OT: (NOT A JOKE) Be careful what you wish for....

[John Esak]

I may have mentioned it a few times on this list years and decades ago. I
used to do a bar game with people telling them I could list out at least 100
phone number and who they belonged to.... Usually, I'd bet for $20 or
something.  A couple times I bet that I get a dollar for every one over a
100 I could do. I used to make $20 that way, too.  I'm guessing that today,
I couldn't get past 30 or 40 if that.  My upper frequency is going, too.
Hell, I'm falling apart.  :-)

John

P.S. Oh, yes, the test was that at any point along me calling out the 100
numbers and names, someone could stop me and call that number. If it wasn't
who I said it was, I got the $20. If I was just saying some random number
and name, I had to give all the betters $20.

100 sounds like a lot, but I would bet that each of you know 25 or 30 phone
numbers without looking them up.  I was just someone who make a point of
remembering them.  I often wonder what I was throwing away to find places
for the numbers. I do believe fast retrieval memory space is very limited.
By the way, there was a recurring 3 minute time constraint on my little
contest. Had to come up with the next number or the game was over. One time
down in Virginia I did lose because of this. I got to 90 names and could not
think of anything but duplicates.  Finally 3 minutes went by and I lost...
Then for no reason about 20 names and numbers came to me in a flash!  Life's
a bitch, isn't it?

 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: filepro-list-bounces+john=valar.com at lists.celestial.com 
> [mailto:filepro-list-bounces+john=valar.com at lists.celestial.co
> m] On Behalf Of Fairlight
> Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 6:03 PM
> To: filepro-list at lists.celestial.com
> Subject: Re: OT: (NOT A JOKE) Be careful what you wish for....
> 
> On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 10:31:15AM -0700, after drawing runes 
> in goat's blood,
> Bill Campbell cast forth these immortal, mystical words:
> > On Tue, Sep 14, 2010, Richard Kreiss wrote:
> > >>From my non-technical brother.
> > >
> > >This is interesting reading.
> > >
> > >http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11263559
> > 
> > That makes excellent points.  I don't know my wife's mobile phone
> > number as it's on speed dial on my phone.
> 
> I'm really good with memorising phone numbera.  But I have to talk to
> someone about four times to remember their name.
> 
> > If the UK article is correct about actual changes in the brain,
> > and it's applicable to government schooling, that's really
> > depressing.
> 
> I have every reason to believe the article makes meritorious claims.
> 
> Briefly, with my experience with OCD and anxiety disorders, 
> I've learned
> that with 'x' repetitions of behaviour and dealing with 
> things a certain
> way, your brain builds more and more of a specialised network 
> dedicated to
> handling those tasks.  Part of what Cognitive-Behavioural 
> Therapy does is
> to short circuit those specialised pathways and break down 
> that network.
> It literally rewires the portions of the brain associated 
> with specific
> behaviours being targetted.
> 
> The same principles would logically apply in general, 
> especially as OCD
> is typically simply an exaggeration of normal behaviours.  
> The underlying
> neurological mechanics should be the same, however.  The brain works
> much like the typical depiction of a self-optimising, adaptive neural
> network--in fact, it's the original model that computer 
> scientists have
> struggled to emulate.  Yes, it works that way, definitely.  
> It's been shown
> with PET scans.
> 
> This article makes so much sense, it almost states the 
> obvious.  Except
> it's not obvious until/unless you run into a problem 
> situation that draws
> attention to the underlying problem.
> 
> It's a more clinical citation of the "use it or lose it" 
> factor of learned
> behaviour.
> 
> mark->
> -- 
> Audio panton, cogito singularis.
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