Ok, must say for starters that I was not particularly taken by this task. I can most certainly understand why we needed to do it and what purpose it filled, but as for mind mapping? To hell with it and bring back the good ol' spider diagram! I'd not known there was a particular difference between the two, but Tony Buzan has taught me that I'm a messy thinker (apparently) and that the way I think is too cluttered, or words to that effect. I didn't like his method of mapping out; I think the method should be based purely on what the student feels most comfortable with and I ended up getting really confused (not a rare occurance) with this particular way of working. I tried (and failed) several times to start it, but couldn't get into his way of thinking so ended up doing a draft and then a final copy. He mentions that in the book this is fine to do, but to me, seems an utter waste of time.
I really enjoyed 'The Tipping Point'. Took aggges to get into and I did have to start it a couple of times as my mind (occasionally) tends to wander ... Look! Look! Something shiny!! But once I'd conquered those first couple of chapters, t'were quite an enjoyable journey through the land of gonorrhea, syphilis, Hush Puppies, Sesame Street and teenage suicide in Micronesia.
So, here is my attempt at the mind map. It's quite colourful, but then I found that helped me to sort the individual chapters of the book and see exactly where one chain was going and another began. It'll still take me a while to fully embrace it though; I'm rather stuck in my ways when it comes to studying. However, I'm supposed to be an open minded individual, so perhaps Tony and I will become best pals and together take on the bastarding world of essays, exams and other mind numbingly tedious formalities. Who knows?
Heh heh, yes it's not uncommon to react in this way (and I agree Tony can be a bit patronising in his approach), but stick with it. Your mind maps are really nice to look at (is that your own style or were you copying from one of the examples? I think allowing yourself to develop your own approach is maybe the key).
ReplyDeleteThe test will be in a week or so when you look back at the mind map and are (hopefully) able to recall details without any effort.
People are different - I like lists, but I also use mind maps as a way of thinking about something differently. So a useful tool to have in your arsenal. We're not trying to force you to use this method, only to try it. If it's not for you, well okay. But at least you tried it...