Thursday, November 22, 2012

when i start to doubt myself...


Sometimes, going on the road inhibits blogging inspiration, and sometimes provides me grist for my mill....

This time, my husband is with me, so the dynamics are very different.  When I drive i listen to music, but HE prefers NPR, and my general rule is that the driver gets to choose.  Therefore, i've been listening to some radio shows that i ordinarily would not.

Sometimes (also) i feel like i'm pretty dumb.  When i have to read one of Peter's sentences -- or a whole post -- several times before i get a faint glimmer of understanding ... it's EASY to feel intellectually inferior.

But i should know better.

Any time i feel old and fat and ugly, all i have to do to feel better is go to the mall and look around me.  Any time i feel slow and stupid, i now know that all i have to do is turn on the radio.  EVEN NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO.  (Jeeze, i could probably become an instant Einstein, just by tuning into an AM talk-radio station....)

Dedicating 30 minutes or an hour to discussing something outrageously WITHOUT IMPORT seems to me to be the ultimate waste of time, energy, and money.  I've heard more dumb-ass comments and questions over the last two hours than over the last two weeks!  (I was about to say "two months" ... then i remembered the electioneering season.)

Right now there's an author being interviewed about his book that talks about lifestyles favoring longevity.  To us, OLD NEWS.  And can you spell, C-O-N-F-O-U-N-D-I-N-G V-A-R-I-A-B-L-E-S?  grrrrrr....  The interviewer asked about maintaining mental function, avoiding dementia, and he started talking about herbal teas*!  @#$%&%$#@.....

Before this show began, there was one talking about shopping during "thanksgiving weekend" -- one man thought businesses SHOULD NOT BE OPEN, even if their staffs want and need to work, because "thanksgiving is the only time extended families can get together and spend time with each other."  ONLY time?  Honesttogod, can these people not realize that their opinions are completely illogical?  And does the concept of "live and let live" not have the potential to simplify things considerably?

I become disgusted that stirring up controversy over something that's totally immaterial trumps truthful simplicity.  Why do people worry about what everybody else is doing, if they're happy and not imposing on others?  As far as Mr. Longevity is concerned -- the science is out there, but he can't be bothered.  I called my husband's attention to that fact, and i have to pass along his comment:

"But ... but ... that's BORING!  THIS sells books!" (He's a Taurus.)

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*  "AND," J pointed out, "this guy has great credentials -- he works for National Geographic."  <groan>  Fortunately, you're hearing the warped sense of humor he enjoys.  If these comments were strictly serious, i wouldn't be able to live with him!

13 comments:

  1. That's why I don't listen to the radio anymore in the mornings before going to work. Mindless and stupid chatter. Nor do I carry a cell phone, don't like to be plugged in 24/7. But what do you expect, I'm an introvert and am usually trying to avoid especially irritating people/events not trying to engage them.

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  2. oh, i so agree! conversely, J says that he intentionally listens to things he suspects he won't agree with, to check on what ideas are out there. [shaking head] i can't do that without being driven crazy. i wonder how Sidereal would diagnose that behavior.... :-)

    i keep my cellphone handy when i go out into the world -- only for the sake of reaching out when _I_ want to, not to make it easy for others to reach ME. i'm afraid i'm a little selfish!

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    1. Ummmmm.... Normal human variation in personality? Why does everything have to be a diagnosis???

      ;)

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    2. LOL! don't they say that "normal" people doubt their sanity from time to time, and that only the insane are sure of theirs?

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    3. An excellent and concise way of stating the difference between neurosis and paychosis.

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    4. Psychosis even!

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    5. it's all okay -- so long as i get to take my laptop to the asylum with me. :-)

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  3. I do not know about you, but this is my first time through life and I am still learning. I need to make mistakes and see that they were wrong to learn.

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  4. :-) as i believe in reincarnation, i think you're being too modest -- you're more evolved than a first-timer.

    i'm sure you're right -- mistakes help us learn (or should), but if i can minimize my mistakes and learn from other people's i accrue less damage! at my age, repair takes longer!

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  5. I totally feel like that too. I don't normally read, watch or listen to any of the normal things normal people do so simply because stupidity upsets me so I can't cope with talk shows and radio phone-in shows and such. But the trade-off is that when you spend all your time engaging with the most cognitively demanding / extreme material of course you'll feel dumb. I think most of us are feeling dumb trying to decipher Peter's mitochondrial series. I can understand maybe 5% but I feel it's all coming together now and as time goes by I get it more and more and I'm in shock and awe. So so much is explained by his insights. I think. ;) He is slaying lesser minds. I notice the usual suspects haven't attempted any "debunkings". How could they.

    I wish he would write a book or at least a more accessible to us mere mortals version. More people need to be exposed to this information.

    BTW, when you showed me your FB page I thought you looked 10-15 years younger than you actually are. I NEVER would have guessed your age.

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    1. thank you! :-) of course, i had to take a number of pictures with my computer before i got one that i could "live with"....

      as you say, Peter's "protons" series has been so over my head in spots.... but the take-away points from each are coalescing into a simple, elegant lesson that's actually USEFUL, as compared to a lot of the abstract, inapplicable info most obesity researchers bless us with!

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  6. You can't fly with the eagles when you're hanging out with the turkeys.

    On a forum I belong to, a member whined about being forced--FORCED!--to work on Thanksgiving for $8 instead of spending a miserable holiday with relatives. The peoples need to say enough! I responded to her a few times, then remembered that if I wanted kids (which I presume she was), I'd have had them a long time ago. Not my job to help her grow up.

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    1. no kidding. J and i were talking in the car about those who object to working on sundays and holidays, agreeing that if it bothers them so much, they should apply at chick-fillet or hobby-lobby or some-such place that brags about their family values.... no work-place is PERFECT -- you have to pursue the trade-offs that are important to YOU.

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