Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Getting Stupider and Stupider....

JUST when i was saying to Peter that i hadn't seen anything new lately on the boards, and JUST as i had stated how my own life has caught up with me (i.e. got busy with even more 'things' and my forum posting has slowed further), i see this fantastic thread.

I say fantastic, not because Mark may be losing his mind to the Sheen teachings, but because i have experienced this and heard of similar reports from friends getting into that family age or beyond (let's classify that roughly as 35-40+) and wondered about cause. Clearly we already know the effect.

Lead in the water?
As a scientist in this area i can say, likely not, although i won't rule it out.

My take on it, and medic8r should certainly weigh in here with a pro thought or at least a cocktail remedy, is not dissimilar to what has already been stated.
Balls in the air.
You put your balls in the air and essentially you hang yourself horribly.
Life is simpler when you're younger. Yes you have more energy with youth, your brain is still expanding its little neurons, you may be active more, and there is just less to concern yourself with (situational dependant).
Then as time goes on, you may get married, have kids, buy a house, a cottage, a car, multiple cars, have to do your own taxes, take on more responsibilities at work...the list just gets larger, not smaller.
The brain has a limited capacity to store all this 'stuff'.
You start to forget, you start to make lists, you start to forget where you put the lists, ....it gets frustrating and it gets worrysome, even more so when you look around and see some other guy in your office place who hasn't seemed to hit that brick wall yet and you think "gee, am i getting dumber cuz that guy still seems wicked smart".

I'm going out on a limb and saying EVERYONE will hit that mental brick wall at some point.
Take some comfort in the idea Mark that even the best of the best will begin to fail mentally at some point. Does it matter that it happens to others sooner than later?
I think i'm happy to know i've lasted this long.

This is indeed true.
By biological definition, humans stop growing after 18 (roughly), so theoretically, as of age 18, we start dying. Some may say we reach equilibrium, a static state, before a downturn curve where 'dying' is more appropriately termed, while others contend this age starts a downturn but at a rate of slow decay, the rate of which determines one's ultimate biological end in time aside from other factors.

Hey! Wait a minute! It's a long ride from lack of focus, forgetting, etc. to "failing mentally." That's not happening to anyone here, yet. There are only two choices---ever. Suck it up or or give it up. The latter is a pretty shetty option.

We identify and address problems, succesfully, all day long, every day. We're just not so good at it when the problem is our own.

There was a good article in the Atlantic a year or so ago called "Is Google making us Stupid", or something like that.

The general theme was that the combination of rapid access to information and rapid, brief social interaction through the internet was changing the way we think, leading to a much shorter attention span and inability to focus, basically Mark's original point (if I remember it correctly, it was a couple of minutes ago ;)).

EDIT - here we go : http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/

The definition of a mental failure could be anything from the small, like forgetting to close the lid on the toilet, to the large, like the Sheen diatribes.
Don't read too far into it by the sound or perhaps connotation of the word "failure".
Choose another word if it sounds more polite if not less accurate.

Ongoing, intermittent mental lapse.
Occasional and increasing mental pauses.
Periodic persistent brain farts.

Thanky, Spanky. I feel better now. Failure's kinda what happens to a space shuttle. Diminution might be an easier diagnosis to bear. It sounds so petite. Then again, some siezures are referred to as "petite." How Frenchy.

Next time i'll be less colourful and just post a picture perhaps.


Something like this

My dad used to call Little Caesar's Pizza, petit mal.

As for the topic at hand, the only time I get frustrated with my brain, is when I've not had enough food or sleep. I can definitely tell the difference when I've used up my reserves of either.

TL;DR





No, I'm firmly of the belief that it's the Internet that's doing this to us. Look at every poster in this thread. All regulars, right? The Internet, and tabbed browsers. They're killing our attention, and I'm younger than a lot of you guys.

Here I sit at my desk, with 3 monitors, either about 22 things in my task bar, and probably 20-30 tabs open in my web browser. Is this making me more productive and attentive? No way in hell. But I'm addicted to it.

I had to FORCE myself to read all the posts in this thread, and I honestly skimmed some of them. I've barely read 2 books this year, in the last 3 months. Even if I'm reading an interesting article on a website, I flip off of it after a paragraph or two, and go and check the Axiom forums, Facebook, maybe load boingboing to see if there's anything new, check my rss feeds, then flip back to the article, get frustrated I forgot where I was, go check the rss feeds, reload the Axiom forums... etc etc.

I'm telling you, it's the internet.

I struggle with your condition Mark, almost to the letter of what you describe. It's not just age, as so many people want to blame it on. It just happens to be coincidental that it happens to people in their middle ages. It's a combination of stress, distractions, lack of rest, too much alcohol, not enough exercise, improper food intake, etc. It's just not living a healthy life because the burdens of being a responsible adult tend to take precedence.

How I have, and am currently dealing with this is to compartmentalize things of priority. I am getting back to what was important to me prior to becoming everyone one elses anchor, verses what is important to all the other external influences of my life (and yes this includes family). If I am not healthy and of sound mind, I can not take care of myself, so I sure in the hell can't take care of anyone else.

I've only just started this, so I really don't have any great suggestions, yet. But I can say that I'm getting my game of chess back. A year ago, I couldn't beat a three year old and there was a time when I could hang with grand masters (once or twice anyway).