21.07.2021
About positive reinforcement, motivation, and heart-eyes.
The first time I showed up to learn to dance in sky-high heels, Lyosha, the teacher, did a cool thing with the group. Every time someone danced in front of the others (and we split into groups and did this really often), the audience had to watch the performer with adoring eyes and mentally send them rays of support. Especially if someone was dancing solo. «It's scary. They're so brave to get up and dance. Put your phones down and let's cheer them on with everything we've got». Getting 30 strangers to cheer each other on isn't easy, but Lyosha kept actively reminding us every time. At first it seemed to me like plastic silliness — obviously the adoring eyes are fake, so what's the point? A couple of weeks of the course went by. December, loads of work, the end of the year, and I suddenly noticed I had a ton of energy, enough to move any mountains, when usually in December I barely crawl around. And then I realised that this strength came from 6 hours a week of feeling accepted. I couldn't care less that it's artificial — it's like vitamin D, it just gives you a whole, whole lot of strength and energy.
And today I started a post-writing marathon at Content Heroes, and in the chat a bot, an absolutely soulless bot, walks you through the first steps and publicly cheers you on with various phrases like «awesome, we'll be following your progress 💪». It's amazing, I believe in behaviourism and plastic again, and that in the near future I'll work some kind of magic with tests.
On positive reinforcement, there's a great, very simple game — the dolphin game from the book «Don't Growl at the Dog». It's played by the audience, the dolphin, and the trainer. The audience thinks up some action for the trainer. For example, that the dolphin has to take a vase off the shelf, turn it over, and set it on the floor. The trainer has a signal for approval, a clap, say. The trainer can't do or say anything else. The dolphin «swims» around the room, the trainer claps, and the goal is for the dolphin to perform the intended action. Give it a try, it's a great workout in how positive reinforcement works, what happens if the trainer makes a mistake, and so on.
😻😻😻😻😻😻