Rare-but worth the wait

Early in life I was told that some things were worth waiting for. It meant that the high school diploma was worth waiting for; the college degree was worth waiting for. As an adult I have been told on a couple of occasions that something was worth waiting for such as a couple of jobs I have had. Material possessions or trips I have had to save money for were worth it. I own a couple of things that were worth the wait. Rarely, though, has the principle of worth the wait applied to people. We tell our children as they grow up and try to understand the pregnancy period that they were worth the wait. But, between adults, the principle is not applied much. That's because the phrase is reserved for those rare people that shine brightly in the midst of darkness.

Distillation

Sometimes you just have to wonder how people get published. I am reading a psycholinguistic book right now and came across a quote and a reference to the following by a cognitive linguist, Fodor. It's truly unbelievable that the journal Cognition picked the article up at all. The quotation is dealing with the argument that the meanings of words are innate and that people can develop about a 50,000 word vocabulary and that's all.

"The basic idea is that what makes a doorknob is just: being the kind of thing from experience with which our kind of mind readily acquires the concept DOORKNOB. And conversely, what makes something the concept of DOORKNOB is just: expressing the property that our kinds of minds lock to from experience with good examples of instantiated doorknobhood.... what I want to say is that doorknobhood is the property that one gets locked to when experience with typical doorknobs causes the locking and does so in virtue of the properties they have qua typical doorknobs."

This really is from a 1998 article in the journal, Cognition. I get it all right. Fodor wants everyone to know that we develop meanings of words from the experience of dealing with an object. We form certain property categories in our minds for the meaning of the words we come into contact with. But, my goodness, what a circuitous way to say it! (Now maybe my ability to produce 15 words utterances can be better understood by those who know that I have had my head in this kind of reading [ha ha]). But, Fodor is wrong. Research through the first decade of 2000 has shown that the mind works with malleable categories that get reshaped as words are derived from context rather than having word properties stored in the brain.

The point I would like to make is not linguistic in nature. It centers around convolution. I would like to say that life throws so much convolution into its mix as we go through it, that it is easy to get cuaght up trying to find meaning in all of its meanderings. But, I think its like the meaning of words. We are born with malleable categories to recognize life with. We have the ability, thus the permission or right, to reshape life as we establish, continue investigating, or renege on our essential values. (Values and essential values will be the subject of another blog someday).

Life comes in malleable categories because life has many contexts. I didn't know that when I was 20, had a high school diploma to my name, was about to get my bachelor's degree, and thought I had the world by the tail. Well, it was a tiger's tail I was swinging, and several bites (years, too) later, I decided to let go of it. Now, knowing what has the most meaning in life and who, really, stands head and shoulders above all others does not appear in a convoluted mix. It's been distilled from the mix. I rest more easily at nights knowing this and smile more often.

Warming food

Sometimes when I travel, I have to do something that gives me a warm feeling. Otherwise, I am just on-guard all the time since I am in unfamiliar or little-known settings around little-known or barely friendly people. So, what I do is eat a waffle. That seems simple and might make one wonder what could be comforting about that. But it's the company I know I am in when I eat a waffle. It warms my every thought and every feeling. It makes me strong enough to handle the environment. Love those waffles! (French toast is good when waffles are not available).

The fabulous cell phone

I really wouldn't want to live in any other age unless it would be the future. The good ole days are now. One reason I would say that is that I enjoy so much what cell phones can do.

I love the internet on the phone. I can take care of some banking or navigate unfamiliar roads or google information if needed. I can also check email, take calls, send and receive texts, and know what the weather can bring. It doesn't get much better. But, the function I like the best is the camera function. I can take pictures and send them if I want to. But, I can receive pictures too. And that is what I really love. When someone sends a picture, I can see through that person's eyes and share the joy of who or what is in the picture . I can recall the picture as many times as I want, which I do very often. I can enlarge the picture. I don't have to strain to see it. I usually smile when I see pictures on my phone. It's one of the best ways in the world to enjoy and share others' lives.

I look forward to the next advancement in cell phone technology. I can only imagine what it would be like to receive pics as holographs. That is going to be sensational!

The 500 word salute to the 15 word principle

Linguists treat alliteration a little differently than traditional English teachers do. Alliteration by English teachers would be defined as the repetition of the same first letters of words. But, linguists do not pay so much attention to orthography (spelling) as to the sounds that underlie the spelling. So the two sentences, "Figures of speech spice up language because they are succinct. Alliteration does just that," would be analyzed a little differently too. To an English traditionalist the first sentence would barely qualify for alliteration since only three words begin with "s." But to the linguist there are 2 alliterations - the "s" sound and the "k" sound because it doesn't matter where the sound appears in spelling (as in just the initial word position), it matters how often the sound was made. So, the "s" sound is heard in "speech"once, twice in "spice," twice in "succinct," and once in "just." The only difference in the "s" in "because" and "does" is that the "s" is voiced rather than unvoiced, but the formation of the sound is the same. So, the "s" (called sibilant in linguistics) has 8 occurrences. The "k" sound, a gutteral, has 4 occurrences. The medial "g" in "language and "figure" are formed the same as the "k" sound, appearing twice in "succinct." Thus, you have 4 occurrences of "k," two voiced and two unvoiced versions

A linguist would also ponder the semantics of the sibilant and the gutteral. They are contrasts in sounds, one being formed in the front part of the mouth, the other in the back, and one using the tongue tip and the middle part of the tongue, the other using the glottis and having the tongue lowered in the mouth. Some see the sibilant sound as having a "pleasant" tone to it and the gutteral having a "harsh" tone to it. So, whoever would make up a statement with this alliteration in it, would be trying to be deceptive. Why else would a person use a figure of speech except to advance a meaning to those who understand the comparisons or figures being made? And the pleasant sound is in a 2:1 ratio with the unpleasant sound, so you have someone having harsh meanings couching that in pleasant sounds.

All of this meaning is packed into 15 words or less. Who would have thought!!! Of course, mathematicians, who also use symbols for their thoughts, know the beauty of the principle of 15 symbols meaning much more. They are used to dealing in algorithms. They get the idea of figures of speech. It's a type of algorithm or the equivalent of an elegant equation.

So, my hat is off to everyone who communicates well in 15 words or less. It's a true art and science.

Tribute to 15 words

Figures of speech spice up language because they are succinct. Alliteration does just that.

(More on this tomorrow because the message of this blog is a tribute to the principle of using 15 words or less to convey a message. I'm a little rusty with the principle, but it's a good one to abide by whenever possible because it keeps people from asking "What?" or "Why?" when you thought you expressed yourself clearly in 100 words).

Symbols of our story

I was with a group of English teachers recently who had selected a novel called The Things They Carried for their students to read. I had not ever heard of the novel before, and all I could pick up from the teacher group was that it was a Vietnam War novel. I had to go to the internet to a study guide to find out what the contents were since I didn't have time to read the novel. It's a collection of stories written by a platoon leader of the men under him in Vietnam. He talks about what the men carried on them and why they carried those items. Some items were, of course, mandatory for the war, but the rest were sentimental items that bore great meaning for the men. It sounded like a great study in symbolism.

I have been traveling quite a bit this calendar year, and I remember thinking when I made the first trip several months ago that I wanted certain items in my briefcase. There were, of course, certain mandatory items for my job. I have my computer and flash drive, my cords for phone and computer. There are the papers that have to be referred to for the daily work. And, I have a book for reading on the plane.

But, then, there are four sentimental items. One is a barely used wallet - no money in it or pictures - with just a card to a bank account. But, it's a special account for me because it's my hope account. Then, there's the card my daughter sent to me for my last birthday. If my plane goes down, I want her to know she was special to me. I have my phone for all kinds of necessary reasons, but I also use it for looking at pictures that have been sent to me. Those pictures are special. I can enlarge them, move them around, and look at them as long as I want to. And, I have a blue envelope with a card in it from a very close friend. It has traveled with me since I started this new job. Its words are etched in my mind, but I have it with me just the same - always.

The things I carry... the story of what is meaningful in my life!

Metonymical contrasts

I have found that a certain person I am around creates a toxic environment for me. It's poisonous because this person acts and talks in ways that are the antithesis of what I stand for. There is a figure of speech, metonymy, that is the perfect comparison for this person. Metonymy is the adoption of an object to stand for a person. It is a type of symbol, but symbol takes an object and lets it represent something more generally. Metonymy is personal. It lets an object represent physical features or a set of personal characteristics. Sometimes the object chosen to represent the person is an extension of what the person wears or where the person lives. For example, when the White House says something, it really means that Obama is saying something. If the crown of England is in the news, it's really the queen or someone in the royal family who is in the news. At other times, the object is just very representative of someone's characteristics. So, if I speak of "fang," it is really a reference to a particular person whose set of personal characteristics are repugnant and toxic.



But metonymy can be used in a positive manner too. I love the poem, Kubla Kahn, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It describes this beautiful, beautiful paradise. The poem starts off by calling this paradise by the name Xanadu. So, when I think of the person I enjoy being around the most in life, the one who inspires and refreshes me, I think of Xanadu.



Fang drags me down to the lowest level of living. Xanadu lifts me up and makes me better than I am. Metonymy is good because it makes life's contrasts easy to see. It helps in letting me know simply and starkly where to spend my energy in my world of thought.

What a heart can do

"My heart goes out to you," is a phrase that is used plentifully enough in English. It's a good example of personification, that is, an action of something non-human like a heart that can't really take an action like "go," but that can if it acts like a person. Almost anything can be personified. Other organs of our body don't go out to another person. Livers don't; kidneys don't; brains don't; spleens don't. Just the heart. Language is funny like that.




A lot of things in life are anomalies, that is, they are set apart from the rest of it for one reason or another. Some anomalies in life are set apart for the pain they cause. We all have those anomalies. Others are set apart for the joy they bring. We all have those anomalies too. That's the wave effect in our lives, the peaks and valleys.




I sure love the joyful anomalies. Maybe if I think of enough personifications, I will stay at the peak for a longer period of time (ha ha). I am thankful, though, for the anomalies that make my heart leap (see there's another personification). Long live hearts going and leaping.

Overriding the default

101 Theory Drive is the name of a book about memory. The title is derived from the address of the science lab where a number of researchers work on memory. Gary Lynch is the driving force behind the research. One of Lynch's discoveries is really shocking (certainly counter-intuitive to what has been heralded about memory in the past) in one sense, but really good at explaining some memory phenomena in another. Our brains have so much stimuli going on that it would be impossible to remember much of it. That led Lynch to hypothesize that "forgetting" is the default setting in the brain. Something has to happen out of the routine to create a memory. That's astounding that the default setting of the brain is to not remember.

That explains a lot, though, about disesases of longevity and memory. Part of the deterioration process in aging is the loss of the mechanism to create memory. So, the default takes over - forgetting. Now researchers can focus on reversing the condition, that is, finding drugs that can recreate the chemical reaction to cause memory to happen. It also explains why children remember events or instruction in school so differently. The default is to not remember unless something in the instruction causes a memory.

Just from a memory standpoint, the first 3 1/2 years of the last 5 years for me didn't have much in them to create memories. Time passed without many mile markers to offset the default setting of the brain. But, the last year and a half has been different. Mile markers line the brain (figuratively speaking) creating a host of memories. The default setting of the brain has been overridden a great number of times for the brain to record very happy memories. Life's routines were not so mundane any longer. Solid memories resulted. And another finding of Lynch's research is beautiful. Long term memories are permanent. The last year and a half will last till I die.

A caption about memory

Memory is quite the enigma. Funny. I thought that psychologists had had the workings of memory figured out in 1980. But I read the most recent book on memory that says otherwise. It was, of course, not by a psychologist but a physiologist - who has been working on memory for 30 years. The evidence is pretty strong that memory has still not been fully figured out.

And even though memory may not have been finally detailed in its machinations, certain matters have started coming to light, especially regarding memory and longevity and memory and education. Memory seems to be outstanding during the middle years of a rat's life, but fading during latter years. The same seems to be true of humans, but this trend seems reversible now that the physiology of memory has been studied for 30 years. And as far as memory leading to academic prowess goes... the book on education needs to be rewritten.

In particular, having expectations for kids to progress from one grade level to the next in a lockstep manner is such a charade. Any teacher will tell you that kids learn unevenly. 30 years of study on memory tells a person why that is true. I hope that soon educators will take the time to learn what makes kids remember and turn education around. There's probably a snowball's chance that that will happen. Results for learning will not improve until educators act to turn the tide, however.

The upside is that memory works especially well when theta wave bursts open receptors to receive information. That means that the most pleasant events are the ones most likely to stay around. That could help reverse both problems with memory in longevity diseases and problems with memory in education's application to learning. I know that the principle of memory formed under pleasant conditions, or at least satisfactory conditions, is true. I have certain memories that are painful. They short-circuit my mind. Pleasant memories, on the other hand, flood my mind on a moment's notice and as often as I want to recall them. One of my favorite recent memories is of a picture given to me of a number of beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountain scenes captioned so appropriately as "A Place Within." The scenes and the giver of those scenes create a theta wave burst fiesta!

It's inside the head

I am sitting here watching TV. It's my favorite time of year. The NBA playoffs are in progress. It brings me peace to watch the best teams play basketball. The timing is good. I have just put in an entire weekend of work. Paperwork deadlines had to be met. It puts beans on the table.

That's the mundane part of my life. The exciting part of my life happens inside my head. My thoughts swim around about a recent book I read about memory. It was a fantastic read and taught me a lot about how memory is formed. Thoughts also rumble around about work that could be forthcoming in an area I love - courtroom deception. I recently saw my siblings, so I think of their lives. And it reverberates all through my gray matter to think of and hear a familiar voice once again.

The mundane part of my life goes from intense to peaceful and back again. It repeats. No, it's the reverberations through my gray matter that keep me going.

Fortunate to be blindsided

Sandra Bullock plays an outstanding character in the show Blindside. Her character is generous, determined, caring, discerning, and beautiful in every way, physically and mentally. I was emotionally touched when I saw the movie. Bullock's character was so well written and performed, words are not adequate try to describe her.

Wouldn't it be nice, if in life a person could know such a character as Sandra Bullock played in Blindside? For me that is not a rhetorical question. I do know someone who is that character and much more. There is not gold enough on the planet to replace this Blindside person. I am the most fortunate person on the earth.

For good mothers

I look around at the youth today, and it is easy to tell those who have been brought up by a mother who cares deeply about them and who enhances the genetic qualities they start with from those who do not have such mothers. There really is no substitute for a good mother.

My mother was one of those good mothers. She cared deeply about me and showed it. She still does. She enhanced the genetic qualities I started with. She still encourages me to continue to enhance what I was created with. I was fortunate.

There are so, so many kids today who get little or incomplete attention. They are not shown what deep affection a mother might have. These kids receive words, sometimes, - no action. They are not given the opportunities to learn on the internet or to play outside or to watch their mothers interact with other men and women. They live in a raise-yourself world without motherly modeling.

I am looking at a picture right now, however, of a young girl at play in her back yard, grinning from ear to ear. Her mother is an amazing mother who models, cares deeply, and provides opportunities for enhancement. This is one fortunate little girl.

So, here's to Mother's Day. I wish for the children of the world more mothers like mine and the one of the young girl at play!

I just love it

I have been with some people my age who have come back from the battle front. They are usually reticent. If they do talk, it's not about the war they have returned from, not about being in an environment when you are among enemies, even among enemies that appear as friends. Usually it's about a time before the war... a time when they were themselves... a time when they had an identity, a voice.

I have also been with some young men who recently have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. They are usually reticent. If they do talk, it's not about the battles of Baghdad or of Kabul, not about the Taliban or Osama, not about the feeling that no one is covering you their rear guard. Usually, it's about a time before they went to the middle east... a time when they remember their identity... a time when they had voice.

Today I heard from a very close friend. The message was short, but so encouraging. I just loved it. Lately, it seems that I have been on a battlefield every day among the enemy with no one to cover my back. So to receive a short, but very encouraging message was like a battle-worn soldier finally getting to take a leave of absence at the end of a long campaign. Thank you, my very close friend, for helping me find a voice.