Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Microblog #45, "Things That Make Us Smart, Chapters 3-4"

4
Summary
This chapter covers reflection; that is, external aids to thought. It is fairly detailed, with an emphasis out contradicting intuitive wisdom, or what seems like such today.

Discussion
The strongest chapter of this book so far, making a bunch of good points. I had difficulty with tic tac toe example (even though I knew that was what it was, I couldn't remember which value went to which square). I did, however, find the paragraph more helpful than the visual on page 61.

5
Summary
This chapter covers much the same material as the previous, only from the other end. That is, he discusses how artifacts can be made optimal for humans, rather than the way humans interact with artifacts.

Discussion
This was another strong chapter, although I've heard all the affordance stuff before. I wonder if the televisions of 1993 worked differently than today; my television has a perceptual difference between "off" black and "no picture" black.

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