Topic "Keeping One Step Ahead - Connect The Dots"

Find us: Look for a small black yoga ball on the table. City Cross Food Court at 6:30pm on Friday evenings is quiet - good for talking. You don't have to buy anything. This meetup has the formmat of a 10 minute presentation followed by informal discussion. A list of 10 possible discussion points, plus some links, is provided (see below). The main home of Present & Discuss is a Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/497784706090301

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P&D-06 Keeping One Step Ahead - Connect The Dots 24 & 28 October 2025

Format: A 10 minute presentation by Thor, followed by open discussion. Different viewpoints are welcome.

Recommended viewing: Christian Busch (16 Jun 2022) "Connect the Dots: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck" TEDx @

Talking Points:

1. Humans are insanely rational. In fact their rationality can be absolutely insane - often. How does this happen? Examples?

2. The diagram accompanying this topic shows three different kinds of network organization (technically called network typologies). These different kinds of network draw their logic from exactly the same source of dots. Network typologies are widely used in technology & science. However we can also apply then to human thinking. What do these competing networks tell you about the use of "reason" in human thinking?

3. How is propaganda used to "connect the dots" to deceive naive individuals? Examples?

4. If you delve into almost any area of medicine, sports science, psychology, economics, history ... or any research area, you will find fiercely competing models and theories claiming to explain the same set of "facts" or observations. What is going on? How should we interpret competing ideas like this?

5. Many people like to solve simple puzzles for entertainment, yet they seem unable to connect the dots when it comes to predicting events, or the behaviour of public figures. Why? Do you think that they can be trained to be better at event prediction?

6. What kind of problem solving do you find hardest, and what problem solving do you find easiest? What makes some problems harder for you?

7. To understand a joke, you have to connect the dots. Some people are good at this, and some never get it. Why? [Note that the topics of humour may be different in different cultures, but the mental skill needed to understand jokes is constant.]

8. When you are in an unfamiliar situation, or new work environment, or especially in a new country, quite often you will fail to connect the dots which locals see instantly. What is the best way to overcome your handicap in this kind of arena?

9. What are some situations where a person may deliberately pretend not to understand what is going on, or what they have been asked? [Hint: a famous aphorism is ""It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair.] Examples?

10. We would all like to predict something in the future. Some people are better at this than others. Think of examples of "some dots you need to connect" to predict a future situation.

Recommended Viewing & Reading

Spark (11 Jun 2014: "Steve Jobs Connect the Dots" - The first part of Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech. This is the first of the three stories from his life, about Connecting the Dots. @

Christian Busch (16 Jun 2022) "Connect the Dots: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck" TEDx @

AI Fintech World Group (May 2025) "AI and Serendipity: When Machines Help Us Discover the Unexpected." AI WORLD JOURNAL -

https://aiworldjournal.com/ai-and-ser...

@

Mo Gawdat [Former Chief Business Officer of Google] (13 Oct 2025) Life as We Know It Is Ending—Here’s What’s Next" @

Craig Barkacs (September 1, 2024) "" Critical Thinking Is All About “Connecting the Dots” - Why memory is the missing piece in teaching critical thinking." @ https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/power-and-influence/202407/critical-thinking-is-all-about-connecting-the-dots

Retro Typologies (n.d.) "History of Network Typologies" @ https://retroshare.readthedocs.io/en/latest/concept/topology/#history-of-network-topologys

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