Most absent-minded hero? An absent-minded person.

Most absent-minded hero? The legendary poem “about the absent-minded man from Basseynaya Street” turned 78 years old. Lines about the absurd antics of an eccentric

Who among us does not know the poems of S.Ya. Marshak about the amazing Absent-Minded One from Basseynaya Street? Where did he come from? Marshak himself talked about it like this:
I quote - “Many of my readers asked me if I had depicted Professor I.A. Kablukov in my “Abstracted”. The same question was asked to my brother - the writer M. Ilyin - by I.A. Kablukov himself. When did my brother answer him that my "Abstract" represents collective image , the professor slyly shook his finger at him and said:
“Eh, no, my friend! Your brother, of course, was aiming at me!”
There was some truth in this. When I wrote my humorous poem, I partly had in mind the charming and - inimitable in his absent-mindedness - remarkable scientist and excellent person- I.A. Kablukova. That's all I can tell you on this issue."
In Marshak’s drafts, his hero was often called Ivan Bashmakov, but in one of the drafts it is directly written:
"Lives in Leningrad
Ivan Kablukov,
He calls himself
Heel Ivanov."
The only difference is that the real professor Kablukov lived in Moscow.
Andrey Bely captured Kablukov’s appearance in more detail than anyone else in his memoirs. But he also leads not genuine speech gaffes of an absent-minded scientist, but parodies of them, composed by Ellis (L. Kobylinsky). Andrei Bely writes: “A most incomparable number performed by Ellis circulated in Moscow living rooms; called “Ivan Alekseevich Kablukov”... and most of the anecdotes about the confusion of Kablukov’s words and letters, now classic, have their source NOT from Kablukov, but from the improvisation of Ellis; who improvised Based on the most scrupulous study of the model; and his cartoon was real in its artistry; I affirm: the famous “Kablukov” phrase does NOT belong to the professor:
“The famous chemist Lavoisier is me, that is, not me: not at all... I was doing experiments: the spade shook, and a piece of the eye fell into the glass.”
(instead of “the bulb burst and a piece of glass got into the eye”);
expressions “not at all” and “I, that is, not me” -
Kablukov’s usual words; this phrase is a quote from Ellis’s brilliant improvisation, just like the “Mendelshutkin” attributed to Kablukov instead of “Mendeleev and Menshutkin” is also a quote from the same parody (!!!)...
...he [Kablukov] lost the ability to pronounce a simple phrase clearly, falling into ... the sonic and etymological monstrosities with which he immortalized himself in Moscow; and wanting to pronounce a combination of the words “chemistry and physics”, he pronounced “chemists and physics”; and then, realizing, “that’s not at all,” he began to explain with new monstrosities in which “I,” that is, not “I” at all, figured every now and then.”
...It is interesting that in Veltman’s story “The Wonderman” there are two absent-minded eccentrics at once: Dyakov and Dayanov. Dayanov reproduces the features of the Absent-Minded One many decades before Marshak. The footman there asks Dayanov:
“What would you like to wear?”
Dayanov replies: “What, what, what, what! Damn you, what! Coat on your feet, pants on your shoulders!”
Few people know that even before Absentminded, in 1926, Vladimir Piast’s children’s book “Lev Petrovich” was published. The hero of this poem is the same absent-minded eccentric who
"...every day
Put on a live cat
Instead of a hat on one side...
....For wood at the barn
In the yard he was waiting for the tram..."
Piast himself was also one of the prototypes of the Scattered One.
V. Shklovsky wrote: “Once... Piast swallowed several hot coals and drank ink out of unbearable pain... I came to Piast in the hospital. He explained... that he acted correctly, because ink contains tannin, tannin binds and therefore it should help with burns. The ink was aniline - it didn’t bind.”
And in the drafts of “The Absent-Minded” we find lines about exactly this case:
"Instead of tea, he poured
In a tea cup of ink..."
So it turns out that the “Abstracted” man still had several prototypes (at least - I. Kablukov, V. Piast and 2 literary predecessors - Dayanov and Lev Petrovich), i.e., as Marshak himself said - A COLLECTIVE IMAGE :-)

Do you get distracted? Some people, for example, try to turn on the TV with a car key and walk along the subway. credit card. Or they put the sugar bowl in the refrigerator and the butter in the microwave. Or they want to call their mother, but call their boss. And so on. I call it "Pierre Richard syndrome", in honor of the actor who often played scattered people. Absent-mindedness is endless source funny stories, Certainly. For example, I once mixed up the dates, arrived at the airport a month earlier and was very upset that my flight was not available. On the other hand, absent-mindedness can be dangerous, including for life - it’s good that I mixed up the dates, not being an air traffic controller. What mental processes are behind absent-mindedness?

Absent-mindedness can be interpreted in different ways. Freud's approach is the best known. He saw mistakes as absent-mindedness secret signs, with the help of which drives and conflicts repressed into the unconscious make themselves known to consciousness. It's certainly a fascinating approach. But there is also a cognitive approach to absent-mindedness. Within the framework of this approach, it is possible that some errors may indicate something about deep-seated personality conflicts. But most absent-mindedness errors are still explained more operationally - as consequences of failures in cognitive processes.

Research by psychologist James Reason, one of the world's leading experts on absent-mindedness, has shown that most often people make mistakes when they perform actions that are familiar to the point of automaticity in familiar conditions. Reason calls absent-mindedness errors situations when the planned sequence of actions does not achieve the set goal - a failure occurs somewhere. There is always a possibility of such a failure, because something can always interfere with automated algorithms - some parallel processes, intentions, unforeseen events. IN mental processes, as in physical ones, there is also interference.

As a rule, the brain perceives habitual actions as routine and allocates a small amount of attention to them. Maximum attention is paid new activity or something subjectively very important. Of course, people in especially responsible professions are trained to voluntarily control attention and maintain it even while performing habitual professional actions. But attention cannot be completely voluntary - it combines activity and reactivity. Proactivity is conscious control, and reactivity is when something unplanned arises and distracts attention. Our intentions and unforeseen circumstances pull our attention like a blanket over each other. And your attention span is limited.

Moreover, attention can be mobile and fixed - switch quickly or slowly. When attention shifts too quickly, it seems to bounce around like a ping-pong ball. And many things can distract us, it can be difficult to concentrate. And if it is too fixed on something, then we get stuck on one thing, and we get stuck and miss a lot. In principle, in a desperate moment, both can be dangerous. But, if you strengthen your volition, you can concentrate through an effort of will, or, on the contrary, distract yourself from freezing. The main thing is to get involved.

Cognitive psychologists distinguish two levels of activity management:

1) Level of knowledge and rules. It is where new actions are planned and managed. This is a manual control mode when we consciously control everything. The most important thing at this level is checking the results of the action, whether it corresponds to the assigned tasks. In short, I did it and checked it.

2) Skill level. This is the level of habitual actions that we perform according to a rigid automated scheme. This is autopilot mode, and in it we do most of everyday affairs. As a rule, we do all these things successfully, but there is also a possibility of mistakes. These are the same mistakes of absent-mindedness, from the series “I went into a room and ended up in another.” The most dangerous thing about automatism is that we often do not check the results of our actions. According to the scheme, I did it and forgot. The difficulty is that when we do something completely familiar, the verification stage disappears - why check actions that are completely automated? But sometimes you still need it.

IN everyday life it's important to understand better typical mistakes absent-mindedness, so that they don’t take them completely by surprise, so that they can lay down some straw. You can identify the patterns of these errors, find the weak points of these patterns and address them special attention, arbitrarily - know where it is subtle. This is hardly 100% possible, due to the same routinization. But at least some mistakes can be avoided. What if we avoid a fatal mistake? The work on classifying errors was carried out by the same James Reason, for which humanity should thank him if it were more attentive to psychology.

Reason divided errors into three types:

1) Actually, mistakes are mistakes. They arise at the stage of intention - these are planning errors. They are based on incorrect calculations, false assumptions, and underestimation of various factors. An underestimate or an incorrect calculation, in short. One client complained to me that everything he had planned was disrupted. He even developed a theory from this that he was being haunted by evil rock. We analyzed how his plans were disrupted and it became clear that when planning he did not take into account the variability of circumstances. In his inner picture, the circumstances are static - just waiting for him to come and take advantage of them. But in reality, circumstances change, and if this is not taken into account, failures will occur so often that you can even believe in evil fate.

2) Spaces - lapses. To carry out the plan, you need to remember it well - what needs to be done, what means are needed for this, what is the sequence of actions, what should be the result. Gaps are errors in fixing, storing and restoring the plan in memory. One of my friends often has this happen with stores: she went to buy greens, but bought a cake. It turns out that the image of the cake erased the original plan. I understand her - chocolate and biscuit are stronger stimuli than cilantro and dill. That's another matter, basil) It also happens that the plan has changed under the influence of circumstances, but the old plan is remembered better, and therefore we continue to implement it, although we need to act differently.

3) Mistakes - slips. These are errors that occur while executing planned actions. Most often, they are associated precisely with errors of attention - when it is fixed on something else that does not correspond to the plan. I especially love it when, instead of saving, you click on the close button, ahhh! It is quite possible that such errors may have deep unconscious reasons, internal conflicts. For example, I could delete a text because deep down I disagree with it. But it often happens without much meaning - the attention just jumped somewhere in the wrong place if it is too mobile. Or it didn’t jump enough, if it’s too inert. Psychophysiological states also play a role here. big role- overexcitement, excitement. Or lack of excitement, fatigue.

How can this classification be used in real life? At the planning stage, you can more precisely formulate your goals and learn in more detail about the circumstances in which you are going to carry out your actions. Check the truth of your assumptions. At the stage of saving the plan, it is important to double-check yourself whether I remembered everything and whether I missed anything. And at the execution stage, monitor your actions more carefully - do not press buttons too hastily, for example. In short, keep a little more randomness.

It is especially important to understand your current state- what’s wrong with me now, what I’m thinking about, what emotions I’m experiencing. The better you understand, the better you manage. It is also important to remember that no one is immune from mistakes. After all, if you set yourself the task of completely avoiding mistakes, then it is quite possible that the impossibility of this task will cause a stupor - it will make your attention sticky and stuck. Or, on the contrary, jumping with excitement. A more realistic goal is to minimize errors as much as possible. And some actions can be abandoned for a while if the condition does not allow it. For example, do not drive while hysterical or drowsy.

To be continued.

How do we imagine a “typical scientist”? Tousled hair, an obsessive look and always something ridiculous: in behavior, in appearance. This image has been formed over the centuries due to the well-known absent-mindedness of great minds and their ability to get into funny situations. Here is our top 10 weird geniuses.

Thales of Miletus- philosopher, mathematician and astronomer, whose name opened the list of the “seven wise men”, the most respected Greek thinkers and figures. IN Ancient Greece people respected philosophers and philosophy as a science, but the phrase “if you are so smart, then why are you so poor” was also addressed to the great Thales. As a response to these reproaches (and these are reproaches about the uselessness of philosophy), Thales used his knowledge of astronomy and, to put it modern language, monetized them. So, thanks to the stars, the scientist concluded that a good harvest was coming, bought all the oil presses in Miletus for next to nothing in the winter and became rich from this. Thus, Thales proved: philosophers can easily make a fortune for themselves, but this does not bother them at all. And they care about one passion - science. This preoccupation with science made Thales a symbol of the absent-minded scientist. Characteristic story Plato spoke about Thales. One day, a sage, walking down the street, studying the night sky, looked at the stars so much that he fell into a hole. And in response to loud groans, the maid who accompanied him on his walk said: “Oh, Thales! Unable to see what is under your feet, do you think to know what is in the sky?

Professor William Archibald Spooner was a very noteworthy figure at Oxford University. The professor was an albino, but this is not what made him famous among his colleagues and students. Spooner's absent-mindedness was the stuff of legends. So, they say that he once wrote a letter to another professor asking him to come and provide some help, but at the end of the letter he added that the issue had already been resolved, no help was needed and there was no need to come. But the most important thing is his absent-mindedness in speech, thanks to which even a separate term, “Spoonerism,” appeared. This is the name for an accidental or intentional slip of the tongue when the syllables or sounds in two adjacent words in a sentence change, which affects the meaning. Famous Example from Russian literature - in the poem by S. Marshak “That’s how absent-minded”: “carriage, deeply respected.” Among the legendary spoonerisms of Sir Spooner himself, for example, is this: The Lord is a shoving leopard (Our Lord is a pushing leopard) instead of a loving shepherd (loving shepherd).

Isaac Newton. It is impossible to be such a brilliant scientist and at the same time attentive and adequate person. They say that Newton could get lost in his house on his way to dinner, and finding himself on the street, return to the room, but forget to eat. One day, leaving the living room to buy a bottle of wine to treat his friends, he forgot what he was looking for and automatically returned to his office and sat down to work (imagine the disappointment of his friends, who were unsuccessfully waiting for both Newton and wine). They say that in his absent-mindedness, Newton could leave the house not completely dressed, and only the obvious laughter of those around him forced him to assess the situation and return home.

Andre-Marie Ampère became the character of many historical jokes due to his absent-mindedness. For example, while walking near the Paris Academy of Sciences, Ampere stopped on the bridge, looking with interest at a small pebble that he noticed on his way. Taking his watch out of his pocket, he realized that he was late and quickly moved forward, throwing him into the water. expensive watch, putting the pebble in his pocket. Another time, while at the Academy of Sciences, Ampere complained to the chairman that a certain gentleman had taken his place. He was told with surprise that the place he was pointing to really belonged to “that gentleman”: Ampère, having forgotten where he had just sat, mistakenly claimed the place of Emperor Napoleon himself. But the most funny story another. Leaving the house, the scientist left a note on the door: “Amper will be home by evening.” Having freed himself much earlier, he returned home in the afternoon, but having discovered the note, he left in disappointment to wander until the evening. The scientist forgot that he, in fact, is Ampere himself.

Adam Smith- another outstanding scientist whose absent-mindedness has merged with his fame. One day during breakfast, while chatting animatedly with a visitor, Adam Smith put the sandwich he was holding in his hand into the teapot. Without noticing this, he immediately poured himself some tea, took a sip and exclaimed with displeasure that this was the worst tea he had ever tasted. Another time, absent-mindedness led him, like Thales, to his fall. The funny thing is that the scientist became lost in thought while inspecting a tannery and managed to fall into a waste pit.

Archimedes. Everyone knows his famous exclamation “Eureka!” Let's add more details to the episode. The creation of the great work “On Floating Bodies” is associated with the request of King Hiero. The king ordered a crown made of pure gold, but when he received it, he was worried whether the master had replaced some of the gold with a less valuable metal. And he asked Archimedes to find out what the crown was made of. The idea that this could be checked by immersing the crown in water came to Archimedes during bath procedures. Without hesitation, he joyfully jumped out of the bathhouse shouting “Eureka! Eureka!”, completely oblivious to his own nakedness. Such devotion to science may have played a fatal role for him: according to one version, the Roman soldier killed Archimedes because he was busy with his drawings, which greatly angered the Roman.

Alexander Borodin- a perfect example of how talented person talented in everything. The outstanding Russian composer, chemist and physician Borodin skillfully got into awkward situations due to absent-mindedness. Then at the border checkpoint he could not answer the official’s question about his wife’s name, and desperately asked her “Katenka, for God’s sake, what is your name?” Then he constantly forgot that he was not visiting, starting in the middle of the party to frantically get ready to “go home.” Then, dressed in military uniform with all the regalia, left the house, forgetting to put on his pants. They also say that Alexander Borodin lost most of his symphony almost before the premiere - and was forced to rewrite it.

Pal Erdös, one of the most famous and prolific mathematicians of the twentieth century: in terms of the number of things he wrote scientific articles he has no equal among his contemporaries. Pal Erdős was known not so much as an absent-minded person, but as an eccentric scientist with in a special way life. The mathematician was nicknamed the “wandering scientist”: he spent his entire life on the road, moving from one scientific event to another. He would show up at the door with the words “my brain is open” and, after a fruitful scientific collaboration, he would hit the road again. It's no secret that he used drugs. His lifestyle and addiction to amphetamine added to his strange image. They say that he could fall asleep in the middle of a noisy party, and that he could not cook his own food or pay his bills: in general, he was not adapted to everyday life. But he had a wonderful sense of humor. Thus, when asked about his own age, he answered that he was 2.5 billion years old, arguing this as follows: “When I was very young, scientists thought that the age of the Earth was 2 billion years, but now it is believed that it is already 4.” .5 billion years."

Norbert Wiener, The American mathematician and philosopher, the founder of cybernetics and the theory of artificial intelligence, was a child prodigy: he defended his doctorate at Harvard University at the age of 18. There were myths about his forgetfulness at the University of Massachusetts. One day, a scientist called the police to report his car stolen, only because he didn’t remember where he parked. Having met a person at the university and got into a conversation, he could then check with the interlocutor in which direction he was heading in order to understand: if from the cafeteria, then he had already had lunch. One of Wiener's habits was to walk with his hand constantly touching the wall. According to Wiener, thanks to this you can always find a way out of the maze.

Jacques Hadamard, a French mathematician and mechanic, was completely immersed in science, which affected his relationship with reality. Here typical story: “Monsieur Hadamard, I see Madame Hadamard has already left the city.” - “But how did you guess?!” - “You have a tie under your right ear...” Detachment from worldly concerns almost played a role cruel joke with the scientist's family. During the German occupation of France, he was fortunate enough to emigrate with his entire family to the United States. But due to his absent-mindedness, Hadamard forgot his visas. Upon arrival in the United States, they had to spend some time in prison until their rights as emigrants were restored through the courts. True, after a successful court decision, Hadamard suddenly refused to leave prison: in the prison library he found most interesting book on American history and really wanted to finish reading it.

Olympiad tasks for literary reading for 3rd grade students

Last name, first name_________________________________class___________________

1. At the beginning of the work, determine its genre:

a) We are nasty microbes, we live in your mouth.

And we gnaw, gnaw, gnaw on unbrushed teeth. _______________________________________

b) She lived and was in a distant forest village, Marya. She was argumentative in everything, skillful in all matters. ________________________________________

c) Dobrynya grew up to full age. Heroic skills awakened in him.

d) When there is no agreement among comrades,

Things won't go well for them,

And nothing will come out of it, only torment. ________________________________________

e) It is difficult for soldiers on a campaign. A cannon got stuck on a bridge while crossing a small stream.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Who came up with Crocodile Gena, Cheburashka, friends from Prostokvashino?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. In the Ukrainian version of this folk tale, forest animals took turns taking up residence in a lost mitten. The fairy tale is called "The Mitten". What is the name of a Russian fairy tale with a similar plot?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

4. The introduction to which poem is the famous Pushkin poem “At Lukomorye there is a green oak...” ________________________________________________________________________________

5. Name the name and patronymic of the famous postman Pechkin.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

6. This writer created a huge number of stories and stories about the life of animals. And even his fairy tales are educational: “Who sings with what?”, “Whose nose is better?”, “Tails” and many others. He is also the author of Lesnaya Gazeta. What is the first and last name of this writer?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

7. The fairy tale of the German writers the Brothers Grimm is called “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” What is the name of A.S. Pushkin’s fairy tale with a similar plot?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

8. Main character This fairy tale fulfilled all the wishes of the wife of the main character, but in the end the evil and greedy wife was left with nothing. Remember the author of the fairy tale and its title.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

9. This famous fairy tale French writer Charles Perrault was not written for children at all. In the preface to its first edition it was said that it was addressed to young ladies who should not talk to strangers so as not to get into trouble. What is the name of this fairy tale? ______________________________________________________________________________

10. Which one famous writer And children's poet introduced us to poems by English, French, German, Italian and Polish authors? He also invented the most absent-minded person in our children's literature. _____________________________________________________

11. Complete the proverbs:

a) Who will you hang out with, ____________________________________________________________.

b) Old friend ___________________________________________________________________.

c) To be afraid of wolves - ______________________________________________________________.

13. Choose a rhyme:

Young - _________________; queen - _____________;

Nice - __________________; I guessed it - __________.

14. Add the lines:

My cheerful, sonorous _______,

Where did you rush ___________?

Yellow, red, ___________.,

Don't keep up with _________________!

15. Underline the names folk tales:

“Three Fat Men”, “Three Bears”, “Two Brothers”, “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, “The Little Mermaid”, “Teremok”.

16. Write down what fables these are from catchphrases:

a) ...And a flatterer will always find a corner in the heart..... __________________________________________

b) ...And the casket just opened ..... ___________________________________________________

c) ....Ay, Moska! To know that she is strong, that she barks at an elephant....___________________________