aagaard in his book Grandmaster Preparation: Thinking Inside The Box states that everyone should find and use a personal pre-game ritual. The point is to get into the proper frame of mind to focus attention, to be “in the zone” and ready to play chess and nothing else. Usually there is a trigger (a mundane action) that can be used to set up the switch into “chess playing” mode. GM Artur Yusupov suggested to Aagaard the example of GM Anthony Miles, who always started every game with a cup of coffee, using his teaspoon to stir it until he achieved the proper frame of mind. He also went back to this routine, while playing, whenever he was faced with unexpected situations that flustered him.
usually I "lose" time during a game. A 6 hour game feels as if it were only 2 hours. After a game I often have difficulty to speak. After a hefty game I cannot drive my car for 1.5 hours.
DeleteMy own take-away from the book revolved around analogies (in the context of chess) to the five perceptions (pp. XXIV, XXIX and 84), and using them to develop SKILL. (I put this information into a comment on 14 SEP 2017, but repeat them here so as to be readily available to other commentators.)
ReplyDeleteQUOTE:
What are the skills you will learn through drawing, and how do they transfer to general thinking?
Drawing, like reading, is a global skill made up of component sub-skills that are learned step by step. [Does this not sound EXACTLY like chess???] Then, with practice, the components meld seamlessly into the smoothly functioning global activities of reading, and drawing.
For the global skill of drawing, the basic component skills, as I have defined them, are:
The perception of edges (seeing where one thing ends and another starts)
The perception of spaces (seeing what lies beside and beyond)
The perception of relationships (seeing in perspective and in proportion)
The perception of lights and shadows (seeing things in degrees of values)
The perception of the gestalt (seeing the whole and its parts)
The first four skills require direct teaching. The fifth occurs as an outcome or insight—a visual and mental comprehension of the perceived subject, resulting from the focused attention of the first four. Most students experience these skills as new learning, seeing in ways they haven’t seen previously.
. . .
Turning to reading, specialists in teaching reading list the basic component skills of reading, mainly taught in elementary school, as:
Phonetic awareness (knowing that alphabet letters represent sounds)
Phonics (recognizing letter sounds in words)
Vocabulary (knowing the meaning of words)
Fluency (being able to read quickly and smoothly)
Comprehension (grasping the meaning of what is read)
As in drawing, the last skill of comprehension ideally occurs as an outcome or result of the preceding skills.
END QUOTE
In chess, we are dealing with “visual” perceptions (envisioning using the ‘mind’s eye’). Toward that end, there are analogies (parallels; similarities) between the drawing/reading perceptions given above - and chess.
FEN: 5rk1/1bb2ppp/p3p3/P1p1N3/BpNr2n1/3P2R1/1PP2PPP/4R1K1 w - - 7 23
ReplyDeletelichess.org Puzzle #NdRBE
From game 10+0 • Rapid
kingfrankfilho (2088)
okilon (2150)
Perhaps Black was unaware of the “reloader” theme? Or, Black was unable to “SEE” that the “reloader” theme occurred on a different square from the initial capture and after the initial capture.
It appears that Black “SAW” the “pin” on WNe5 and assumed that White could not capture on g4-square with the Knight without losing material [1… Ng4 2. Nxg4 Bxg3 winning the Exchange], overlooking the alternative capture FIRST with the Rook on g4-square. 1. Rxg4 [initial capture] Bxe5 2. Nxe5 [reloader] Rxg4 3. Nxg4 and White is up material.
Obviously, there are other ways to look at it. Black should have realized that the e5-square became B.A.D. [2:2] as a result of his initial move, but that White had superiority on the g4-square [2:1] and the right to move first.
Follow the money (defender).
Delete