0:00:14.175,0:00:16.315
We have incredible potential.

0:00:17.176,0:00:19.186
But how much do we really know

0:00:19.186,0:00:24.025
about what are the most effective ways[br]for us to extract this potential?

0:00:24.025,0:00:26.746
To overcome obstacles?[br]To reach our goals?

0:00:26.746,0:00:29.656
To change as we need[br]to change along the way?

0:00:29.656,0:00:31.617
To learn? To evolve?

0:00:31.996,0:00:34.967
I'm a professor of computer science,

0:00:34.967,0:00:38.188
and my area of research[br]is quantum computation.

0:00:39.229,0:00:41.599
No, it's not computers[br]that don't exist yet.

0:00:41.599,0:00:45.350
But imagine computers[br]that will take one second

0:00:45.350,0:00:47.720
to solve certain computational tasks

0:00:47.720,0:00:50.360
that the fastest[br]supercomputer in the world

0:00:50.360,0:00:53.010
will take zillions of years to solve.

0:00:53.420,0:00:55.110
Thousands of researchers

0:00:55.110,0:00:58.230
all over the world are now trying[br]to build those computers,

0:00:58.230,0:01:01.916
and also trying to understand[br]what you will be able to do with them

0:01:01.916,0:01:04.512
if and when we manage to build them.

0:01:05.622,0:01:08.822
I deal with difficult challenges[br]on a daily basis.

0:01:08.822,0:01:12.838
I'm really interested[br]in trying to find ways

0:01:12.838,0:01:16.972
to overcome obstacles, and learning,[br]which are more effective.

0:01:18.942,0:01:22.642
Now, during my career[br]I've had ups and downs.

0:01:23.712,0:01:26.961
I was fortunate enough to have[br]a very, very successful PhD.

0:01:26.961,0:01:31.204
But immediately after my PhD,[br]I went into this numb period

0:01:31.204,0:01:34.133
in which nothing seemed to actually work,

0:01:35.011,0:01:37.722
even though I was putting[br]a lot of effort into it.

0:01:38.482,0:01:41.142
My friend came to me and told me

0:01:41.592,0:01:47.115
"Dorit, you've painted[br]a very beautiful picture in your PhD.

0:01:47.115,0:01:48.995
But you're putting in too much effort.

0:01:49.685,0:01:54.966
Maybe it's time to let go, sign it up,[br]and move on to the next picture."

0:01:55.285,0:01:58.480
And he was right; I was clinging[br]to it with all my might.

0:01:58.480,0:02:00.604
I was applying a lot of force.

0:02:00.604,0:02:02.744
That's one way of applying force.

0:02:03.084,0:02:06.206
But we do that all the time[br]in many, many different contexts

0:02:06.206,0:02:08.552
and many variations.

0:02:08.982,0:02:11.376
Imagine yourself opening a drawer.

0:02:11.886,0:02:13.256
You try to open it.

0:02:13.256,0:02:14.506
It doesn't open.

0:02:14.816,0:02:15.640
It's stuck.

0:02:15.640,0:02:16.856
What do you do?

0:02:16.856,0:02:18.147
You try harder.

0:02:18.147,0:02:21.177
And if it doesn't work,[br]you try even harder.

0:02:21.177,0:02:22.667
It might even break.

0:02:23.597,0:02:25.885
You tell yourself[br]you have to finish an exercise,

0:02:25.885,0:02:28.027
so you force yourself to do it.

0:02:28.027,0:02:32.656
You want to go on a diet,[br]you force yourself to do it.

0:02:32.826,0:02:34.506
You need to finish this book

0:02:34.506,0:02:37.446
that's been lying[br]near your bed for a month,

0:02:37.446,0:02:39.366
you force yourself to do it.

0:02:39.647,0:02:44.468
I'm not saying that as a criticism,[br]it's just an observation.

0:02:44.468,0:02:47.929
We see this all around us,[br]it's something very natural for us to do,

0:02:47.929,0:02:50.658
and that's what we've probably[br]been told to do

0:02:50.658,0:02:53.119
many times when we were very young.

0:02:54.057,0:02:58.537
But we lose a lot[br]from this forceful approach.

0:02:58.537,0:03:00.418
We lose a lot in quality.

0:03:00.908,0:03:03.958
We lose our sensitivity, our creativity.

0:03:03.958,0:03:08.138
Imagine a kid who hates mathematics

0:03:08.138,0:03:11.737
and is forced to do[br]a mathematical exercise.

0:03:11.737,0:03:13.883
It's not a very pretty[br]sight to see, right?

0:03:13.883,0:03:16.368
It's not inspiring.

0:03:16.368,0:03:19.558
It's as if some other part[br]of his brain has taken over him,

0:03:19.558,0:03:23.788
and it's doing the job[br]but it's doing it very, very poorly.

0:03:24.492,0:03:30.240
But there's a different kind[br]of thinking and learning

0:03:30.460,0:03:34.369
which is much more connected to ourselves,[br]and much more attentive,

0:03:35.949,0:03:37.639
and of a much higher quality -

0:03:37.969,0:03:41.157
something which is much more connected,[br]much more attentive;

0:03:42.387,0:03:44.948
it's more sensitive and more creative.

0:03:44.948,0:03:50.609
I want to give you an experience[br]of such a learning and thinking process

0:03:50.609,0:03:52.139
which is not forced.

0:03:59.969,0:04:03.429
I'm holding a glass of water[br]here in front of you,

0:04:03.429,0:04:06.790
and I'm going to rotate[br]this glass around itself

0:04:06.790,0:04:11.305
without spilling the water, and without[br]detaching my hand from the glass.

0:04:11.305,0:04:12.871
Here, watch me do it.

0:04:16.391,0:04:18.101
Good, worked the first time.

0:04:19.894,0:04:21.480
Now I have a question for you.

0:04:22.280,0:04:25.071
How many times did the glass[br]rotate around itself?

0:04:25.511,0:04:27.341
I'll let you watch me do it again.[br]

0:04:27.341,0:04:28.571
Watch carefully.

0:04:31.891,0:04:32.995
Okay.

0:04:37.321,0:04:39.600
It doesn't matter;[br]the answer doesn't matter.

0:04:39.600,0:04:45.372
The point is that my question - if you're[br]curious and intrigued by the movement -

0:04:45.372,0:04:49.852
my question triggered some spontaneous[br]thinking process inside you

0:04:49.852,0:04:52.622
that was unforced.

0:04:52.622,0:04:55.181
It was something[br]connected to your curiosity

0:04:55.181,0:04:57.632
and something that came from within.

0:04:58.341,0:05:00.662
The answer, by the way, is two.

0:05:02.192,0:05:06.152
I'm looking for ways to maintain[br]those kind of qualities -

0:05:06.152,0:05:10.822
sensitivity, creativity -[br]those connections within us,

0:05:10.822,0:05:13.802
not only with such simple exercises,

0:05:13.802,0:05:18.443
but also in front of the hardest obstacles[br]that we want to overcome.

0:05:18.873,0:05:21.773
For that matter, let me[br]move on to my other passion.

0:05:22.193,0:05:24.892
I've done body-mind methods for years.

0:05:24.892,0:05:29.422
I practice tai chi,[br]king fu, yoga, Feldenkrais.

0:05:29.782,0:05:34.083
One day, my kung fu teacher came to me -[br]it was while I was doing this kick -

0:05:34.953,0:05:36.073
and he told me,

0:05:36.073,0:05:40.304
"Dorit, pay attention to how[br]you return your leg back from the kick."

0:05:41.424,0:05:46.045
Now, actually, I never even knew[br]I'm returning my leg back from the kick.

0:05:46.045,0:05:49.830
It always seemed to me like my kick[br]ended with my leg up in the air,

0:05:49.830,0:05:51.644
and the rest didn't exist.

0:05:52.169,0:05:57.567
And then it occurred to me,[br]it's exactly how I operate in life.

0:05:57.567,0:05:59.465
I throw myself into challenges,

0:05:59.465,0:06:02.635
and then I don't care about[br]how I come back from them.

0:06:03.656,0:06:06.896
What we do with our physical body,[br]our physical patterns,

0:06:06.896,0:06:12.327
are actually intimately connected[br]to how we interact with life in general.

0:06:13.110,0:06:18.986
I want to give you four principles[br]I've extracted from body-mind methods.

0:06:19.376,0:06:23.896
And those principles, I think,[br]are very useful for overcoming obstacles

0:06:23.896,0:06:26.446
and learning in general

0:06:27.237,0:06:33.027
while maintaining your sensitivity,[br]and creativity, and capabilities,

0:06:33.027,0:06:35.518
even in front of very difficult obstacles.

0:06:35.518,0:06:39.896
Now, those principles don't only apply[br]to physical movement,

0:06:39.896,0:06:44.164
I think they apply to overcoming[br]challenges in general.

0:06:44.417,0:06:47.576
In fact, they also apply[br]to my scientific research

0:06:47.576,0:06:49.437
and for learning mathematics.

0:06:51.220,0:06:55.087
I'm going to give you an example[br]coming from a Feldenkrais lesson

0:06:55.087,0:06:57.860
and extract the principles[br]from it one by one.

0:06:58.776,0:07:01.076
I'm just taking Feldenkrais as an example;

0:07:01.846,0:07:04.948
I could have taken other[br]body-mind methods as well,

0:07:05.428,0:07:07.848
but this is a particularly[br]illuminating example.

0:07:09.226,0:07:12.544
You see here my Feldenkrais[br]teacher, Eilat Almagor,

0:07:12.940,0:07:16.110
and she's giving a lesson[br]to a child called Yuval.

0:07:17.542,0:07:23.691
Yuval came to the lesson with some kind[br]of asymmetry in the way he's sitting.

0:07:24.098,0:07:27.903
He finds it difficult to lean[br]on his left sitting bone.

0:07:28.253,0:07:30.353
He leans on his right sitting bone.

0:07:30.833,0:07:35.822
That means that he can't take his right[br]leg to the right, like that, while sitting

0:07:35.822,0:07:38.154
because he can't lift[br]his right sitting bone.

0:07:38.782,0:07:40.744
By the end of the lesson, however,

0:07:40.744,0:07:45.623
Yuval actually brings his right leg[br]to the right on his own.

0:07:45.623,0:07:49.323
I want to give you the key steps[br]of what's going on in the lesson,

0:07:49.323,0:07:52.345
and walk you through those key steps,

0:07:52.345,0:07:55.233
and extract the principles one by one.

0:07:56.265,0:07:57.985
(Video) Dorit Aharonov: Eilat starts

0:07:57.985,0:08:00.335
by working with Yuval's[br]right sitting bone.

0:08:00.335,0:08:02.315
Now this might seem counterintuitive

0:08:02.315,0:08:06.274
because Yuval already knows[br]how to lean on his right sitting bone.

0:08:07.664,0:08:09.836
(On stage) DA: You might think[br]that this means

0:08:09.836,0:08:13.416
that he will actually move[br]further to the right.

0:08:13.416,0:08:17.686
And indeed, a little bit later,[br]he does move further to the right.

0:08:18.196,0:08:19.537
First principle:

0:08:19.537,0:08:24.548
Start within your comfort zone,[br]and make it even more comfortable.

0:08:24.933,0:08:26.497
The next thing that Eilat does,[br]

0:08:26.497,0:08:30.317
is now that Yuval is very comfortable[br]with where he is,

0:08:30.317,0:08:36.429
she inserts one little new ingredient[br]into his scenario.

0:08:36.429,0:08:41.412
She just lets him feel that he can[br]be supported in his left sitting bone.

0:08:42.238,0:08:44.649
But this is done within his comfort zone.

0:08:45.859,0:08:49.219
She just picks one[br]little thing to add to it.

0:08:49.700,0:08:54.270
Pick a challenge which[br]is interesting, within your reach,

0:08:54.270,0:08:56.480
not too easy, not too hard.

0:08:57.720,0:09:00.809
The next thing that Eilat does[br]might look a bit weird.

0:09:00.809,0:09:04.222
She lifts Yuval up in the air[br]and lets him fall,

0:09:04.222,0:09:06.321
and she does it from various directions.

0:09:06.830,0:09:08.161
Now what she actually does,

0:09:08.161,0:09:12.161
is she takes him away[br]from what he has just learned,

0:09:12.161,0:09:13.941
to lean on both his sitting bones,

0:09:13.941,0:09:18.002
and lets him know that he can return back[br]to what he just learned

0:09:18.002,0:09:19.589
from different directions.

0:09:19.899,0:09:21.320
Third principle:

0:09:21.320,0:09:23.581
Move away from your desired goal,

0:09:23.581,0:09:26.131
and come back to it[br]from different directions.

0:09:26.891,0:09:31.081
Now, you might have noticed[br]that during the whole time,

0:09:31.081,0:09:36.128
Yuval continues to play,[br]and do various things, and move.

0:09:36.388,0:09:39.171
It's all happening[br]within his comfort zone.

0:09:39.561,0:09:42.847
He integrates everything[br]that he's learning into his own life.

0:09:42.847,0:09:44.363
Fourth and last principle:

0:09:44.683,0:09:47.523
Play with it, connect it[br]to everything you know,

0:09:47.523,0:09:48.715
make it your own.

0:09:49.043,0:09:54.172
A little bit later, Yuval takes his leg[br]to the right on his own.

0:09:54.432,0:09:57.132
The movement has already become his own.

0:09:57.643,0:09:59.843
I want to repeat those four principles.

0:10:00.703,0:10:04.453
Start within your comfort zone[br]and make it even more comfortable.

0:10:05.973,0:10:07.133
Second principle:

0:10:07.773,0:10:09.772
Not too easy, not too hard:

0:10:09.772,0:10:12.722
Pick an interesting challenge[br]within your reach.

0:10:14.193,0:10:15.289
Third principle:

0:10:15.289,0:10:20.079
Move away from your desired goal,[br]and come back to it from different angles.

0:10:20.649,0:10:22.044
Fourth principle:

0:10:22.044,0:10:24.734
Play with it, connect it,[br]make it your own.

0:10:25.888,0:10:31.174
Okay, now these principles,[br]they're effective, as you've seen,

0:10:31.174,0:10:33.002
in the context of movement.

0:10:33.002,0:10:36.304
But I find them to be very, very effective[br]also in other contexts.

0:10:36.304,0:10:38.874
And in particular,[br]in my scientific research,

0:10:38.874,0:10:41.144
and in the context[br]of mathematics in general.

0:10:41.484,0:10:43.159
Now, I want to give you an example

0:10:43.159,0:10:46.873
of how to use those principles[br]in the context of mathematics,

0:10:47.483,0:10:49.173
in the context of a small riddle.

0:10:50.004,0:10:52.314
Once upon a time, there was a queen.

0:10:53.638,0:10:57.704
The queen ruled her island because[br]she was the only one on the island

0:10:57.704,0:10:59.914
who knew how to do the following trick.

0:10:59.914,0:11:03.343
She had two cubes;[br]each cube had six faces,

0:11:03.343,0:11:05.723
and on each face,[br]there is a digit written.

0:11:06.154,0:11:09.643
Now, what she knew[br]how to do with those cubes

0:11:09.643,0:11:15.444
is she knew how to represent[br]all dates in the month with those cubes.

0:11:15.928,0:11:20.674
Now, this is a bit confusing because[br]there are only six faces on each cube,

0:11:20.674,0:11:22.933
and there are ten digits to write on them,

0:11:22.933,0:11:24.603
so how did she do that?

0:11:25.183,0:11:30.458
I want to solve this riddle with you[br]using the principles that I've just shown,

0:11:30.458,0:11:34.810
and I'll have this place here[br]at the top corner of the screen

0:11:34.810,0:11:37.973
where the principle[br]that we're now using will be written.

0:11:39.042,0:11:40.924
So that you can keep track of it.

0:11:41.634,0:11:43.345
We start with what we need to do.

0:11:44.549,0:11:49.136
We need to write six digits on each cube[br]so I make space for those digits,

0:11:49.576,0:11:50.796
six for each cube.

0:11:51.221,0:11:54.715
Now let's start[br]with a very, very small step.

0:11:54.715,0:11:58.025
Let's just write the first date - 01.

0:11:58.556,0:12:02.336
So we need a 0 on the first cube,[br]and we need a 1 on the second cube

0:12:02.336,0:12:03.556
so we do that.

0:12:03.916,0:12:07.736
Well that was easy enough,[br]so let's continue this way.

0:12:08.376,0:12:13.355
We can also write 02, 03, 04, 05.

0:12:15.115,0:12:19.485
Okay, but we can't continue like that[br]for all dates that start with 0,

0:12:19.485,0:12:22.126
there's just not enough room[br]in the right cube.

0:12:22.396,0:12:27.465
So now we see that we can[br]identify a simple goal

0:12:27.465,0:12:30.608
that is still something interesting[br]that we don't know how to do.

0:12:31.330,0:12:36.883
Let's try to represent[br]all the dates that start with 0 -

0:12:37.277,0:12:39.316
the left-most column.

0:12:40.994,0:12:45.258
We see that we can't just do that[br]with just one 0 on one cube,

0:12:45.258,0:12:48.718
but if we add one 0 on the right cube,

0:12:48.718,0:12:52.458
then you can combine it[br]with all the digits

0:12:52.458,0:12:54.989
by putting all the other digits[br]on the left cube.

0:12:54.989,0:12:57.338
So now we are done with the left column.

0:12:58.189,0:13:03.129
But we can take this idea of having[br]0 on both cubes to the next column.

0:13:04.528,0:13:06.346
We can solve now for the next column

0:13:06.346,0:13:10.147
which consists of all numbers[br]that start with 1,

0:13:10.147,0:13:12.519
by just putting 1 on both cubes.

0:13:13.449,0:13:17.019
We can do that because we have more room,[br]we add a 1 to the left cube,

0:13:17.019,0:13:18.529
and now we have 1 on both cubes

0:13:18.529,0:13:21.338
and we can do all combinations[br]with all the other digits.

0:13:21.738,0:13:24.152
So that's fine for the second column.

0:13:24.518,0:13:26.489
Now we want to do the third column.

0:13:27.118,0:13:29.940
So if we can put 2 on both cubes,[br]that would be great,

0:13:29.940,0:13:31.441
but we don't have more room.

0:13:31.841,0:13:33.140
So now what do we do?

0:13:33.420,0:13:38.291
Well, we use the next principle,[br]and we make a deliberate mistake.

0:13:38.291,0:13:43.052
We move away from our target and we add 2,[br]even though we don't have room for that.

0:13:43.550,0:13:45.260
Maybe we can correct for it later.

0:13:45.831,0:13:49.391
Okay, so now we have 2 on the left cube,

0:13:49.391,0:13:52.791
and you can check that[br]you can now write all the 20s,

0:13:53.161,0:13:56.120
and you can also see[br]that you can write 30 and 31.

0:13:56.910,0:14:00.491
Great, but now we have[br]seven digits on the left cube.

0:14:00.491,0:14:02.730
So how do we correct for that?

0:14:05.520,0:14:09.032
I need all the digits on the left cube,[br]so what do I do?

0:14:09.782,0:14:13.652
Now I want to use the fourth principle:[br]I want to play with it.

0:14:15.152,0:14:17.466
So let's get serious with playing.

0:14:19.284,0:14:23.245
I brought here with me[br]two colorful cubes from that island,

0:14:23.625,0:14:25.898
and I want to play with them.

0:14:26.327,0:14:30.865
I'm going to play with them,[br]and I can write here -

0:14:31.135,0:14:32.771
they're going to break, actually -

0:14:32.771,0:14:35.965
okay, I have a 2 here;[br]I can write 20-something.

0:14:36.306,0:14:37.485
Let's see.

0:14:37.835,0:14:39.600
I can write 21.

0:14:39.885,0:14:41.416
I can write 27.

0:14:41.781,0:14:44.276
I can write 26.

0:14:45.146,0:14:46.286
29!

0:14:46.286,0:14:48.545
Right, I can also write 29.

0:14:48.784,0:14:51.055
Aha, you've got it already.

0:14:51.265,0:14:55.095
I don't need the 6 and 9.

0:14:56.670,0:14:58.906
And that's the solution.

0:14:59.809,0:15:02.095
Now, you might be thinking,

0:15:02.095,0:15:06.285
"Hmm, is this all it takes[br]to be a quantum computer scientist?

0:15:06.598,0:15:08.976
Just rotate colorful cubes

0:15:08.976,0:15:12.765
and lift your right and left[br]sitting bone once in a while,

0:15:12.765,0:15:15.696
and follow your butt once in a while?"

0:15:15.696,0:15:17.966
Well, the answer is...

0:15:18.386,0:15:19.836
honestly, yes.

0:15:22.506,0:15:25.046
Now seriously, I strongly believe

0:15:25.046,0:15:30.855
that all scientific discoveries,[br]great or small,

0:15:30.855,0:15:34.286
can be boiled down[br]to a very small, little step

0:15:34.286,0:15:37.715
of maybe a twist or a rotation[br]around what you thought before,

0:15:37.715,0:15:40.935
or looking at things[br]from a different angle,

0:15:40.935,0:15:43.515
or making an unexpected connection.

0:15:44.065,0:15:48.255
And playing with it[br]will reveal those things.

0:15:48.746,0:15:53.387
And this is exactly what we're doing now[br]in the area of quantum computation.

0:15:53.387,0:15:57.927
In this area, we are actually at the state[br]of Yuval in the beginning of the lesson.

0:15:57.927,0:16:00.499
We don't know yet[br]how to build those computers.

0:16:00.499,0:16:04.057
And we don't know yet[br]what we will be able to do with them,

0:16:04.057,0:16:06.267
if and when they're built.

0:16:06.267,0:16:10.948
But what we're doing is,[br]we start within our comfort zone,

0:16:10.948,0:16:14.299
we look around to see[br]where we can expand it,

0:16:14.299,0:16:16.083
where we can find challenges

0:16:16.083,0:16:18.382
within our reach[br]that are still interesting,

0:16:18.382,0:16:20.628
and once we find them[br]and manage to get them,

0:16:20.628,0:16:22.450
we try to understand it further,

0:16:22.450,0:16:25.491
we try to go back and forth[br]in order for it to be reliable.

0:16:25.491,0:16:27.751
We try to fall on it[br]from different directions,

0:16:27.751,0:16:29.960
and we keep continuing to play.

0:16:30.230,0:16:34.160
And that is something[br]that has already been very useful,

0:16:34.160,0:16:36.780
even without reaching[br]our goals, our big goals,

0:16:36.780,0:16:39.060
we already found very,[br]very interesting things

0:16:39.060,0:16:43.042
and many new areas have been opened,[br]and many new connections,

0:16:43.042,0:16:44.513
just by this approach.

0:16:44.783,0:16:50.436
Do you have a goal in your life[br]that you haven't managed to move

0:16:50.686,0:16:53.913
or make progress on for a long time?

0:16:54.128,0:16:56.404
I invite you to check - maybe...

0:16:56.594,0:16:57.903
maybe...

0:16:57.903,0:17:00.734
you're putting just too much energy

0:17:00.734,0:17:04.284
in a direction that you expect[br]things to move.

0:17:04.544,0:17:10.476
And maybe by reducing the amount of force[br]and letting it move in other directions,

0:17:10.476,0:17:12.654
you might find yourself[br]in a different place

0:17:12.654,0:17:15.224
which could be very close[br]to where you are now,

0:17:15.224,0:17:18.666
but it will be a different place[br]from which things will look different.

0:17:19.626,0:17:25.496
I find that resisting the temptation[br]of using the forceful approach

0:17:25.496,0:17:27.975
is a lifelong process of awareness,

0:17:27.975,0:17:29.595
but I think it's worthwhile

0:17:29.595,0:17:33.686
because you gain your sensitivity,[br]your creativity, your liveliness,

0:17:33.686,0:17:35.607
in front of difficult obstacles.

0:17:35.607,0:17:38.037
And even if you don't reach[br]what you wanted,

0:17:38.037,0:17:41.887
well, you reach other places[br]which could be as interesting.

0:17:42.567,0:17:43.946
Thank you for listening.

0:17:43.946,0:17:46.475
(Applause)

0:17:46.475,0:17:47.627
(Whistles)

0:17:47.627,0:17:49.237
(Cheers)