Unutterably Silly What is with the Scientologist advert on MobileRead?

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by RWood

Reading your posts is making my sides hurt. Good show.

my abdominal muscles are still sore from yesterday.

[Taylor514ce]

Johnson: I've got it! Quicker Pecker Picker Upper!

[llasram]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

(i made up a secret code when i was school so my friends and i could write each other notes that no-one would understand but us. to my intense disappointment, not a single one of the unworthy dogs ever tried to learn it. so i used it to write a journal instead, which is safe from all prying eyes.)

Mmm... Code.... I taught myself Quikscript to protect my journal from casual observers. When I was learning it I got into the habit of handwriting anything not explicitly meant for others in QS. Now it takes a bit of effort to hand-write in the Roman alphabet -- and even then my "g"s come out like the QS letter "gay" (which unfortunately looks nothing like the Shavian "𐑜" or "gag").

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by llasram

Mmm... Code.... I taught myself Quikscript to protect my journal from casual observers. When I was learning it I got into the habit of handwriting anything not explicitly meant for others in QS. Now it takes a bit of effort to hand-write in the Roman alphabet -- and even then my "g"s come out like the QS letter "gay" (which unfortunately looks nothing like the Shavian "��" or "gag").

Um, what'chu talkin' about there, Willis?

[llasram]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Um, what'chu talkin' about there, Willis?

Apparently your browser's Unicode support isn't as good as mine . The letter "gag" is from the Shavian alphabet, an alphabet designed by Ronald Kingsley Read and the winner of a competition posthumously sponsored by George Benard Shaw to select a phonetic alphabet for writing English. The Shavian alphabet is comparatively well-known and is part of Unicode. Quikscript is a later attempt on Read's part to revise the Shavian alphabet based on several years of feedback from people using the original Shavian system.

[psockpuppet]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

I am, literally, brain damaged. I worked assiduously to rewire my brain after the injury to rehabilitate and develop language skills, motor skills, musical skills, etc. I think I would have to be thrown out of any study - I'm not a valid sample. And while observers tell me "you learned guitar very, very fast, you must have a natural talent", in a way that belittles the amount of effort I put into it. It sure didn't feel like it "came naturally", it feels like I worked really, really hard. Same with drawing, and writing poetry. So, if I have a "natural ability", it might be the ability to concentrate, to focus completely, on whatever it is I'm trying to do.

Depending on where the injury took place, you may have had damage to the area of the brain that spends a lot of time scanning for danger in the environment. It's right off the preforontal cortex, usually on the right side of the brain. That way, you can spend an inordinate amount of time concentrating on one single task and learn things freakishly fast in comparison to the rest of us. It's not a pleasant thing, but it is interesting.

The above bit of neurologic nonsense channeled through psockpuppet from pshrynk, who would actually understand what he just said.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by psockpuppet

Depending on where the injury took place, you may have had damage to the area of the brain that spends a lot of time scanning for danger in the environment. It's right off the preforontal cortex, usually on the right side of the brain. That way, you can spend an inordinate amount of time concentrating on one single task and learn things freakishly fast in comparison to the rest of us. It's not a pleasant thing, but it is interesting.

The above bit of neurologic nonsense channeled through psockpuppet from pshrynk, who would actually understand what he just said.

OK, so he's smart, fast, and not afraid of danger (pandorgs). I think maybe you just met your doom, pandorg boy!

[Taylor514ce]

White Matter damage, mainly. Which is the "wiring" part, not the "thinking" part, and I've always been able to focus and learn quickly. Post-injury, though, I made (and continue to make) a conscious decision to learn artistic things. Learn, not "uncover hidden talents" as a friend put it to me once. I don't deny that talent exists, or that I have a talent or inborn aptitude for certain things, but I think learning trumps natural talent, at least in regard to "mental" abilities.

[nekokami]

I've always found it interesting how we tend to attach these value judgments to personal characteristics like "ability to learn" or "hard work" (and I include myself in that). I think the typical tendency in the US is to attach more value to "hard work" than any innate talent, though people can be and often are jealous of innate talent. Perhaps they are both worthy of respect.

There's a short story by Kurt Vonnegut that I read years ago and found a copy of again just recently: http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html It's kind of depressing, in a way, because it's all too easy to imagine things going in this direction.

[psockpuppet]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I've always found it interesting how we tend to attach these value judgments to personal characteristics like "ability to learn" or "hard work" (and I include myself in that). I think the typical tendency in the US is to attach more value to "hard work" than any innate talent, though people can be and often are jealous of innate talent. Perhaps they are both worthy of respect.

There's a short story by Kurt Vonnegut that I read years ago and found a copy of again just recently: http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html It's kind of depressing, in a way, because it's all too easy to imagine things going in this direction.

That was a great movie, too!

Um anyone see DixieChick around here? How about the Pandorg King?

[slayda]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

I am, literally, brain damaged. I worked assiduously to rewire my brain after the injury to rehabilitate and develop language skills, motor skills, musical skills, etc. I think I would have to be thrown out of any study - I'm not a valid sample. And while observers tell me "you learned guitar very, very fast, you must have a natural talent", in a way that belittles the amount of effort I put into it. It sure didn't feel like it "came naturally", it feels like I worked really, really hard. Same with drawing, and writing poetry. So, if I have a "natural ability", it might be the ability to concentrate, to focus completely, on whatever it is I'm trying to do.

The ability to concentrate to that degree is nothing to belittle. I had a friend once who could do that - to the exclusion of all else (i.e. he tuned everything else out). I can't do that. I've tried. One day I was telling his wife how I envied him that ability. She, "That's funny. He envies your ability to both think and remain aware of what's going on around you."

We always think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and don't see what we already have. Her reply was an eye opener to me.

[slayda]

Originally Posted by Patricia

Perhaps ' boyish', 'gamine', 'willowy' or 'lithe' might work as antonyms.

I'm left-handed. But not a bloke.

A left handed friend suggested that perhaps an antonym might be Cacomammapygous. from the Greek Kako meaning bad or unpleasant.

[DixieGal]

Bzist-Pouf!

I'm ba.....

Bzist-Oouf!

[nekokami]

Yep, my husband and I are different in exactly that way. I'm good at focusing, he's good at remaining aware. We divide tasks appropriately when possible-- he keeps the checkbook and pays the bills, I handle things like network troubleshooting and tax return preparation (though lately we've been hiring that last one out).

[Taylor514ce]

I wasn't being dismissive of innate talent... only trying to clarify that I don't think that's what's going on with me, oh, learning to draw, for example. Certain things, no matter how hard I try or how much "work" I put into it, I'll never be able to do well. Other things seem to come "naturally".