Learn

Articles about learning - from new technologies and business strategies to personal development paths. It's all about methods, experiences and helpful tools.

From Commodore C16 to WordPress: A journey through the early years of the internet

by
From modem to Internet and magazine

When you pick up a smartphone today, it contains more computing power than entire computer rooms used to. In the 1980s, things were completely different. Computers were rare, expensive and, for many people, a mysterious machine. Back then, if you had your own home computer, you belonged to a small group of tinkerers, inventors and curious people. The exciting thing was that you didn't just consume computers. You had to understand them. Many programs were not available to buy ready-made. Instead, computer magazines contained pages of listings with BASIC code that you had to type out line by line. Only then could you see whether the program worked at all.

That sounds tedious today, but it had one big advantage. You automatically learned how computers work. If you made a mistake, you immediately got an error message - and had to find out for yourself where the error was. In this way, many young computer fans developed a very natural approach to technology and programming.

It was at this time that I began my own journey into the world of computers.

Read more

Learning to think dialogically with AI: Why good questions are more important than good models

by
Learning to think dialogically with AI

The term „AI as a sparring partner“ now appears frequently. It usually means that an AI helps with writing, generates ideas or completes tasks faster. A first basic article on this has already been published in the magazine. This article now aims to show in reality how AI can be used as an effective thinking partner. In practice, it is clear that AI only becomes really interesting when it is not treated as a tool, but as a counterpart. Not in the human sense, but as something that answers, contradicts, leads on - or even mercilessly reveals where your own thinking is flawed.

This is exactly where the real benefit begins. Not where the AI „delivers“, but where it reacts. Where it does not simply process, but makes thought processes visible. This is more inconvenient than a classic tool - but also more sustainable.

Read more

Why distance is not a retreat - and how a freeze-out creates orientation

by
Freezeout - distance in crises

When you are in the middle of a crisis, everything seems urgent. You have the feeling that you have to act immediately, speak immediately, decide immediately. And there is often a second feeling on top of that: If you don't keep at it now, everything will slip away. That's understandable. It's also human. But this is exactly where the mistake often begins.

Because closeness is not automatically clarity. Proximity can also mean that you are too close to see what is really happening. Just like you can't recognize a painting if your nose is stuck to the canvas. You then only see individual brushstrokes - and think they are the whole painting.

A freeze-out, properly understood, is nothing more than a step back. Not to run away, but to be able to see again.

Read more

AI for beginners: How to get started with artificial intelligence without prior knowledge

by
AI for beginners

Artificial intelligence seems like a sudden phenomenon to many people. Just a few years ago, it hardly played a role in everyday life, but today it is constantly present - in the news, in discussions, in conversations at work. However, this impression is deceptive. AI did not emerge overnight. It has been researched, developed and used in specialist areas for decades. What is new is not the idea, but the approach.

Artificial intelligence has been around as a research idea for decades. For a long time, it was a topic for universities, large corporations and special applications. The big difference today is that many AI systems have matured to the point where they can be used by normal people in everyday life - via a simple input window, on a computer or smartphone.

Read more

Using AI as a sparring partner: How thinking in dialog becomes more productive

by
AI as a savings partner

I've been using artificial intelligence for almost exactly two years now. In the beginning, it was sober and technical: entering text, typing prompts, reading answers, correcting, retyping. The way many people did it - carefully, in a controlled manner, with a certain distance. It worked, no question. But there was still something mechanical about it. You asked questions, got answers, ticked them off.

I realized relatively early on that I was missing something: flow. Thinking is not a form. Good thoughts don't come from a corset of neatly formulated input, but from talking, trying things out, thinking aloud. So I started to use the AI app on my cell phone more often - and at some point I simply started speaking instead of typing. That was the real turning point.

Read more

Jan-Josef Liefers: A portrait of attitude, origins and artistic freedom

by
Jan-Josef Liefers

When you see Jan-Josef Liefers today as the eccentric Professor Boerne in „Tatort“, it's easy to forget how long it took to get there. I myself have always enjoyed seeing him in this role: as a mixture of subtlety, narcissism, humor and astonishing clarity. But this mixture doesn't come out of nowhere. It is the result of a life that began in a completely different Germany - in the GDR, in a country with narrow borders and clear guidelines.

To understand why Liefers takes such a consistent stance today, you have to go back to his childhood, to his parents' theater world and to a time when criticism of the system was anything but without consequences.

Read more

Immortality through technology: how far research and AI have really come

by
Digital immortality

Ever since humans have existed, there has been a desire to prolong life - or preferably extend it indefinitely. In the past, it was myths, religions, alchemists or mysterious rituals that gave people hope. Today, it is no longer magicians sitting over ancient parchments, but some of the richest people in the world sitting over state-of-the-art biology and AI technology. At first glance, it sounds like science fiction: is it possible to stop ageing? Can you „preserve“ yourself digitally? Can you transfer your thinking to a machine?

But the topic has long since left the ivory tower. Big tech billionaires are now investing billions in projects that are seriously investigating precisely these questions. Not because they want to become immortal gods - but because they can afford to research the limits of what is possible. This article explains quite simply what is behind this idea, what technical developments already exist today, where the limits lie - and why this topic will become increasingly important over the next 20 years.

Read more

„The Magic Wall“: Two children's books that strengthen the courage of young readers

by
Children's books by Jana Kollmann

At a time when many children's books seem fast-paced and are often designed for short-lived effects, it is worth taking a look at works that have been written with real attention to detail. Books that take the time to build a world that not only entertains young readers, but also conveys courage, imagination and inner strength.

This is exactly the kind of book Jana Kollmann writes - an author whose roots, life path and artistic influence are recognizable in every line.

Read more

↑