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QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)
@QiaochuYuan
you literally cannot warn people not to do something by depicting it. it doesn't work. you have to depict what you wish they were doing instead
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QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)
@QiaochuYuan
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“focus your energy on what you want to see more of” has some distressing implications for the whole genre of dystopian fiction. it suggests that dystopian fiction doesn’t successfully act as a warning, and if anything makes dystopias look cooler, more familiar, more thinkable
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QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)
@QiaochuYuan
every depiction is first and foremost an opportunity for imitation thus is it said: "be the change you want to see in the world"
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QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)
@QiaochuYuan
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he gives a bunch of verbal instructions to his tennis students and it just tenses them up as they *try really hard* to follow all of them, vs. he demonstrates to them the desired behavior and asks them to imagine and then imitate it and it works perfectly
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QC (in Berlin 7/29-???)
@QiaochuYuan
if you focus your attention on avoiding the tree you will hit the tree. focus your attention on the road
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Malcolm Ocean in Glasgow (37/100 vids)
@Malcolm_Ocean
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Replying to @Malcolm_Ocean and @takecarecactus
I've heard stories (possibly apocryphal) of people on long deserted roads hitting a single tree or post next to the road, because "don't hit the tree, don't hit the tree" fixates their attention on the tree and so they steer towards it. Contrast with "stay on the road".
12:48 AM · Dec 25, 2021Twitter for iPhone
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Jonny in New Zealand
@jonny_flips
Replying to
@QiaochuYuan
If I say don't think about pink elephants, what do you think about? Anyone who says anything other than pink elephants is a liar. As a sport coach I found it much more effective to ask people what they are going to focus on doing, rather than what they will focus on *not doing*
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Malcolm Ocean in Glasgow (37/100 vids)
@Malcolm_Ocean
Replying to
@QiaochuYuan
tweet & video of a kid doing the thing:
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🟡 Michael is on silent retreat
@m_ashcroft
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This also reminds me of the idea that "you go where you're looking" Like a child learning to ride a bike, "don't hit the tree" just turns into "the tree" and so of course they cycle straight into the tree We need more clear visions of where we *do* want to go twitter.com/QiaochuYuan/st…
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