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Newsletter of Project Renaissance and Win Wenger June 2007 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Best viewed with fixed-width font and restored line breaks) IN THIS ISSUE: * Quote of the Month * Announcements, News Items, Books * Events, Workshops * FEATURE ARTICLE: Sharing and Improvement - by Tijl Koenderink * Comments, Feedback Anthony Davi on Image-Streaming and Chess John Spencer on John Steinbeck Quotation Kate Jones on John Spencer's comments Win Wenger on students' profitable summer * Organizational Notes * Links ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUOTE OF THE MONTH “Give a man a fish, and he will eat for today. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Teach a man to learn, and he will not always have to eat fish.” - Unknown ........................................................................ ANNOUNCEMENTS ~~~ WELCOME to all new members who have joined us recently. We hope to hear from you and to give you much food for thought. Back issues are available upon request. Just add the month to the subject line: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=BackIssues Or see the online archives: http://www.winwenger.com/strmlist.htm ~~~ IMAGE-STREAMING PARTNERS - PILOT PROGRAM We are setting up a partners' bureau or real-time chat resource online via Skype, msn or yahoo messenger for people looking for partners with whom to do live Image-Streaming. If you're interested in joining this resource, please send your contact information and preferences, such as time of day, language, type of Image-Streaming, and we will create a cross-reference index of partners to talk online. Contact: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=PartnersOnline ~~~
INTEREST GROUPS * is interested in learning and practicing Image-Streaming, in Italian or English. Please contact him if you are already knowledgeable in this technique and in the * ( mailto:clarice@polishyourwriting.com ) would like to start an 8-week "Socratic Thinking" course for people in the Portland/SW Washington area. Get together for two hours each week to practice different techniques and document your results. If anyone is interested in learning more about this, email Clarice or phone her at: 503-247-3098 * at mailto:gerald.hawkins@gmail.com about starting a problem-solving and idea-testing group in the * attending meetings of Project
Renaissance members in the * would like to meet with other members of Project Renaissance in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of * in attending meetings of Project
Renaissance members in the area. * David Simpson ( mailto:davidksimpson@earthlink.net ) is also in the * NEW interested in joining an
Image-Streaming group in the area. * would like to practice Image-Streaming with a live listener in his area. ~~~ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| PROJECT RENAISSANCE'S NEW COREBOOKS www.winwenger.com/corebook.htm A series of compact handbooks of Win Wenger's key techniques. The first three volumes are now in print and easy to order from the publisher: * SUPER SKILLS FOR STUDENTS by Isa McKechnie * WIN WENGER'S IMAGE-STREAMING by Charles Roman * END WRITER'S BLOCK FOREVER! by Mark Bossert, Win Wenger Coming soon! - DYNAMIC TEACHING by Harman Benda and Win Wenger |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ~~~ Exercise Grows New Brain Cells http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070628/sc_livescience/exercisegrows newbraincells;_ylt=Ar1s0LykNi.qYlrxBGeoxWEE1vAI Exercise stimulates the growth of new brain cells, a new study on rats finds. The new cells could be the key to why working out relieves depression.... - The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. ~~~ Brain can quickly warn us of potential errors www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19584073 July 3, 2007 - Researchers have pinpointed an area in the brain that alerts us in less than a second of an impending mistake so we don't repeat it. ~~~ Translators wanted - in any language, to translate selected contents of the Project Renaissance website, the new CoreBooks series, and certain books by Win Wenger. Please contact Win at mailto:wwenger101@aol.com if you are able and interested in collaborating on these projects. ........................................................................ EVENTS ~~~ UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS ~~~ Capitol Creativity Network Monthly Presentation July 11, 7:00-9:30pm, BEYOND BRANDING: A Creative Journey with Archetypes Details: http://www.capitolcreativitynetwork.com Contact: Michelle James at mailto:Michelle@CreativeEmergence.com ~~~ Precipice Improv Theater's Fall season 6 consecutive Saturday nights, starting September 1, 2007 Details: www.precipiceimprov.com Contact: Michelle James at mailto:Michelle@CreativeEmergence.com ~~~ Teamwork & Teamplay Workshops with Jim Cain, Ph.D. http://www.teamworkandteamplay.com/trainingcalendar.html September 24-26, 2007 ACA Southeast Regional Conference, Teamwork & Teamplay, Phone: (585) 637-0328 | Email: jimcain@teamworkandteamplay.com Website: www.teamworkandteamplay.com ~~~ Coming, the second weekend of November 2007 - mark your calendar! Another round of Invention-On-Demand Training in Further announcements will be posted here and on www.winwenger.com ~~~ ........................................................................ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Feature Article: SHARING AND IMPROVEMENT by Tijl Koenderink mailto:tijl@dare2b.nl
Often I hear from Win Wenger the stories of people who are applying Project Renaissance techniques, such as Image-Streaming, in their daily lives, and each of their stories is unique and inspiring to me. Hearing these motivating stories is one of the reasons I am involved in the work of Project Renaissance. I am thrilled to see people take the materials Win has gathered over the years, and make them their own. Many people feel free to use the techniques for their own unique purposes, and when they share their experiences with us, we are blessed with knowing the impact of the methods. Win has a knack for looking at the successes in the world, learning from them, transforming the techniques used, and then making those techniques useful to a larger audience. For instance, the methodologies used by the Greek philosopher Socrates, and the more contemporary Albert Einstein - Win has managed to simplify the vague instructions and turn them into practical step-by-step guides. But one of the things I enjoy most is his open mindset to develop new and even better approaches. If anything, it is that open mindset that we try to convey in the Project Renaissance trainings as well, especially in the Advanced Practitioner/ Trainer Training. This is the mindset of asking the question: 'What is yet a better way of solving problems?' During the trainings, we always invite the participants to look at the methodology of Project Renaissance and then to elaborate on the methods, given their own unique views and backgrounds. And what we learn from that as a group, we apply in future trainings, books and discussions. I remember one instance of a group in Beachhead procedure (this is a technique where you visit a future or alternate civilization to learn from their advances). One of the participants suggested elaborating on that technique by creating mutual sharing through an exchange of knowledge, rather than simply copying the other civilization. This is something I now regularly include in my explanation of the technique. For those not familiar with it, hereby a short version of the Toolbuilder process: 1. Pick a method you have for solving problems that works well for you. 2. Ask yourself the question, "What is yet a better way of solving problems?" 3. Apply the problem-solving method you have. 4. Go back to step one. As long as you engage in this upward spiral, you will find ever-improving ways of solving problems. This is one of the things that we strive for in Project Renaissance: to have a mindset of constant improvement. By having this mindset, our participants can continue their development independent of any teacher, which is what every teacher, I hope, aspires to see. To encourage this behavior, Win has set up, years ago, the Image-Streaming YahooGroup, ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/imagestream ). At this moment we are also in the process of setting up online forums to serve the same function. By sharing our results, we can encourage each other, and make sure we don't reinvent the wheel. I hope that these interactions will take place for many years into the future. And, of course, if you want to spend some structural time on expanding your Problem-Solving Toolbox, we're more than happy to have you in our next training. We'll be happy to explore together with you. ------------------------------------ Tijl Koenderink is a full Project Renaissance trainer based in the over the world, in as diverse
locations as the co-trainer in the Project
Renaissance Trainer Training. In the he is founder and CEO of "Dare 2B different", a training and coaching company. For more information on Tijl and Dare 2B different, see http://www.dare2b.eu/ ------------------------------------ To send feedback privately to Tijl Koenderink, email to: mailto:tijl@dare2b.nl?subject=FeatureArticleJune To send your comments about this article to The Stream, write to: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=FeatureArticleJune |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ........................................................................ COMMENTS and FEEDBACK ~~~ ON IMAGE-STREAMING AND CHESS - Anthony Davi [ mailto:anthonyd1500@yahoo.com ] I just want to comment on my personal experience with the results of Image-Streaming. I started looking for ways to boost my mental performance as I became more involved with competitive chess. After reading Wenger’s book, I decided to give Image-Streaming a try, for it was all I had time for. After about 2 weeks I started to notice small but powerful changes. My mind was able to concentrate easier and faster on problems; ideas began coming to me more frequently also. The real example for me was when I entered my first major chess tournament. My mind not only maintained energy after 2 hours of play per game, but my creativity within the game was absolutely amazing. I kept having numerous creative ideas per move, and ended up winning 5 games out of 6, with the last one a draw. All my opponents were rated higher than I. That was all after only about one month of Image-Streaming. The effects might actually sound underrated, but that's because it's hard to describe. I was also, during that time, solving other puzzle-like problems much easier than I would have thought I could. One last thing. I've only read about "Lucid Dreaming", but never experienced it. After about the third week of Image-Streaming, I started to have these dreams. It was one of the strangest and most intense things ever. I became completely aware that I was dreaming during my dream, and then was able to actually control the dream as I went along. - Anthony Davi [ mailto:anthonyd1500@yahoo.com ]
~~~ The May 2007 issue of The Stream had this QUOTE OF THE MONTH: "This I believe: That the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: The freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: Any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual." - John Steinbeck This quote brought the following comment from John Spencer: As far as the [May 2007] "quote" goes, is science not telling us that we are all connected? That it is just one big illusion that we are all separate? Man has tried to have Utopia before, and guess what? It has not worked. And are people not craving peace? Can we truly have peace with even those who suppose to seek good, are still searching for people to fight against? Hmm... The humanist, the one with the quote, Mr. "John Steinbeck", is it?, is one of those misled, and misleading, persons who are generally atheists by necessity, and think that man, left to himself, without any adverse pressures, is generally good. (Now history does not support such a claim, rather the opposite, but observation, and fact finding, are obviously not necessary for supporting Mr. John Steinbeck's claim...) Now I mind you, that we live in a country that was not founded by the individual, but by the indivisible. We created a check and balance system to prevent any one person from becoming too powerful, as they knew, as any right-minded person knows, that power corrupts, and people are inherently evil. Again these people will cite characters such as Galileo, or Socrates, not taking the time to understand these are the exceptions and not the rule. A good idea cannot be hidden for long, but the best place to hide something is in the open. More good ideas will be lost than kept with such a mindset as John Steinbeck's. Truth is, there have always been more bad ideas than good ones. Furthermore, then they will argue that these people were persecuted for their beliefs that turned out to be true. News for you: Change comes only by destruction, and Christians are suffering this today: Persecuted, even though what they say is true. Where do you get these people? I had so much respect for your office. Then you show such carelessness in your choosing of that quote. This person cannot construct an argument, and if he is a spokesperson for that kind of movement, then his comrades are in trouble. I could think of a much better, more scientific and to-the-point comment than that in my sleep. So Boo, boo, boo. - John Spencer ~~~ Kate Jones ( mailto:kate@gamepuzzles.com ) replies:
Evidently John Spencer has not heard of John Steinbeck. A quick look in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck , will show that Steinbeck (February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was one of the best- known and most honored American authors of the 20th century. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. He wrote "Of Mice and Men" (1937) and the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940). Seventeen of his works, including Cannery Row (1945), The Pearl (1947), and East of Eden (1955), became nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story in 1944 for Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat." So much for where we get "these people." Science does not tell us that we are "all connected." I would wager that Mr. Spencer would not want to be connected to all those dying of AIDS and cancer, that he values his individual separateness physically from those individuals, and that he also values being able to express his very own and individual opinions here. Neither bodies nor minds are connected. It takes a great and deliberate effort to communicate our views and information to other individuals, even those with whom we share some DNA. History does not tell us that all people are evil. Those that overstep the bounds of civilized behavior and values are the exception, not the rule. Otherwise societies could not have formed and the U.S. Constitution would not have been written, and technology would not have developed to allow us to luxuriate in emails and the Internet. Does Mr. Spencer consider himself evil? If Mr. Spencer is defending some Christian viewpoint here, it would be instructive to hear why God would have created only evil people. Individual versus indivisible: Mr. Spencer confuses his terminology here. The nation". But a nation is only a voluntary grouping of all its constituent individuals, those "all men created equal" with their unalienable rights. From whom could those rights be alienated? Only from individuals, one by one. Mr. Spencer's unalienable right to think his own thoughts and speak them as he likes is one of this country's, and Steinbeck's, guiding principles. One could only wish Mr. Spencer's mind did a little more exploring and fact-finding. - Kate Jones ( mailto:kate@gamepuzzles.com ) ~~~ Win Wenger ( mailto:wwenger101@aol.com ) writes: Make yours a profitable summer! For anyone expecting to pursue training or a course of study, in the fall or further on in the future - student, adult, in college, or even high school: Here are just a few suggestions to build an extraordinary advantage in your studies for next year and beyond, with just a few easy methods and practices. Please also pass this information along to others who could benefit. * Freenoting ( www.winwenger.com/freenote.htm ) * Windtunnel ( www.winwenger.com/part72.htm ) * Borrowed Genius ( www.winwenger.com/borrow.htm ) With Borrowed Genius, your goal is to bring yourself to fully effective genius level in one or more skills or fields. Mastery of one thing makes it easier to master other things, and does nice things also for your confidence. The Freenoting process can be very helpful to you in two regards: 1) Map out a reading program for over the summer, looking ahead for topics in your studies next year and beyond. At the end of each chapter, or article, or after each major concept or idea or principle: Freenote for 15 minutes or longer in the general context of what you've just read, but don't limit yourself to what you've just read. Be fast and profuse, without pause or letup, as per our instructions in the above-cited article. Also, any material that's heavy-duty, you might use Predictive Imagery ( www.winwenger.com/predict.htm ) just before reading. You can use Windtunnel in much the same way as Freenoting. Or, if you are trying to understand some key concept that is eluding you, you can set up a listening partner or audio recorder and treat that key concept as the initial problem or question, break out three more particular questions from that one question, and perform Windtunnel that much closer to its problem-solving mode. (All our problem-solving methods can similarly be used as ways to build understanding in subjects you are trying to learn.) 2) Find out what courses and topics of study lie ahead of you. Pick one to start with, and use either Freenoting or Windtunnel to re-invent, for yourself, the contents of that course or topic of study. Surprise yourself here. This is one of the most valuable things you can do for yourself - even allowing for possible errors, you will have a wonderfully absorptive and extensive structure already in your mind with which to recognize, grasp, understand, compare and evaluate - and remember - the key elements of that course or topic of study in actuality when the time comes. In two intense, sustained hours or even less, you can give yourself most of what you needed for an entire semester's study in that course or topic. Seems like a good investment in time and effort.
You may want to do this for several of your forthcoming courses and topics of study. One way to improve communications within your brain, and understanding in your studies, is through the regular practice of Image-Streaming ( www.winwenger.com/imstream.htm ). Even if not on your studies, practice of Image-Streaming appears to sharpen most people's ability to understand things. Another general performance-builder is held-breath underwater swimming ( www.winwenger.com/ebooks/guaran3.htm ). Even if your span of breathing and span of attention are adequate, you probably can benefit from the resulting increased circulation to the brain, which supports brain health, well-being and the brain's various functions. The above is a good clear place to start. These are only a few of the easy methods for giving yourself huge leverage with current and future education. After you've applied the above, if you like, write me the results and I can send you additional educational tools and further recommendations, a bunch of resources all easily and freely accessed on the Project Renaissance website. Just how great an advantage can you build for yourself in just one summer? Let's find out. - Win Wenger ( mailto:wwenger101@aol.com ) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Another prime reference: Super Skills for Students ( www.winwenger.com/corebook.htm ), a Project Renaissance Corebook by Isa McKecknie ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To send your comments to The Stream for possible publication here, write to: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=Comments ........................................................................ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ORGANIZATIONAL NOTES ~~~ STOLEN IDENTITY! It has come to our attention that spurious emails, spams and possibly infected emails are being sent out with thestream@winwenger.com or even wwenger101@aol.com as the alleged sender. Please be assured that they are not from us and do not have our consent. Anything with attachments is suspect - do NOT open them, even if they seem to be from us, until you've read the text that verifies it's from Win. If in doubt, email Win for verification first: mailto:wwenger101@aol.com . We regret that such ploys pollute the free and open communications of this wonderful medium. ~~~ TOPICAL INTEREST GROUPS: Our membership is large and diverse, and many of you have expressed an interest in communicating with other members who share your topic of concern or research interest. If you'd like us to share your email address with other interested members, and to supply theirs to you, please email your name, email address and subject/topic to: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=InterestGroups Your communications will be private. ~~~ ADDRESS CHANGE? If your email address changes or your email box is full or your spam filter blocks us, we can't get The Stream to you. Please, before that happens, make sure you notify us of any change and put winwenger.com on your safe senders list. Write to: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=AddressChange Please do not use the unsubscribe link in such a case, then entering a new subscribe message. This makes extra work for you and your registrar and may result in deletion of all your personal information from our records. Put any other updated information you'd like us to have about you into the same address-change message. ~~~ SUBSCRIBER OR MEMBER? If you currently only subscribe to The Stream, you can upgrade your participation in Project Renaissance to full membership, free. Membership in Project Renaissance entitles members to additional benefits. If you're not yet a member, please register now, here: www.winwenger.com/regmem.htm or from the link on the homepage, www.winwenger.com . ~~~ DUPLICATE MAILING? If you received two (or more?) copies of this issue of The Stream, please let us know by replying to: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=duplicate ~~~ HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE... * The long-established, popular Image-Streaming egroup is here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/imagestream - requires Yahoo sign-in. * Submit articles, comments or questions for possible inclusion in The Stream: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=TotheEditor * Send questions or comments about the website, www.winwenger.com , to the webmaster, mailto:kate@gamepuzzles.com ........................................................................ LINKS * Back issues of THE STREAM by email upon request from mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=BackIssues * Index of feature articles in The Stream archives: www.winwenger.com/strmlist.htm Starting in January 2007, the archived copies have a special cover photo masthead courtesy of Elan Sun Star. Do take a look - they're gorgeous and restorative. * Archived copies of Capital Ideasmiths are here: www.winwenger.com/Capitalidea/capidea1.htm * Project Renaissance homepage: www.winwenger.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSUBSCRIBE: If you do not wish to continue receiving this newsletter from Project Renaissance, please send an email to mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=TheStream-unsubscribe ~~~ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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