Achievements and Accomplishments Thread

[lalatan]

Think this is the first time I've gotten over a hundred UR words while getting a 16/30 and a 15/28.

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Definitely a noteworthy achievement. Congrats!! I compare it with Mauna Loa. This peak is visible and impressive but there is a gigantic base of knowledge and study that supports it and is unseen.

[lalatan]

As for me I'm still playing a little (I was elected president of a nearly 50 year old volunteer based 501C3 and that has kept me quite busy and was one of the main reasons I had to pull back from the competition) (so much for retirement ) and still looking only for big words.
I also read the Word Twist related forums and occasionally look in on the big word competitions to keep track of (hope I'm not being presumptuous) all my Word Twist friends including lalatan,( I still love playing "what word did lalatan get) spike1007, dasan, youself (kjambur), crazykate, bwt1213, DrPlacebo, Naboka, 2cute, and too many more for my sore fingers to list.

I'm glad you are still in the game! I also enjoy playing what word will lalatan find. Congrats on your presidency.

[Naboka]

Definitely a noteworthy achievement. Congrats!! I compare it with Mauna Loa. This peak is visible and impressive but there is a gigantic base of knowledge and study that supports it and is unseen.

Thanks. Appreciate that. Takes someone who's actually made the journey to understand the efforts involved. The work you've done to reach the longword peaks you have is definitely underappreciated.

Saw a Weatherchannel program on mountains, which included Mauna Loa. Interesting how we determine the actual height of a mountain and the factors involved--such as the center bulge of the planet which makes things further from the Earth's center point.

Working with kindergarteners has increased my fascination with learning and proficiency. How do we actually learn? And why are some more inclined to absorb information and improve their skills? We've had plenty of very smart kids who just weren't really interested in learning. They learned. But, only a fraction of what their ability would have predicted. Then some kids just light up with pleasure when they learn.

The idea of 10,000 hours to mastery is misleading. Ten thousand hours of what? Efficient practise and analysis of the skills and knowledge required, coupled with a continuous examination of results leading to corrections of those elements which are least effective and a continuous reinforcement of those elements which are most effective? Or just going through the motions and making adjustments by default rather than focused analysis and correction?

Most people don't absorb much of what they read. You have them read a page and test them on its contents only to discover they didn't really get it all. Others can read that page and repeat back nearly every detail. So, 10,000 hours of reading will produce dramatically different outcomes in gained knowledge.

For some people, learning is almost an addiction. All of us feel a degree of pleasure from understanding. But the pleasure feedback differs from individual to individual. For some it's like a candle in a cave, for others it's like stadium lighting at the World Series.

For some, learning is almost an addiction: all that pleasurable feedback.

Of course, with computers thinking for us, letting programs perform our tasks and thinking has become more and more tempting. Why do the work when you can have a program do it for you? Computers probably have an adverse affect on our ability and willingness to think for ourselves.

Most people don't realize that thinking is a skill like any other. We can all move our bodies, we can walk and get up from a chair. But we can't do the things Simone Biles does, or the crazy things parkour athletes do. Most of us think at a rudimentary level, where others think at the equivalent of elite athletes.

Why are some driven to maximize their talents and others aren't? Got no clue.

But people who maximize their skill sets realize that it takes lots and lots and lots of practise and work. It's not accidental or God given. But reaching those goals, no matter how painful and tedious the journey, makes it all worthwhile.

Though, there are many ways to reach the top of a mountain, it's probably more satisfying to have climbed it than taking a helicopter ride. Though, there are those who catch a ride to the top and pretend they actually made the climb.

I could go on and on with this stuff: 30 pages, 100, 500. There's just so much to know and understand, so much to examine.

But...

Back to playing the game of What Word Did Lalaten Find.

[lalatan]

Saw a Weatherchannel program on mountains, which included Mauna Loa. Interesting how we determine the actual height of a mountain and the factors involved--such as the center bulge of the planet which makes things further from the Earth's center point.

I chose Mauna Loa because it's the world's largest active volcano by mass and volume. They estimate its volume as 18k cubic miles. Most of its height is underwater: 16.4k ft of its total 30.1k ft from base to summit. And of course most of its volume is underwater as well. What I didn't know before was this: "its mass depresses the crust beneath it by another 8 km (5 mi), in the shape of an inverse mountain, meaning the total height of Mauna Loa from the start of its eruptive history is about 17,170 m (56,000 ft)."

Working with kindergarteners has increased my fascination with learning and proficiency. How do we actually learn? And why are some more inclined to absorb information and improve their skills? We've had plenty of very smart kids who just weren't really interested in learning. They learned. But, only a fraction of what their ability would have predicted. Then some kids just light up with pleasure when they learn.

I always find your kindergarten observations interesting, maybe even more so now that my wife works part-time as a teacher assistant.

The idea of 10,000 hours to mastery is misleading. Ten thousand hours of what? Efficient practise and analysis of the skills and knowledge required, coupled with a continuous examination of results leading to corrections of those elements which are least effective and a continuous reinforcement of those elements which are most effective? Or just going through the motions and making adjustments by default rather than focused analysis and correction?

Agreed.

For some people, learning is almost an addiction. All of us feel a degree of pleasure from understanding. But the pleasure feedback differs from individual to individual. For some it's like a candle in a cave, for others it's like stadium lighting at the World Series...

Why are some driven to maximize their talents and others aren't? Got no clue.

When I was a kid I voluntarily read encyclopedias and the dictionary. Haha, I never heard of anyone else in my 70 years who did that, although I'd venture a guess that there are others on this forum who have. I don't know why I have been a lifelong learner because nobody else in my family was. All my life I read articles and watched documentaries. I found it has helped a lot with my living skills.

But people who maximize their skill sets realize that it takes lots and lots and lots of practise and work. It's not accidental or God given. But reaching those goals, no matter how painful and tedious the journey, makes it all worthwhile.

Though, there are many ways to reach the top of a mountain, it's probably more satisfying to have climbed it than taking a helicopter ride. Though, there are those who catch a ride to the top and pretend they actually made the climb.

I scrambled (climbing with no ropes) to the top of a mountain twice, 1 of them 3 times. I have to admit it's an almost godlike experience, looking down on people and cars that looked like ants 3,300 ft below. I had an opportunity to fly to the top of mountain in a chopper but my wife said it was too expensive. I regret not doing it. I hiked on 2 different glaciers; 1 I took a bus to get on it. The other I climbed onto. The solo climb was more satisfying but I enjoyed the ease of riding a bus.

I could go on and on with this stuff: 30 pages, 100, 500. There's just so much to know and understand, so much to examine.

But...

Back to playing the game of What Word Did Lalaten Find.

lol

[bwt1213]

When I was a kid, I read encylopedias and dictionaries, too. Even read the Oxford Unabridged dictionary once -- took me years. As a young adult, bought my very own copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica so I could read it at home at my leisure, and then did so. Every year, when they had their annual update edition, I was sure to buy that and read it, too. I didn't stop that practice until perhaps 20 years ago. I can't claim I can remember everything I've read, but I sometimes surprise myself.

[Naboka]

When I was a kid, I read encylopedias and dictionaries, too. Even read the Oxford Unabridged dictionary once -- took me years. As a young adult, bought my very own copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica so I could read it at home at my leisure, and then did so. Every year, when they had their annual update edition, I was sure to buy that and read it, too. I didn't stop that practice until perhaps 20 years ago. I can't claim I can remember everything I've read, but I sometimes surprise myself.

You and lalatan reading dictionaries and encylopedias as kids is impressive. Mostly, I spent my formative years goofing off, getting into trouble and taking long hikes along railroad tracks and into the woods. An unidealized version of something from Spielberg's imagination. Sometimes we explored that maze of the drainage system that ran beneath the highway.

Being poor white trash, we didn't have a lot of academic influences. Think if I got a C on the report card my parents would have been happy as I consistently set the bar looow.

We'd often get the large refrigerator cardboard boxes from the appliance store and turn them into whatever. The "whatever" usually reached a denouemnet (from becoming sufficiently flexible) by serving as a "tank" --which was battle tested by setting the hillsides along the freeway on fire and rolling through the flames. Fortunately, our carelessness never had worse consequences than a mildly blackened landscape.

My favorite encyclopedia will remain the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia from the late 1800's to early 1900's. Not even the OED seemed to capture the english language with such finesse and insight.

But, my interest in words didn't occur until I was 18 and asked an upper-middle-class co-worker who seemed to know unusual words if there was a word for someone who loved women. He didn't hesitate. Philogynist.

And the flame was lit.

On another note:

Just ran across this board, so this post will serve double duty.

Shocked to see any of my games reach 39 plays with me having the most words. (And there are only 80 words from a game with 140 UR's.) Also had the longest/best word which was unusual enough that I had logged it. The game dates back to July of 2023--a habit I picked up from lalatan.

No idea as to how many times it had been played then, but reaching 39 in more than a year suggests it wasn't many. That's a loooong time for something I play to last so long. Think there are a number of skilled head hunters who like knocking off my games.

But the thing that surprises me the most is retaining most words. Most words just ain't my thang. So I'm a bit thrilled.

Unfortunately, it still has one more play to earn retirement. So...

But for just this moment... Bliss.

ps: lalatan, yeah, those kindergarten experiences are intriguing. so much to learn from them. Think I learn more from them than they do from me.

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[kjambur]

Lalatan, Folkslinger et al... sorry for the delay in acknowledging your appreciation. I moved to the UAE in Jan this year and am now in India for what was supposed to be a 2-week trip but got extended to a month-long work-cation Haven't had time to even log in here. See you guys soon. On a lighter note: When will we have a 6x6 board???

[lalatan]

Here's my contribution to the "look what I found after the board was played 40x" collection. I don't make an attempt unless the stats indicate there is a strong possibility of a higher scoring best word and this qualified. Not even an exotic word. Interesting how that happens...

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