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Brain, Book, Buddy, Boss
Sep. 28th, 2010 02:35 pmWhile I was traveling in Greece, I spent some time exploring Meteora with a young substitute teacher who told me about the principle of "Brain, Book, Buddy, Boss". It's something he frequently explained to his students as the proper order to try to figure out something you don't know.
1. Brain. Think about the question.
2. Book. Look it up.
3. Buddy. Ask a classmate
4. Boss. Ask the teacher.
It's catchy, but is it correct? Does it apply well to life in general?
"Brain" -- Going first to "brain" helps you build connections between concepts in your mind, enhances critical thinking skills, and, generally speaking, rewires your brain to more efficiently process issues you are facing in your environment.
"Book" -- This really means "just google it". Given that a web search is only marginally more work than thinking these days even when you're on the go, it seems like we should really get in the habit of seeing if a fact we don't know for certain is easy to work out with a simple web search. So perhaps we should use "book" first unless we are sure of a particular fact. I think people tend to underutilize online resources when in social settings. I've been in lots of stupid conversations where people are arguing over facts right next to a computer. I usually threaten to look up the answer if the conversation continues.
"Buddy" -- the modern form of this is basically "your social network". What's nice about "buddy" is that your social network has a reputation system. You know your friends well enough to trust (or apply the appropriate bias correction to) the things they tell you. Your social network can also personalize answers for you. Question answering is also a form of social connection, and some questions may be asked more with a primarily social intent. However, I have seen lots of questions that should really be answered by "book" get asked of "buddies". This is sometimes out of laziness, but sometimes a person is so new to a subject that they don't even know what the proper knowledge resources are. The smart answerer (or even better yet, the smart asker) would reframe the question in terms of orienting the asker toward the resources they need to become more self-sufficient or providing a high-level knowledge framework that would make the knowledge processing more efficient.
"Boss" -- Of course the boss wants you to try every other source of information before asking them. This is how a teacher can manage a class of 30 students. However, the "boss" is most likely to know the answer, so it's in the question asker's interest to go directly to an expert. This is part of why people pay for instructors rather than trying to learn a skill on their own. A skillful teacher can package and deliver knowledge in a customized way to a student that will result in faster learning than any other technique. I do think a lot of people tend *never* to ask the experts questions out of a fear of looking stupid. This is actually a bad strategy, as asking good questions of experts is a way of building rapport with them and establishing a social connection with them. In the end, most successful people can point to one or more mentors who helped them find the way when they were young and inexperienced.
1. Brain. Think about the question.
2. Book. Look it up.
3. Buddy. Ask a classmate
4. Boss. Ask the teacher.
It's catchy, but is it correct? Does it apply well to life in general?
"Brain" -- Going first to "brain" helps you build connections between concepts in your mind, enhances critical thinking skills, and, generally speaking, rewires your brain to more efficiently process issues you are facing in your environment.
"Book" -- This really means "just google it". Given that a web search is only marginally more work than thinking these days even when you're on the go, it seems like we should really get in the habit of seeing if a fact we don't know for certain is easy to work out with a simple web search. So perhaps we should use "book" first unless we are sure of a particular fact. I think people tend to underutilize online resources when in social settings. I've been in lots of stupid conversations where people are arguing over facts right next to a computer. I usually threaten to look up the answer if the conversation continues.
"Buddy" -- the modern form of this is basically "your social network". What's nice about "buddy" is that your social network has a reputation system. You know your friends well enough to trust (or apply the appropriate bias correction to) the things they tell you. Your social network can also personalize answers for you. Question answering is also a form of social connection, and some questions may be asked more with a primarily social intent. However, I have seen lots of questions that should really be answered by "book" get asked of "buddies". This is sometimes out of laziness, but sometimes a person is so new to a subject that they don't even know what the proper knowledge resources are. The smart answerer (or even better yet, the smart asker) would reframe the question in terms of orienting the asker toward the resources they need to become more self-sufficient or providing a high-level knowledge framework that would make the knowledge processing more efficient.
"Boss" -- Of course the boss wants you to try every other source of information before asking them. This is how a teacher can manage a class of 30 students. However, the "boss" is most likely to know the answer, so it's in the question asker's interest to go directly to an expert. This is part of why people pay for instructors rather than trying to learn a skill on their own. A skillful teacher can package and deliver knowledge in a customized way to a student that will result in faster learning than any other technique. I do think a lot of people tend *never* to ask the experts questions out of a fear of looking stupid. This is actually a bad strategy, as asking good questions of experts is a way of building rapport with them and establishing a social connection with them. In the end, most successful people can point to one or more mentors who helped them find the way when they were young and inexperienced.
