How to Succeed - QCCQ

QUOTE:
"As a result, American college campuses became less elite and more diverse;  the children of factory workers found themselves sitting in lecture halls and science labs next to the children of factory owners." 

COMMENT:
This quote is a good representation of the diversity seen in universities over the years. It shows that people started to see the importance of education and becoming successful. More people started attending universities and taking advantage of the proprieties being offered to them.I found this quote powerful because it gives the example of children of factory workers sitting next to the children of factory owners and I thought that was a good way to show that social rankings weren't important. What was important was the education everyone was working for. People of different backgrounds and social classes all of a sudden had something in common.

CONNECTION:
I think the quote in a way connects to the Civil Rights Movement and how when it came to an end people started to socialize with each other. It connects to the quote because suddenly people who never really got to interact with one another were suddenly sitting next to one another studding the same things.  

QUESTION:
I wonder how much more things in Universities have changed since then and how people feel about being surrounded and exposed to new people and surroundings. I guess it is all apart of learning.

The Three Laws of Mastery QCCQ

QUOTE:
"As with so many things in life, the pursuit of mastery is all in out heads."

CONNECTION:
In a way I would say this connects to the saying "practice makes perfect." If someone practices something enough or studies it over a period of time then they very well might "master" whatever it is they practiced or studied.

COMMENT:
I feel like I still don't really know if I agree with this quote because it kind of relates to practice. When someone practises something for example, playing the piano they really only get good at it and "master" it with practice and time. I don't really think it is just in ones head, I think it is reality. Practice and time creates mastery.

QUESTION:
Is the pursuit of mastering something really just an allusion and in someones head? Or it this quote just to make someone  think and question that? Wouldn't practice help someone master something?

QCCQ Mindset

Quote: "Natural talent does not ask for help. It is an admission of weakness."  

Comment: 
 I really like this quote. I felt like it kind of summed up what i understood from the reading and I thought it was a powerful piece to pull from the text. It made me think and actually question it. The reason why I liked this quotes is because it is easy to understand and try to get different meanings or understandings out of. 


Connection:

 At first the quote made sense to me, someone who is naturally talented does not need the help of anyone else. That wouldn't be natural talent would it? But then i made the connection between what the text was saying and singers/actors and what not. After making that connection my initial thoughts about the quote switched. I think someone can be naturally talented but still get help to develop their talents. Such as singers, not everyone is born to sing, not everyone has that natural talent but those who do still get help from singing coaches to further develop their skills. 



Question: 

Is asking for help actually a weakness? I don't think it is at all. 

Leibniz QCCQ

Quote:
"Leibniz deserves to be ranked among the greatest of logicians."


Comment:
I picked this quote because I thought it was a good way to sum up all that Leibniz had discovered or was about. The reading said how he foresaw modern business, decision making processes, government and military strategies. The reading also touched on other topics and issues that had to do with him and his discoveries and what he foresaw.  

Connection:
I cant really connect to this reading or quote since I didn't know anything about Leibniz before reading this chapter. The only thing I can connect it to in a way are the other QCCQ's that i have done on other philosophers and mathematicians.

Question:

I know that he was a very successful man in the sense that he knew a lot and " deserved to be ranked among the greatest of logicians" but why would someone think this? What is so different form him com paired to someone like Newton? Both are equally as talented and knowledgeable in my opinion.

Newton QCCQ

Quote: " In his scientific efforts Newton somewhat resembled a live volcano, with long periods of quiescence punctuated from time to time by massive eruptions of almost superhuman activity"

Comment:

I picked this quote because i like the comparison of Newton and a volcano. I think it was an interesting interpretation of him and his personality. It really made me think about it and try to understand just how he resembled a volcano. I also like how the comparison was unique and the author used big words to follow which built the comparison up making it all the more interesting. it also made me think about things that i might have compared Newton to.However nothing i could have came up with could have been as good as this one.    

Connection:

In a way I  connected to this whole reading since I learned a lot about Newton during the math in two minutes project. This quote specifically because i know that many of his discoveries were unbelievable and so was his knowledge of things. 

Question:   

By "superhuman activity" did they author mean his scientific findings? Or was he just trying to say he was smart in other more dramatic words? I also wonder why the author picked a volcano of all things and why he chose the words he did to describe what he meant. 

QCQ Bryson Chapter 5:

Quote: 
"At least today we can bring some sophisticated dating techniques to the table. For most of
the nineteenth century geologists could draw on nothing more than the most hopeful
guesswork."

Comment: 
The reason I picked this quote is because I feel like it has a point. Although there were many other quotes from this chapter that I enjoyed I think this one was one that was easily worded and had meaning. I think it has a point because now we have so much to look back on and a lot of what we know today is because of people before us who have pretty much done all the hard work and put things to the test and used their knowledge to figure things out, at least the structure of things and people since then have further developed. The resources people had in the nineteenth century were limited compared to the amount that we have today.

Question:
Where did people get their knowledge from before? Now we have the internet and an endless amount of books available to us and i am curious to know where people got their information from before.

Bryson Chapter 4: QCCQ

Quote:
 "Newton was a decidedly odd  figure—brilliant beyond measure, but solitary, joyless, prickly
to the point of paranoia, famously distracted,and capable of the most riveting strangeness."

Comment:
 I chose this quote because I really enjoyed the word choice that was chosen to describe Newton. I though it was powerful and attention grabbing and the author did a good job of kind of painting a picture of what he was like. The reason why I liked it was because I had never heard an interpretation of Newton such as this one nor a description of him as on point and interesting.  I like how it says " he was prickly to the pint of paranoia" it makes the reader think what exactly is meant by that, as well at the other descriptions used.

Connection:
I connected to this quote because for the math in two minutes project my partner and I worked on what the definition of gravity was and we covered Sir Isaac Newton quite a bit. I enjoyed it because it made me think back on what i recently learned about him.

Question:
I would like to know what each description means and why those words specifically were chosen.