There is this feeling which has come over me. Like I am spending too much time watching TV and as though TV really isn't doing anything for my brain. It's like my brain is now turning into mash potato probably without milk or butter added in or even a sprinkling of chives which would at least make the thing a little more exotic. The feeling is a need to read, to feed my brain rather than the passiveness of viewing a movie or TV program. It's a little like the feeling of having forgotten a lot of stuff, all the education stuff which was crammed inside has leaked out, a bit like a hole in a bucket. To the extent I'm getting to feel like I don't know a much about anything at all, just at some point I did know something and more than just a little bit. Statistics for example. I used to know lots about statistical tests and statistics but now it's like most of it has gone and I would like to brush up on it again, try and remember what it is I've forgotten. Hence the need for brain food, which is what the reading is all about. Something has got to go in and be thought about, not just anything, something the little cogs can grab hold of and start moving round in circles, in varying circles and speeds. Watching TED lectures on Youtube helps, but it's passive, by the time I've watched one I've then forgotten what it was which was so important and it didn't seem so inspiring. It's the brain thing, the leaks could be more pronounced with the less effort it takes to take something in. Whereas reading is slow and there is more time for thought, more time to take it in and so the leaks are slower. I got a leaky brain it's all there is to it, what goes in eventually leaks out. I'm surprised I still remember my name.
As part of the regular trips I take on Eastcoast mainline I get points for every pound spent. It's a kind of club, the more I spend the more points and then in exchange the points can be used for perks. For example for 100 points I get wifi for a day free. Although it's not really free because I had to spend money to get the points in the first place. There is a selection of other items I can get but there's not a whole boat load. So getting a lot of points doesn't mean I could go and get a weekly shop, which is a shame because I do like food. So I spent a few points a couple of months back and it was for a book. The book is: Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. I heard of Kahneman he was half of a duo of psychologists who developed models of decision making or thinking. I'd read a few of their papers and articles in books so going for Kahneman's book was right up my street. Except the think has been sat on my desk for a few weeks, dressed up with nowhere to go. It is a sexy little number however when it comes to brain food. I want to devour it and jump into it and to do so means picking the thing up and reading it. Hence the very real need to read, but it is more basic, I just need brain food and something is not hitting the spot. Like the sausage and chips I had this evening, the chips were of an awful quality and the sausage was too hot and greasy and not cooked properly in the middle. Damn I must be a walking heart attack. Maybe the brain food will help and perhaps some fish, because I hear fish is good for the neurons of the brain as well.
So it is, today I began reading a few pages of Kahneman's book, his sidekick was Amos Tversky they were the ones who come up with the theory of heuristics. Not all common sense is actual common sense and it is quite misleading. It's all about decision biases, or partly about decision biases, the rest is probably statistics. I should get a pen out, paper, calculator, old text book and see if I can do some of the basic stuff again. Or even program a spreadsheet which is very possible, with enough know how, at the moment though with all the brain leaks I got it will be a struggle finding a pencil. I should get up early tomorrow morning say about 5 a.m. and just do some brain working and eat toast with fish on it, and a cup of tea. I got some mackerel fillets with cracked black pepper they might do the job all I have to do is find the calculator, eraser, oh, and a pencil. There I go. Inspiration at last all it has to do is wake me up at 5 a.m. in the morning, I'd rather it not keep me awake with insomnia which is altogether a completely different story.
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