We left off introducing the idea of clumsiness. For this discussion, clumsiness refers to doing things with a lack of precision. Another way to think of it could be awkward, uneasy, or doing things poorly. Adding this to the discussion, we sort of top off a very general picture of learning
Whenever a person does any activity, including moving, walking, talking, writing, thinking, socializing, painting, cooking, karate, skating or anything else, their actions fall somewhere on a spectrum between completely clumsy and perfectly precise.
Clumsy------------------------------------Precise
As it turns out, no one really likes to be clumsy. In different activities, clumsiness takes various forms, but no one enjoys it regardless of where it shows up. It's never fun to trip down the stairs or to stub a toe. Eating burnt or poorly seasoned food is never the preferred option. It's equally unappealing to watch a sporting or theatrical event with many overt mistakes compared to a precise performance or fierce competition.
Naturally then, the question of how to move from clumsy to precise is of great relevance. Fortunately, we already have a model of the path. (See Noticing Noticing: Learning to Learn) Perhaps a visual analogy will help bring the idea full circle.
Attempting to do any activity could be compared to entering a many spired castle, endlessly tall. The ground floor is the level of least precision, clumsiness. Desiring to become more precise, one may take the challenge to climb to higher levels. The steps up each spiral stare case spire are the learning process, and continually reveals things that previously went unnoticed. Practice is the driving force for moving up the stairs. Climbing high enough, one may begin to achieve a certain level of precision within one spire of a given activity. However, all activities have many spires to climb. To precisely understand as much of the castle as possible, one must climb its' various towers independently. Unfortunately, it is impossible to climb all of the spires no matter the castle. All the castles are simply too big. (See Two Infinity and Beyond) In fact, that's why we have whole teams of people exploring all the castles we can find, generation after generation. Whole groups of people focus on one spire, climbing farther than previously possible by working together. Others go on gathering reports from the various groups, trying to understand the whole castle. Others still put together maps of the whole country side mapping all the castles and their relation to each other.
So whenever a person attempts to do anything, how well they do it falls somewhere on the spectrum between clumsy and precise. Ultimately, that classification is a subjective judgement, and one should not value his or herself by where they fall on that scale. Rather, this spectrum is meant to be used as a tool to approach the topic of learning. No matter where a person lands on the scale, it is possible to move up the spires and become more precise over time. Even the most gifted person in the world at anything is never as good as that same person after a year of practice.
My hopes are that by 'Noticing' the pattern, people will be able to climb the spires that interest them. On a personal note, noticing clumsiness in my life has helped me become aware of many things to which I was previously 'oblivious'. Its extremely hard to recognize the things we don't know (if you don't know something, its like it simply doesn't exist to you.) However, its easy to notice when things do not go smoothly (precisely). When things go wrong, trace the origin of the problem. More often than not, I find something I could have done to make the whole thing go better, and frequently that search leads me back to my self. Thank you again to everyone reading along.
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