595: short attention sp..
The problem I face along with a disheartening number of others is an information overload along the lines of, "If I don't need to know it for everyday use, I won't remember it." [Knowledge about one's interests constitutes "need" here as well.] I've found crosswords to be 'needlessly' problematic because I fail to remember the bulk of trivia required to solve them, preferring instead logic puzzles--of which Sudoku is simplified to an extreme--because everything I need to know to solve the puzzle is right there. In high school especially, this is why I did well in math and very nearly failed English and history, that the former is unyieldingly black-and-white and the latter two are rather subject to interpretation.
I say 'needlessly' because most of this trivia is just that--trivial. Just looking at my Quote-Acrostic book:
"The House of Seven Gables author"--okay, I ought to know that one, Nathanial Hawthorne, but I was stubbornly disinterested in books I had to read for class... shame on me.
"Inventor of the power-driven loom"--I mean, I really don't even have to know who invented CARS, so do I really have to remember Edmund Cartwright?
"Best Supporting Actor for Adaptation"--what the hell? I don't watch most movies to begin with, much less pay attention to who wins what stupid award shows... XB [I've never even heard of Chris Cooper in the first place!]
sirfox talked about this when he came over and I showed him the clips I had of the crap that is Japanese telly [which don't seem to upload properly], particularly Quiz Millionaire [Japanese version of "WWTBAM?"--a million yen is only about $10,000]. He said that he would get all the questions they asked about science and so on but flunk the pop culture ones, like "Which star is Britney Spears dating right now?", which would get him jeers of, "HO MAN J00 R SO STOOPIT J00 DO NOT NO DAT" from the audience. [Out of fairness, does even Britney Spears know who she's dating right now?]
I expect the unfounded emphasis on pop culture is a huge chunk of the deterioration of actual knowledge in this age, that kids are more worried about who's going to be in the next HP movie than they are about even basic math or maybe learning another language or two before their brains are too mushy to retain anything on that kind of scale. [Some don't even learn ONE language... l33t-speak seems to be a popular cheap effort at faking knowing another, though.] I mean, I vividly remember fretting over how to write a book report, because I didn't understand what I was supposed to be doing and what it would accomplish. Now that I understand the reasons behind them, I could do one easily without all the hair-pulling, but it's almost the equivalent of learning the multiplication tables at this point--I should already be able to compose a thesis or corporate presentation [even though I'm not in a career that would require it]... not to mention A BOOK OF MY OWN XB
This "publish a book" thing is really getting to me, isn't it? \:' even if it's self-amusement self-publishing.
I read through Thursday's paper this morning, with yesterday's and today's still in the queue, and I read the least out of that one of any of my subscription so far =/ It's a bit depressing... I know I should be keeping up with current events and so on, but half of it is all, "Iraq still hates people," and, "Some nutbag bumped off a little girl by beating her," which only makes me feel worse, not informed, and I can't force myself to read those articles. That means all I substantially read was Ask Amy and the comics 9_9
Why am I subscribing, then? ...oh, yeah, gerbil toys Xp [though they seem to generally ignore it, compared to cardboard tubes]
Some other comment goes here. I can't remember it, though |:' ...is it any wonder Memento is my favourite not-animated movie?
[Animated: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]
I say 'needlessly' because most of this trivia is just that--trivial. Just looking at my Quote-Acrostic book:
"The House of Seven Gables author"--okay, I ought to know that one, Nathanial Hawthorne, but I was stubbornly disinterested in books I had to read for class... shame on me.
"Inventor of the power-driven loom"--I mean, I really don't even have to know who invented CARS, so do I really have to remember Edmund Cartwright?
"Best Supporting Actor for Adaptation"--what the hell? I don't watch most movies to begin with, much less pay attention to who wins what stupid award shows... XB [I've never even heard of Chris Cooper in the first place!]
sirfox talked about this when he came over and I showed him the clips I had of the crap that is Japanese telly [which don't seem to upload properly], particularly Quiz Millionaire [Japanese version of "WWTBAM?"--a million yen is only about $10,000]. He said that he would get all the questions they asked about science and so on but flunk the pop culture ones, like "Which star is Britney Spears dating right now?", which would get him jeers of, "HO MAN J00 R SO STOOPIT J00 DO NOT NO DAT" from the audience. [Out of fairness, does even Britney Spears know who she's dating right now?]
I expect the unfounded emphasis on pop culture is a huge chunk of the deterioration of actual knowledge in this age, that kids are more worried about who's going to be in the next HP movie than they are about even basic math or maybe learning another language or two before their brains are too mushy to retain anything on that kind of scale. [Some don't even learn ONE language... l33t-speak seems to be a popular cheap effort at faking knowing another, though.] I mean, I vividly remember fretting over how to write a book report, because I didn't understand what I was supposed to be doing and what it would accomplish. Now that I understand the reasons behind them, I could do one easily without all the hair-pulling, but it's almost the equivalent of learning the multiplication tables at this point--I should already be able to compose a thesis or corporate presentation [even though I'm not in a career that would require it]... not to mention A BOOK OF MY OWN XB
This "publish a book" thing is really getting to me, isn't it? \:' even if it's self-amusement self-publishing.
I read through Thursday's paper this morning, with yesterday's and today's still in the queue, and I read the least out of that one of any of my subscription so far =/ It's a bit depressing... I know I should be keeping up with current events and so on, but half of it is all, "Iraq still hates people," and, "Some nutbag bumped off a little girl by beating her," which only makes me feel worse, not informed, and I can't force myself to read those articles. That means all I substantially read was Ask Amy and the comics 9_9
Why am I subscribing, then? ...oh, yeah, gerbil toys Xp [though they seem to generally ignore it, compared to cardboard tubes]
Some other comment goes here. I can't remember it, though |:' ...is it any wonder Memento is my favourite not-animated movie?
[Animated: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]