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![]() Newsletter of Project Renaissance and Win Wenger July 2007 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IN THIS ISSUE: * Quote of the Month * Announcements, News Items, Books * Events, Workshops * FEATURE ARTICLE: Music, the Arts, and Intelligence - A Dialogue by Win Wenger and Mike Estep * Comments, Feedback Louise Marie Lalande on idea seeds Jim Guinness on attention Gabriel Grenier on Photoreading Oddynius on Photoreading and Image-Streaming Win Wenger on starting a school * Organizational Notes * Links ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUOTE OF THE MONTH "At all times and under all circumstances, we have the power to transform the quality of our lives." - Werner Erhard ........................................................................ ANNOUNCEMENTS, NEWS, BOOKS ~~~ 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 * VENICE, ITALY - Franco Tiveron ( mailto:franco.tiveron@gmail.com ) 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 Venice area. * PORTLAND, OREGON - Clarice Dankers ( 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 [Note from Win Wenger: -- Please, people, respond especially to this one. This looks to be a very special opportunity in several regards.] * FRANCE - Cirlene Magalhaes ( mailto:cdmagalhaes@wanadoo.fr ) would like to start a 4-week "Socratic Thinking" course for people in the Boulogne/Pas-de-Calais area in August and September 2007. It will be a 20-hour course, with 2 dates a week and 4 hours of home activities. The target audience of the course is academic teachers in the area of human resources formation and education. The course has the objective of gathering people interested in the method in order to: (1) discuss its underpinnings; (2) practice its different techniques; (3) document the results obtained. After mastering the technique, the interested teachers can duplicate the experience with their students and document the results obtained in their classes as well. Please contact Cirlene by email to sign up or for more information. [Note from Win Wenger: -- And also especially respond to this one, people. What happier setting or more useful and pleasant content? Grab this chance today!] * BALTIMORE - Gerald Hawkins offers interested parties to contact him at mailto:gerald.hawkins@gmail.com about starting a problem-solving and idea-testing group in the Baltimore, Maryland, area. * CHICAGO - Nick Costello ( mailto:padrerock@rcn.com ) is interested in attending meetings of Project Renaissance members in the Chicago area. * TEXAS - Harry L. Beam, 6305 Poly Webb Road, Arlington, TX 76016 would like to meet with other members of Project Renaissance in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas. * DETROIT - Eric Bottorff ( mailto:pebottorff@gmail.com ) is interested in attending meetings of Project Renaissance members in the Ypsilanti area. * David Simpson ( mailto:davidksimpson@earthlink.net ) is also in the Detroit area, in Livonia, MI. * NEW JERSEY - Donald Morrison ( mailto:donaldmorrison@gmail.com ) is interested in joining an Image-Streaming group in the Bloomfield, NJ, area. * TAMILNADU, INDIA - Raj Kumars ( mailto:rajikumars2000@yahoo.co.in ) 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 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ~~~ Mental Training Affects Distribution of Limited Brain Resources www.scientistlive.com/features/6.2/18212/mental-training-affects- The information processing capacity of the human mind is limited, as is evidenced by the so-called "attentional-blink" deficit: When two targets (T1 and T2) embedded in a rapid stream of events are presented in close temporal proximity, the second target is often not seen. This deficit is believed to result from competition between the two targets for limited attentional resources. ... meditation, or mental training, affects the distribution of limited brain resources. ... This study supports the idea that plasticity in brain and mental function exists throughout life and illustrates the usefulness of systematic mental training in the study of the human mind. Here's the original journal article: http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-pdf&file=10.1371_ ~~~ "20 Tricks to Boost IQ and Build a Mental Exercise Routine" www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2007/06/30/20-tricks-to-boost-iq-and-build-a- Scott Young provides a fine list of enjoyable activities to sharpen your brain. ~~~ Pheromones trigger brain cell growth www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/07/02/cal-pheromones.html?ref=rss News from Calgary research: Pheromone signals from dominant males spark new brain cells in their female partners and could help repair injured brains, suggests a new study by a University of Calgary neuroscientist. ~~~ Technology Review: Solar Power at Half the Cost www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18718/ A new mechanism for focusing light on small areas of photovoltaic material could make solar power in residential and commercial applications cheaper than electricity from the grid in most markets in the next few years.
~~~ Sun's activity rules out link to global warming http://environment.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn12234 Direct satellite measurements of solar activity show it has been declining since the mid-1980s and cannot account for recent rises in global temperatures, according to new research. ________ Win Wenger comments: This looks to be a biggie - In recent months I've complained that the science on both sides of the global warming issue has been corrupted by special interests, always able to find some round-heeled scientists who will produce "studies" to support particular - and political - positions. Well, methodologically, Lockwood's and Fröhlich's study in this instance looks pretty straightforward to me. Implications are considerable. See what you think. ~~~ Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" could expand this year http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070717/sc_nm/deadzone_dc_2 The Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone" -- a swath of water with such low levels of oxygen that marine life can be threatened or killed -- could be the largest since measurements began in 1985, scientists said on Tuesday. The dead zone, which recurs each year off the Texas and Louisiana coasts, could stretch to more than 8,500 square miles this year -- about the size of New Jersey -- compared with 6,662 square miles in 2006 and 4,800 square miles in 1990. ______ Win Wenger comments: Where better to apply our invention for oceanic fish farming, whether or not one were actually to farm fish there (a question of the chemical runoffs from Texas and Louisiana?). We need to restore the waters to health. See www.winwenger.com/part59.htm for a description of the invention, whose main application would make it easy and inexpensive to greatly expand the world's protein supply. ~~~ 9,500-Year-Old City Found Underwater Off India: Discovery Will Force Western Archaeologists to Rewrite History www.spiritofmaat.com/announce/oldcity.htm A civilization has been uncovered that would have appeared just as ancient to the people who built the pyramids as the pyramids seem to us. According to marine scientists in India, archaeological remains were discovered 36 metres (120 feet) underwater in the Gulf of Cambay off the western coast of India. And carbon dating says that they are 9,500 years old. The vast city — five miles long and two miles wide — is believed to predate the oldest known remains in the subcontinent by more than 5,000 years. See also: www.hermetics.org/cambay.html and www.bjp.org/today/apl_0103/feb_2_p_18.htm Some controversy is discussed at www.answers.com/topic/ruins-in-the-gulf-of-cambay and repeated in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruins_in_the_Gulf_of_Cambay ______ Win Wenger ( mailto:wwenger101@aol.com ) comments: This Neolithic discovery is one of very considerable consequence. I've known just about all my life that the standard model of late neolithic to early bronze times was full of holes and stretched to the breaking point to account for some of the anomalies. This latest discovery looks too solid to ignore, and SOME revisions will indeed have to be made to the standard model. I hope we can do so rationally and well-based upon the actual evidence. Take a look at the articles linked above. Something on this scale isn't going away nor can it be hidden or ignored. There is no lack of bases for evidence, and whatever is the truth here is pretty likely to come out, these next few years. Not in the articles, but worth noting: Even today, with seven billion people crowding each other over almost every square inch of the planet, most of us live near sea level. In Eurasia and Africa, the first civilizations on agreed record were near sea level or even on the sea. It does not seem utterly implausible to me that if there had been civilizations existing 10,000 years ago about the time of the melting of the main icecaps of the last glacial age, they could have been based at seaside and/or on fertile alluvial plains near sea level, and could have been wiped out by the 200-foot rise in sea levels which resulted at that time. No lesson in any of that for us, though, of course. ~~~ Gifted Education Press is offering a complimentary copy of their Twentieth Anniversary SUMMER 2007 Online Quarterly issue. To receive it, just email directly to the publisher, Maurice Fisher, Ph.D., at: mailto:gifted@giftededpress.com ~~~ 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 ~~~ Capitol Creativity Network - August 8, 2007 "Accessing Creative Intelligence for New Work and Life Solutions" Details: www.capitolcreativitynetwork.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, Jacksonville, FL Teamwork & Teamplay, 468 Salmon Creek Road, Brockport, NY 14420 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 Gaithersburg, Maryland. Further announcements will be posted here and on www.winwenger.com ~~~ ........................................................................ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Feature Article:
MUSIC, THE ARTS, AND INTELLIGENCE - A DIALOGUE by Win Wenger, Ph.D. ( mailto:wwenger101@aol.com ) and Mike Estep, Ph.D. ( mailto:professor_estep@yahoo.com ) For this month's feature, we bring you a few notes on how involvement with music and the arts may affect IQ and intellectual achievement, with excerpts from a recent correspondence between Win Wenger and Professor Mike Estep. ~~~~~ Introduction - Win Wenger: It appears increasingly evident that involvement with music - at least classical music with its unique structures, architecture of detail, accumulation of the most compelling of music over the past few centuries, and richness of expression within the music - improves intelligence and intellectual performance. I'm not talking about the so-called Mozart Effect, which looks to be temporary. I'm talking about permanent changes in intelligence and in the very structures of the brain most closely related to intellect. I imagine that some forms of progressive jazz have some of the same advantages, and possibly other forms as well. I cite, for example, work by Gottfried Schlaug and his colleagues at Dusseldorf University, demonstrating that, within their brains, the organ responsible for the core of our intellects - the left plenum temporales in the middle of our speech centers - in persons with perfect musical pitch is TWICE THE SIZE of that organ, physically, in the rest of us.
Music and the arts, especially their aspect in aesthetics or our sense of beauty, are predominantly far to the right in the brain; but key aspects show up all over the brain, including in the conscious, word- processing "left side." The left plenum temporales is the core of our intellect and verbal intelligence, as "far to the left" as you can get in the brain; its primary function is to sort out and discriminate nuances in word meanings. Five or ten percent difference, on average, would be awesome. For the left plenum temporales to be fully double the size, in physical volume, in those of us who have perfect pitch, shoots right off the seismograph in its implications. Recent studies have suggested that most children are born with perfect pitch, but most of us lose it early on for lack of experiences which develop it. In our own experience, children who were taught at least the beginnings of how to sight-read and play music, by a method devised by Susan Wenger ( http://www.winwenger.com/archives/part14.htm ), all appeared as an accidental by-product to have perfect musical pitch. It is also my conviction that the practice of Improvitaping builds intelligence and, indeed, does so rather strongly and rapidly. I think it can do so even in people who are initially totally without musical ability. See how to Improvitape, with its rapid sensory perceptions, responses to those perceptions, and flow-with-feedback phenomena, at www.winwenger.com/archives/part13.htm . Then read how such flow-with- feedback phenomena improve intelligence, www.winwenger.com/feed1.htm .
~~~~~ Mike Estep: For the last 22 years in private music instruction, I've allowed myself to use and develop a form of Imagestreaming (even though I didn't refer to it this way nor know of Dr. Wenger's work in the beginning). I always viewed my private instruction as a testing ground to experiment with ideas and techniques. I didn't constrain my thoughts strictly to musical structures, either. I'd incorporate elements of the habits of geniuses (Mozart, da Vinci, Einstein, Tesla, etc.), personal development, and brain science/psychology. I would take a broad range of subjects and allow myself to improvise concepts and answers to students. I wasn't afraid of making errors, as I felt the cream of ideas would rise to the top, just as it does through trial-and-error with playing an instrument or working with computer technology. The repetition of this process allowed me to entertain ideas not commonly thought of and become very philosophical in my approach. The only censoring that took place was in regard to using language or a few concepts that might be offensive to students. Other than that, I let my mind roam freely, while extracting ideas verbally. The images, ideas, and words would just flow. I also incorporated this with Socratic questioning to help the students feel some sense of involvement in the process. I didn't discover Dr. Wenger's work until I read the Einstein Factor in 1999. I was so thrilled to see such work taking place. While I haven't incorporated verbatim every one of his techniques, I believe there is great value in his work. After using my imagestreaming processes for several hours per day (4 to 6 days per week) over the last 22 years, I'm absolutely positive that it has changed me as a person. I commonly come up with solutions to problems now where I'm not consciously searching for the answers (it happens at the subconcious level). I'm also confident that my students continue to come to me because of my incorporating this into my teaching. I believe it reaches to students on levels that are much deeper than the intellect alone. I'm convinced it is one of the reasons why I've had over 2500 private students in the last 22 years. I believe it is important to "draw out" the genius within my students. Unfortunately, I also know that most of my students would never encounter such thinking if it weren't for my instruction. However, I still proceed, because my efforts (and the efforts of like-minded individuals) could help produce another da Vinci with insights that literally change the world. ~~~~~ Win Wenger: Mike, from your description, one question: Did you have, and do you have, a recorder going while you are giving these lessons? Capturing your improvised insights on at least audio recorder greatly accelerates progress because it frees you to go on beyond where you went before. Maybe you already have that going for you. ~~~~~ Mike Estep: I do use some of your techniques, sometimes with my own twist. For some time now, I've been intrigued by your putting on of heads and seeing through the eyes of geniuses. Several years ago, I wrote a browser-based javascript subliminal tachistoscope that I run on my computer while attending to other things. ... As a long-time ear-playing musician, I have learned to highly trust my intuition. It steers me correctly most of the time. I don't go around discussing this freely with everyone, as most people would not understand. However, I regularly discuss aspects of these things with my students and help them to see that, as a species, most human beings have no clue what their real mental capacities are. To some degree, I believe there is a da Vinci in all of us. ~~~~~ Win Wenger:
There is always a next higher level, for each of us. From all you have described, I believe a very well-defined next-higher level awaits your practice of recording while you teach, especially of the sessions where you let fly and sometimes surprise yourself with the insights which come forth. As "dangerous" as you already are, this could be fun. The tachistoscope sounds like a good idea. For years I've been wanting to set up a tachistoscope-based program for making an interactive page with our High Thinktank process, only no one with the needed skills has emerged. Beyond that, just simply developing the ability to quickly perceive a scene and identify and make sense out of its elements, would be a good thing to do for training our mostly unused link to our own perceptions. See, for example and for educational use with young children, the "Sherlock Holmes" suggestion I made some years ago in www.winwenger.com/archives/part17.htm (and some of the perceptual- development ideas I offered in the article that preceded it, www.winwenger.com/archives/part16.htm ). No one has ever taken up anything near this approach to things, though as I write this, it occurs to me that people involved in training athletes might find this to be of interest. Where our efforts here could be most helped would be to get some sort of publishable, quantifiable comparison measure of the effects of this kind of process on (your) students. I mention quantifiable for obvious reasons, though building up a stock of ready anecdotal evidence would also be helpful at this stage. Publishable, point-to-able evidence "creates permission" for other educators and trainers to dip their own toes into the waters, generating more such data and more such "permission." That's where our efforts here could be most helped. How may we best help your efforts there? Thank you very much for writing and sharing. ~~~~~ Mike Estep:
Actually this is rather ironic. I have much expertise with music/ multimedia/sound reinforcement technologies (36 years). But in 22 years of private music instruction, I have never recorded my imagestreamed discourse. I have had students who videotaped me showing particular playing techniques, but not my philosophical "drawing out". I would consider doing this, just to be able to reflect later on how I'm using the imagestreaming process (for personal feedback/reinforcement/ improvement). ...now I'm ready to resume academic teaching and research. If this occurs for the Fall, it will include a move. That will mean having to re-establish my private music instruction clientele. I have also used my version of the imagestreaming process in university instruction of groups. But even with academic freedom, it hasn't felt quite as free as with my private instruction. However, I would not be opposed at some point in the not-too-distant future to doing some kind of research study incorporating such techniques. ~~~~~ Win Wenger: It's great that you've been able to develop as far as you have without such a direct volume of personal feedback. I expect that when you get a chance to start recording yourself in action, your further progress will totally amaze everyone, especially yourself. ~~~~~ Mike Estep: ... If you hire a college music student to transcribe your pieces, I would recommend one that is pursuing performance/education in commercial or jazz music as opposed to someone who is pursuing classical training. The reason for this is that, as a rule of thumb, most musicians pursuing formal classical training do not play much by ear. I've played by ear since I was 10 and play professionally in country and rock bands, but my bachelors in music ed was a traditional classical program - so I've seen both sides. Although ear training is emphasized in classical theory classes, students who aren't pursuing it on their own outside of school don't develop their ears much (sad but true). Their pursuits are geared mostly toward music reading, which is a different animal. Commercial and jazz students who go to schools like Berklee College are highly skilled ear players and readers. ~~~~~ Win Wenger: ... That is very interesting, what you mention about classical-training Students' not being much involved in working by ear. I see that as a lack, yet clearly something is working in classical training to the point that we seem to be living in the Golden Age of Performance. Of course, not everyone is an Evgeny Kissen and maybe great performers come through despite, rather than because of, various aspects of the standard training, but I have to wonder at this aspect. ... ~~~~~ Mike Estep: On the ear thing... As far as musical balance goes, I believe more of this goes on in commercial music (jazz, rock, pop, etc.) performance schools like Berklee ( www.berklee.edu ). Although the styles are not as much classical, what is emphasized is a balance of sight reading, performance, theory, history, ear training, ear transcribing, ear playing, composition, and improvisation. Musicians that finish training from these schools are able to do studio work, play with national acts, teach, etc. Musicians receiving training from traditional classical schools will generally not have near the amount of exposure to ear playing, ear transcribing, and improvising. They can develop enormous technical playing and sight-reading skills. I'm not saying they never use their ears, but they don't regularly learn pieces by ear. The classical repertoire is generally learned (phonetically, so to speak) through sight reading. There is a world-class concert pianist from Africa who was an artist-in- residence at the University where I used to teach. She was nominated for a Grammy a few years ago for a classical CD she recorded. I had a short conversation with her after I finished my ear-training dissertation study there. She informed me that she really had trouble with ear and related theory training, which took me somewhat by surprise, because she is truly a virtuoso when it comes to technical playing and sight reading. She plays with much feeling also. I believe the aversion to ear playing sometimes starts in early formal music training. I have regularly seen students who go through public music school band programs or private classical instruction encouraged not to play by ear, as this is looked at as a possible crutch to not learn to read music (which is true occasionally). It is ironic that many of the classical composers we revere played by ear often (as well as sight read). For instance, it was common for Bach to write out chord progressions (no standard notation, just chord symbols), hand them out to musicians, and then the musicians would take turns improvising in fugue styles, much like jazz, rock, or country musicians would improvise solos today. The majority of professional rock, pop, and country musicians I have personally known in the last 28 years do not read standard music notation at all (yet, some of these players are virtuosos). Accurate and current note-for-note transcriptions for much popular music (as performed in recordings) are not readily available, so these musicians have to learn to play by ear to work up most of the songs. Here are my personal feelings about ear playing vs. sight reading... Learning to play by ear is analogous to learning to speak a language by imitation. Learning to sight-read music is analogous to learning to read words. We don't teach our children to phonetically read their native tongue before they can speak it. However, using the previous analogies, that is exactly what is happening with much formal music training in private instruction and in schools. We usually consider it a form of ignorance for people to learn to speak (or play by ear) but not learn to read (or sight read). I think that a different kind of ignorance occurs if a person doesn't learn to speak fluently (or play by ear fluently) before, or at least during, learning how to read fluently (or sight read fluently). The best situation is to learn equally to play by ear and sight read. However, if I were forced to choose one skill over the other, I would hands-down choose ear playing over sight reading, just as I would choose speaking words over reading words (because trying to read words phonetically without being able to speak the language really doesn't make sense). Fortunately, I've developed skills in both areas. One thing is very clear to me. I have developed a very strong intuitive sense of thinking, imagining, and feeling that are directly related to my learning to play by ear starting at age 10 (I'm 47 now). Just as I use my intuitive ear in every musical endeavor (many times doing so as habit without realizing it's happening), I now also attempt to use intuitive and feeling perceptions in every endeavor. By the way, in the last decade, your work has contributed greatly to my outlook in the matter of "connecting the dots" and tying such perceptions together. Thanks. ~~~~~ Footnote - Win Wenger: Regarding great composers playing by ear and improvising: Definitely not only Bach - In the year 1800, Daniel Steibelt, a rather full-of-himself Franco-Prussian musician and composer, came to Vienna to attempt to take over music there. He challenged Ludwig von Beethoven to a piano-playing duel. There he took a theme from one of Beethoven's pieces and did some improvisations on it to show how he thought Beethoven should have handled it. Beethoven's turn at the piano, he took a sheet of music at random from one of Steibelt's pieces, turned it upside down, and for a half hour ran off variation after astonishing variation. Steibelt slunk out of town and spent the rest of his life safely out of the way in Moscow. By the way, what Beethoven built out of Steibelt's music sheet turned upside down became the basis for Beethoven's great Third Symphony, the Eroica, which broke the back of classicism and launched the romantic movement in Euro-Western music. Ironically, it was Beethoven's own impatience with fellow musicians and performers of his age that led to the death of improvisation in classic forms of Euro-Western music. All composers used to designate cadenzas where the performer would go flying on his own, expressing his own special take on the piece he was playing. Beethoven couldn't get any of the performers of his time to come up with satisfactory cadenzas on his pieces, so he ended up writing in his own cadenzas into his musical scores, a practice which other composers thereafter followed. ~~~~~ Summary comments - Win Wenger: The topics of music, perceptual rapid flow-with-feedback, improvisation, and effects on parts of the brain having to do with intelligence and intellect are an utterly rich field in which many important discoveries are waiting to be made. Meanwhile, regardless of whether you are musical now, you can significantly improve your intelligence and your intellect by strongly involving yourself in music, and by practice of Improvitaping.
Computer game designers are being sought for our game program on music. Musicians are sought who are willing to test various of our procedures, not only Improvitaping. In this context are easy points of leverage through which to work major effects. And yes, music and the arts should be especially a key part of the experience of every child. Economizing moves that struck the arts from most public schooling have done most terrible harm to our country and to most of us living therein. ------------------------------------ To send feedback privately to Win Wenger, email to: mailto:wwenger101@aol.com?subject=MusicIQ To send feedback privately to Mike Estep, email to: mailto:professor_estep@yahoo.com?subject=MusicIQ To send your comments about this article to The Stream, write to: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=MusicIQ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ........................................................................ COMMENTS and FEEDBACK ~~~ Louise Marie Lalande ( mailto:louise@coCreations.net ) writes: My sense of the world resonates with your vision statement in www.winwenger.com/mission.htm . I believe we can help each other grow while seeking inspiration from the wonderment of life, nature, and inventions. Most important, I believe we can lead a more peaceful, healthy, happy and loving life if we choose so. It is my hope to plant these types of idea seeds by teaching and co-leading workshops that include creativity and play while incorporating meaningful viewpoints about our emotions, mind, body and spirit. This will provide others tools to shape their lives meaningfully through their individual, innate wisdom and guidance. ~~~ Jim Guinness ( mailto:jmg738@pobox.com ) writes: About 20 years ago I attended one of your workshops in the Boston area, and recently "rediscovered" your work. I'm so glad! I'm now a HS math teacher, I'd already been applying some of what you suggest without knowing it, but it's so helpful to have it made explicit! Thanks!!
At the end of Winsights #33 [ www.winwenger.com/part33.htm ] you say: "... it is now overwhelmingly clear to me that one of the very best things we can do for one another, in or out of the classroom context, is to listen to one another, with full attention, respect and regard. Really listen." This reminded me of a quote from the great Indian teacher, Nisargadatta Maharaj: "Do not undervalue attention. It means interest and also love. To know, to do, to discover, or to create, you must give your heart to it - which means attention. All the blessings flow from it." - Source: AlongTheWay.yahoogroups.com - Jim Guinness ( mailto:jmg738@pobox.com ) ~~~ Gabriel Grenier ( mailto:gabriel_grenier@yahoo.ca ) writes: I read The Einstein Factor when I was 16. At that time I was not quite good in English, but I read this book over and over until I fully grasped the content. I was astonished. This was exactly the kind of knowledge I needed. There was a résumé about the Photoreading method. It hooked me enough to order "Photoreading" by Paul R. Scheele. The number of books I was willing to read was increasing dramatically. Although I was spending more time reading than ever before, that was not enough. I gave a try to the Photoreading system. The first dozen were books I picked up randomly at the library. The results were good but not as outstanding as I was expecting, but I kept practicing. A few months later I was explaining the techniques to my grandmother, and she challenged me. She gave me a book and asked me how much time I would need. I said give me 30 minutes and you will have a one-page résumé written down on paper. I spent about 5 minutes photoreading, then I stopped and let it incubate for about 2-3 hours (they suggest to sleep on it, but I didn't have time to wait until the next day). I sat back in front of the book with a pen and a paper and activated it for 20 minutes while writing the résumé. I gave her a speech about the book with my résumé, and then she was convinced. I still photoread and enjoy the process. It's a real pleasure to activate a book - it's the hardest part but the most rewarding for me. You let your intuition guide you. I can read more books in less time. The benefits of Photoreading are more than just reading faster, coupled with Image- Streaming. They support each other. Give it a serious try and I think you won't be disappointed. - Gabriel Grenier ( mailto:gabriel_grenier@yahoo.ca ) ~~~ oddynius333 ( mailto:oddynius333@gmail.com ) writes: Photoreading is astounding! I was a skeptic also in 2004, when I had to take a comprehensive certification exam for graduate psychology. I had to review materials that I had not looked at since the 1970s, although I am a practicing psychotherapist for over 30 years. I felt I would fail the test, so I took Paul Scheele's Photoreading course. I passed the test with flying colors in September 2004!! I have expanded my reading in many subjects since then, as I used to not like reading. Now I read and photoread voraciously. How Image-Streaming fits in - I photoread the Einstein Factor in 2005, just for kicks. I realized, after I incubated it, that this book was no ordinary book. I read it over and over again, and now I Image-Stream constantly after I photoread books, from what I learned from Win Wenger's writings. ~~~ Win Wenger ( mailto:wwenger101@aol.com ) writes: How many teachers and former teachers are here in this group? How many of those present would be willing to teach with some of the Project Renaissance methods, especially our modern Socratic Method forms, including "Dynamic Format"-focused buzz-grouping and partnered cooperative activities - see www.winwenger.com/dynform.htm , www.winwenger.com/mutual.htm and www.winwenger.com/socmeth1.htm - and measure the results and report them? ( www.winwenger.com/validate.htm ) Is there anyone here interested in starting a school with our help? (Maybe a charter school, except in most states the people who get to pass on whether such a school can be accepted are the same people whose decisions have ruined the existing school system.) It's one thing to complain about how schools are failing, another to demonstrate live a working alternative. Don't think the existing schools can't get worse than they are - they are nearing abject collapse. Working alternatives need to be up and running and visible before that collapse happens, so people will know what to jump to instead of panicking and making matters worse. It's time NOW to get one or more of those working alternatives up, running and visible. Front channel or back channel, please write me now. Montgomery County in Maryland has just killed its one alternative school, a wilderness-based school which had done beautiful work here for more than a decade, including with one of my own daughters. The same system has also just killed its most outstanding after-school educational project, Hands-On Science, which had done absolutely brilliant work with younger children over the past twenty years. Our schools here are leading us deeper into the abyssmal Dark Ages. How are they where you are? - Win Wenger ( mailto:wwenger101@aol.com ) ~~~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To send your comments to The Stream for possible publication here, write to: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=Comments ........................................................................ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ORGANIZATIONAL NOTES ~~~ STOLEN IDENTITY! 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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 ~~~ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Project Renaissance home page | The Stream Index |