Most classes are conducted in a a very narrow zone. If the lesson for the day is on Shakespeare, then the class must revolve around only that. But not only is the orbit constricted to that one planet, it is also made to stick as close to it as possible.
The teacher conducting the class certainly thinks that this will give a better view of the topic/"planet." And in some ways it does; it forces the observer to see certain details and intricacies of the topic. However, this manner of looking at things is more restricting than helpful.
When we allow our minds to "wander" (a word that has become increasingly distasteful to use in the academic environment), we see more connections and gain a better understanding of the topic. Take, for example, our Tracings class. In the classroom anything is fair game. If one of our minds is brought from a discussion on Shakespeare to pizza, we let it happen and we are consistently rewarded for this practice. Our minds are so much more complex and aware than we are aware of (hence the term subconscious), and for our thoughts to suddenly turn to pizza, as in the example, we must trust that there is a reason: some thread of connection that brought us there.
This trust in our initial reactions is the key aspect to improvisational acting. When learning how to become a better improv actor, the main focus is that you learn to go with whatever first comes to your mind. You may see that first thought and think, "Hmm.. I could come up with something funnier" and try to do so, but the most successful of improv actors are consistently those who go with their initial thought. Why is this? It's because of the same reasons stated above! We may not consciously realize why we made that connection or why we would want to say those words, but if it was the first thing to come to mind there is certainly some reason why.
Humans hold the title of the most evolved of animals. However, part of our evolution has pushed us to suppress our instinctual reactions in favor of more thought out ones. We see this in the examples I stated above as well as in studies done in testing (the results show that on questions in which students do not know the answer, those who go with their first guess do much better than those who go with their second/third/etc guess for the answer) that our mind is smarter, persay, than we give it credit for. Go with your gut. Go on tangents. Get "off-topic." Because in the end, everything is connected in one way or another and therefore nothing is off-topic. Zooming out and exploring ideas that seem to have no connection with the topic at all will only lead to a better, fuller understanding of it. It's hard to see the image a puzzle makes if you are looking at it under a microscope.
When we allow our minds to "wander" (a word that has become increasingly distasteful to use in the academic environment), we see more connections and gain a better understanding of the topic. Take, for example, our Tracings class. In the classroom anything is fair game. If one of our minds is brought from a discussion on Shakespeare to pizza, we let it happen and we are consistently rewarded for this practice. Our minds are so much more complex and aware than we are aware of (hence the term subconscious), and for our thoughts to suddenly turn to pizza, as in the example, we must trust that there is a reason: some thread of connection that brought us there.
This trust in our initial reactions is the key aspect to improvisational acting. When learning how to become a better improv actor, the main focus is that you learn to go with whatever first comes to your mind. You may see that first thought and think, "Hmm.. I could come up with something funnier" and try to do so, but the most successful of improv actors are consistently those who go with their initial thought. Why is this? It's because of the same reasons stated above! We may not consciously realize why we made that connection or why we would want to say those words, but if it was the first thing to come to mind there is certainly some reason why.
Humans hold the title of the most evolved of animals. However, part of our evolution has pushed us to suppress our instinctual reactions in favor of more thought out ones. We see this in the examples I stated above as well as in studies done in testing (the results show that on questions in which students do not know the answer, those who go with their first guess do much better than those who go with their second/third/etc guess for the answer) that our mind is smarter, persay, than we give it credit for. Go with your gut. Go on tangents. Get "off-topic." Because in the end, everything is connected in one way or another and therefore nothing is off-topic. Zooming out and exploring ideas that seem to have no connection with the topic at all will only lead to a better, fuller understanding of it. It's hard to see the image a puzzle makes if you are looking at it under a microscope.
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