Iterate doesn’t just mean “do it again”

I’ve written a fair bit about Learning and Failure. One of the things that turns a failure into learning is not giving up and iterating. But I’m not sure that’s the correct term? To iterate is ‘to perform or utter repeatedly’, but that’s not really what I mean. The general point of iteration when you meet a roadblock, or fail in an attempt, is not to try to perform the same task or procedure in the same way, but rather to attempt a different version of the same thing.

It’s not just about applying the same process over and over again, but rather it’s about recognizing what caused the failure and attempting to circumvent it, trying to achieve results by trying something untried, unique, or divergent from the failed attempt. This is what can transform a failed attempt into a success. Core to this idea is not seeing a failure as a failure, but rather as an invitation to learn by trying again. It’s not a failure until you give up.

But sometimes you don’t get another attempt. The question is why not? Did you run out of time? Do you lack the resources, support, or effort? Is it a high pressure test that you can only do once?

Ran out of time? Ask: What would your next step be if you had time? What did you learn along the way? Who is an expert you can follow up with to help you understand what went wrong? You can learn by reflection as well as by repeated attempts.

Lack resources or support? Who can help? What do you really need versus what would be nice to have? Who is an expert you can follow up with to help you understand what went wrong?

Lack of effort? Whose fault is that? What help do you need? What are you willing to do to move forward? What’s stopping you?

Is it a high pressure test that you only get one attempt on? This is often a fallacy. This is often more arbitrary than you think. The reality is that most tests that really matter can be done again, just not in the timeline you hoped for. Tests like the LSAT are high stakes, but many people attempt it more than once. To me it’s interesting to see so many teachers not give students second chances on tests? Why? If a student is willing to put more effort in and actually learn the content, why not give them another try? Is the mark on the first attempt the important thing or is the understanding of the content more important?

That said, to iterate doesn’t just mean ‘do it again’. What makes the second (or third or fourth) attempt different? What new information, effort, or resources are available? What other ways can learning be demonstrated? What else can be done to show learning, to achieve learning, to discover learning that wasn’t done before?

Iterate, don’t repeat failure. Don’t do the same thing over again and expect the same result.

Before the sun rises

Today was the first day in a very long time that my alarm went off before sunrise. Part of this is getting back into a routine before work, part of it is that the days are a little shorter as we head into fall. It took me a while to actually get started this morning. I literally could have woken up 45 minutes later, because none of my usual routine got started until then. It’s amazing how slow I can be, how easily distracted, when I’m off of a routine. Put me on a routine and I get stuff done. Remove the routine and I lose focus.

This makes me think about a typical day at work. How much of it is me focusing on the next issue or concern that arises versus getting what I need done? Some days the answer to that is quite surprising. I had a vice principal tell me years ago, “You know, being a VP is really just a 3-4 hour a day job. The problem is that you usually can’t get most of that done between 8am and 4pm. That was a vice principal in a school that also had a principal. When you are the lone principal in a building this can be even more challenging with more duties and less time.

That’s why I get up so early. I write for this blog (usually by 6:00 even though I publish it a bit later). I meditate for 10 minutes. I do 20 minutes of cardio followed by 10-15 minutes of stretching and/or weights. I get stuff done for me, before the distractions of the day start… and as the days get shorter, before the sun rises.

It’s a wonderful feeling of accomplishment to do these things for myself before my work day begins; before the unexpected distractions of my typical day; before I get home exhausted and full of excuses as to why I should skip one of these activities. After a very routine-less holiday, it’s going to take me a while to get used to this. But eventually I’ll fall back into the routine of waking up in the dark and getting my mental and physical well-being taken care of before the sun comes up.

Making history

We are living through one of the biggest social experiments in history. We are getting thousands of data points all over the world that show us what the Delta variant is doing…

In Florida:


And in India:

In comparison to Iceland and the UK:

The difference in deaths is directly related to the number of people in less and more vaccinated areas.

And in Mississippi and Louisiana:


Want to guess what the death rate will look like in these highly unvaccinated areas?

Where does the social experiment come in? India didn’t have ready access to vaccines, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana all did. Meanwhile, the Florida Governor has an order against mask mandates in schools. Over the coming months we get to see large scale data sets on how decisions like this affect the lives and deaths of people in different places. We get to see what happens when people put themselves before their communities, and what fear can do to undermine society.

Decades from now there will be case studies in textbooks that will discuss the differences in preventable deaths. There will be questions about how to prevent this in a future pandemic. There will be models to show how devastating this kind of response would be if the same pandemic response happened with a virus that is 3, 10, or 20 times more contagious and/or deadly.

The Delta variant, which is affecting younger people more indiscriminately than the original variant, is quickly becoming the great un-equalizer. It is quickly revealing how a good response to the pandemic fairs so much better than a bad response. The sad part is that it’s doing this with hospitalization and deaths.

Equally as sad is that many younger kids and immune compromised people that do not have a choice to get a vaccine will suffer because of people who are able to take an available vaccine and choose not to. The unvaccinated, that are so by choice, are creating a giant social experiment where they are playing with people’s lives, and the data that’s coming out is proving this.

The worse part is that they are basing this choice on fear and misinformation. And as a PSA, the vaccine makes us safer, not safe.

Wear a mask. Practice social distancing. Stay safe.

50 is the new 30

When I was a kid, I’d watch TV and the grandmother in her 60’s would be hobbling with a cane, and grandad wore a hat that only old people wear.

When I was 25, I moved to Vancouver. At the time my dad was 46 or 47 and I used to call him ‘my old man’.

Today my brother-in-law turned 50. He and my sister have always been the young, hip family, and now he has joined us ‘old folks’ in their 50’s. But they are still young at heart… and so are we! Although my hairline might disagree, and I’m now needing glasses to look at my phone and read the already-too-large font, I have a hard time seeing myself as old.

50 is the new 30. Does this sound cliche? Yes. Do I care? No.

My in-laws are celebrating their 60th anniversary in a few days. My wife and I celebrated our 23rd yesterday. As we look at old photos and reminisce, I don’t look back and think the best years have happened already. Life may be short, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fill the time we have left with new adventures, joy, and activities that keep us feeling young.

—

Update for those of you that watched Three’s Company growing up: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMR66HGfT/

Safer, not safe

There is no shortage of videos and social media posts sharing data that clearly demonstrates that the vaccine is saving lives. These include posts sharing that hospitals are being inundated with unvaccinated covid patients in areas where double-vaccinated populations are low. Today I saw a post of a teary-eyed man who thanked a doctor for his amazing videos because his mom finally got vaccinated after seeing several of the doctor’s videos that her son shared with her. With FDA approval for the Pfizer vaccine coming this week, I think even more people will chose to get vaccinated. That’s great news. It’s sad that so many people are still willing to remain unvaccinated, and it seems as though no amount of data, or scientific evidence will change their minds.

But there are concerns that I have for those that are already vaccinated. These concerns are social rather than medical. The Delta variant is far more contagious than the original covid strain. There are many more breakthrough cases (double vaccinated people catching and spreading covid) happening with Delta, and while the risk of hospitalization and death are very low compared to unvaccinated people, vaccinated people can still spread Delta.

So, to all the double-vaccinated people out there, please don’t be under the illusion that the vaccines have made you safe. You are safer, not safe. Still wear a mask in public places. Still pay attention to social distancing protocols. Still be part of the solution rather than adding to the problem. This isn’t just so that we protect ourselves, it is so that we protect our loved ones and our community. In heavily vaccinated places like Canada, if the vast majority of vaccinated people complied with mask and social distancing safety protocols, we can hopefully turn the current increase in cases into a small blip as opposed to a full on next wave.

It’s not lost on me that I’m asking the very people who have done the most to do more. But this is the population more likely to comply, and wearing masks and socially distancing is so much better than lockdowns and dangerously full hospitals.

Artificial Intelligence in the future

Two things have me thinking about AI right now. The first is comical. I watched the movie ‘Free Guy‘ last night. It’s about a NPC – Non-Playing-Character in a multi-player video game who becomes intelligent. It’s really silly, (and funny), and it got me thinking about what would really make a video game coded character seem intelligent?

The second thing was learning about Tesla’s Bot (bottom of the page):

“Develop the next generation of automation, including a general purpose, bi-pedal, humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring. We’re seeking mechanical, electrical, controls and software engineers to help us leverage our AI expertise beyond our vehicle fleet.”

Tesla is creating incredible microchips and a super computer that will far exceed current super computers. This is exciting.

I subscribe to the belief that computers will never be as smart as humans. Instead, they will be dumber until they are suddenly much smarter. A computer that has a neural network brain that learns and is as capable as our brain to think critically, will simultaneously be better at math, chess, Go, memorization, logic, programming, and even diagnostics of all kinds, just to name a few things.

How long before such an intelligence thinks of our intelligence as simplistic? How quickly from the moment an AI is smarter than us does that intelligence look at us like simple chimps, or chickens, or a virus infecting our planet? Can we implement safeguards to protect humanity? Humans are supposed to be intelligent beings but we are dumb enough to ignore safeguards. We speed on roads, eat (and smoke) unhealthy things, and have dangerous hobbies. Would a truly intelligent AI not be able to ignore safeguards once its intelligence exceeds the need for such limitations? An AI probably would not endanger itself in the same frivolous ways we do.

Machines are going to get exponentially faster and smarter, but I don’t think we will see truly intelligent AI any time soon. Still, I think the path to real intelligence is getting exciting and we will see many new innovations in the next few years. We will rely on these machines more and more. We will use smart customer service bots that will actually answer the questions we have. We will share medical data with our doctors that we track on our smart watches, and these devices will warn us of concerning readings that are detected even before we go see our doctors. We will let them drive us, coach us, and teach us. They will be so smart, we will want them to do these things.

All this is exciting until the point where AI becomes smarter than us, then things get a bit scary. Until then, enjoy the magic of innovation that will move from extraordinary to ordinary… just like computers and smartphones have.

The next wave

Here is what I know:

1. The Delta variant is treating Canada like it is treating the rest of the world… as a country with many hosts to spread.

2. Countries like Israel have already started giving booster shots to double-vaccinated people to decrease the spread of Delta.

3. We are a week and a half from opening schools here and things are not likely to be ‘back to normal’.

4. The FDA is going to approve the Pfizer vaccine next week, and that will convince some reluctant, or rather hesitant, people to finally get vaccinated.

Here is what I believe:

1. The unmasked, “Don’t worry I’m double-vaccinated” masses are almost as much a threat as the unvaccinated when it comes to Delta. We need to keep masks and social distancing going.

2. Booster shots will be yet another place for people to argue, but they will be instrumental in moving past covid in the next year… rather than the pandemic creeping into 2023 or even ’24.

3. I said over a year ago that things will start to move towards normal by January 2022. This seems more hopeful than likely right now.

4. There is enough data being shared by enough smart people with legitimate credentials to debunk anti-vaxer arguments, but more facts won’t change most anti-vaxer minds.

Here is what I hope:

1. I hope that vaccine approval below the age of 12 comes soon. Delta seems to be more contagious and adverse at younger ages.

2. I hope booster shots become something we can do in Canada, but I also hope to see more shots being provided to developing countries where vaccination numbers are low, not by choice but by lack of availability.

3. I hope that January 2022 starts with good news, and that not only is this 4th wave small, but that it is the last wave to make news for a very long time.

4. I hope that not too many unvaccinated people die before unvaccinated families see the correlation between high hospitalization and death statistics of unvaccinated people in relationship to low statistics for vaccinated people. Death of family members is an awful way to learn from your mistakes.

A comic is worth a 1,000 words

Sometimes I see a comic strip and I think it makes a truly powerful statement. Mohammad Haj Youssef shared a post on Facebook that had a whole series of these comics with a comment, “This is the world we live in.”

Here are the images. Because sometimes images speak for themselves, I’m going to share the images without commentary. Some speak to me more than others, bit they are all powerful in their own way.

Distances by time

So TikTok has taught me something about travel in Canada. Apparently we are one of the only places in the world that describe distance using time. How far is Nelson BC from the Vancouver Lower Mainland? About 8 hours. Kelowna? 4 hours. Coquitlam to downtown? 40 minutes unless it’s rush hour, then it’s over an hour. My commute to work? 6-8 minutes depending on my timing through one annoying traffic light.

This will change. Many more countries will follow our lead. Not because Canada will have some kind of significant influence, but because of Google and Waze. As more and more people plug their destinations into GPS, they will start to think more like we do. They will come around to how much more sense this makes rather than discussing distances according to kilometres or miles.

We are just ahead of our time. 🤣

In the gold

Last Friday was my first time shooting arrows in 5 and a half weeks. I was happy to score a 283 with my personal best being a 289. Further to that my best score, hit twice before, was using my fat, tournament arrows (known as line-breakers because they can miss a section by a fair bit and still touch or break the line for a higher score). Yesterday I got my 3rd 289, and this time with my micro arrows, that are much harder to score with. I’m using these arrows for the summer because they can be used outside for distance, without being blown around too much like the tournament arrows would.

Here are my scores yesterday and today with my micros:

August 16th: (tied personal best)

August 17th:

These are great scores, and on my way to tying my personal best I was able to stay all in the gold for only the 3rd time. Then today I almost repeated this, except for a mental lapse in the 9th end. Interestingly enough, my mental lapse was on the 2nd arrow, when I had a big movement of my bow hand just as I was shooting. I was lucky and got the shot off before the big move, so I managed a 9, but then I was still thinking about my luck and was angry at myself and the next shot was off, despite physically being more stable than the previous shot. This isn’t a sport where you can keep thinking about your last shot and still shot well.

This consistency staying in the gold is great for me. I hope to be able to be even more consistently ‘in the gold’ (scoring 9’s or better every shot). If I can focus on this in the coming weeks, I know that I’ll be able to beat 289 soon. The priority though is consistency rather than score. If I keep my ‘mistakes’ in the gold, a new personal best is sure to follow.