GammaGlobulin

I definitely disagree with the premise of this OP, that Bar-Girl work will never be supplanted by AI. AI, combined with future products invented by Mr. Musk's Neuralink company, will put ALL B-Girls out of business within weeks, once these products are released to the public. In order to understand how this is easily possible, then you just need to know a bit more about BSR (Brain Stimulation Reward) experiments that were begun around the time I was at university, and our profs forced us to read many of the articles. What is BSR? "Brain stimulation reward (BSR) is a pleasurable phenomenon elicited via direct stimulation of specific brain regions, originally discovered by James Olds and Peter Milner. BSR can serve as a robust operant reinforcer. Targeted stimulation activates the reward system circuitry and establishes response habits similar to those established by natural rewards, such as food and sex." In some of the articles that I read, using BSR and lab rats, it was shown that direct stimulation of reward centers in the brain can actually OVERRIDE all other needs and drives, such as sex/lust, even thirst, and all other compelling urges, maybe even the urge to breathe. Rats will prefer to tap a key for direct electrical stimulation to the brain rather than to eat or drink, even until they finally die of thirst. Once Musk's company Neuralink perfects its product, then all citizens of the world will flock to buy Musk's BSR device, and bar-goers will never again return to the bars. Even the B-girls will spend their money on Musk's device. Everyone will begin directly stimulating their reward centers and will not stop. And that will be how B-girls will be put out of work, and also how humanity will spend it's final three days. We know this to be true. Because, we are already experiencing a taste of it, every time we open the TikTok app on our phones.

Perhaps his Thai-language mispronouncing is just part of his schtick?

As we used to say in Physics class, and Computer class, concerning data, Garbage in, Garbage out.

May I make an edit to your comment, one of many I can think of: Try: grandiosity I think this word better reflects your intended meaning.

Several commenters here have mentioned experiencing increased age-related difficulty in switching between two or more spoken languages. And I had also suggested the same thing at the beginning of this post when I used the term Linguistic Interference. There are many studies which explore the phenomenon of Linguistic Interference, and here is just one of the many, and probably not the best: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1068706.pdf This study explores the affects of learning two foreign languages simultaneously, L2 and L3. I have ten years experience in this linguistic delight, but I have never before recorded my thoughts. And, just from my personal experience, here are my important findings: a. Surprisingly, I have found that learning two foreign languages simultaneously significantly enhances the learning of learning both languages. I.e, I first began learning Chinese, and then I began learning Thai. And, while I was learning only Chinese, I was able to judge the speed at which I was able to learn and use Chinese. After I began learning Thai, and while still continuing to learn Chinese, I found that my ability to learn Chinese, including vocabulary memorization ability, was appreciably enhanced. So, judging from my experience, I would say that learning two foreign languages simultaneously can have significant advantages for the language learner. b. In addition, unsurprisingly, I found that the ability to easily speak a foreign language was heavily influenced by environment. In my case, while in China, my ability to more fluidly and fluently speak Chinese improved markedly. And when I returned to Thailand, this feeling of fluency quickly bit the dust. Being immersed in a Chinese speaking environment seems to cause an immediate shift which I felt the moment I exited the Chinese airport and boarded my first Chinese taxi. c. There is always some linguistic interference while one is learning/speaking one foreign language, when one has already learned a second foreign language. When I am speaking L2, it sometimes becomes difficult to avoid having L3 intrude into my L2 utterances. However, I have never experienced difficulty in keeping my L1 language, English, at bay. d. This situation becomes troublesome when speaking to native-Chinese language speakers. I often find that my Thai vocabulary encroaches upon the discussion, and then, I get funny looks. e. Age, from my experience, is definitely a factor. I believe that when I was younger, Linguistic Interference was much less of an issue. I hope that this comment will be helpful as my reply to the two or three commenters that offered up their thoughts earlier in this thread. NOTE: If anyone wishes to comment further on this concept of Linguistic Interference, especially whether or not this might be influenced by the aging process, again, I am all ears.

Here is just one more example, personally noted, of how the gradual age-related loss of Visual Memory impinges upon changes in our linguistic abilities as we go from being young to middle-aged, to being classified by the younger generation as 'ancient': Let's take the case of Chinese logograms versus computer-screen icons... As I age, I definitely notice a diminished ability to quickly locate icons on my computer screen. Related to this, I also notice that I am much slower at finding a string of characters embedded in the written page. My understanding is that this change might be a direct consequence of deteriorating visual memory. Still, and not surprisingly, my so-called "long-term" memory seems to remain relatively unaffected by changes in available visual memory. To clarify and to elucidate this further: a. If I try to locate a specific Chinese logogram among a sea of printed Chinese text, this requires more time now than it did a decade ago, and two decades before that. b. However, if you offer up to me a string of Chinese logograms at random, I can recognize and know the meaning of each logogram while reading them one at a time, either from left to right, as is usually the case, these days, or from right to left, and from top to bottom, as was traditionally true of written Chinese text back in the good old days, when WenYanWen ruled the Chinese world. c. Therefore, this seems be a consequence of visual memory loss, which is so crucial for reading comprehension. d. Similarly, if asked to very quickly locate a specific computer icon on a screen, my search time is definitely increasing compared to what I experienced decades ago. If I must take an timed exam, therefore, it is likely that I will require more time, even though, eventually, I might be able to score nearly as well as I might have 20 years ago. This can be frustrating when working with young hotshot, academically-gifted students. So far, in my case, so fortunately, the effects that I am able to notice are relatively insignificant for my purposes. I just worry about some hypothetical day in the future when, if I do not die first, I might find the loss of visual memory to be more than a mild inconvenience. I have no doubt that many of you readers can testify to the fact that I am speaking the truth. So, if you want to add your thoughts about this naturally occurring anomaly, from personal experience, I am all ears. I care much about reading and writing and text-searching, etc., etc., etc. Therefore, this whole topic (this OP) is most riveting for me. No doubt, you find it equally relevant if you are both human and if you age.

I am looking for a Nowhere Job. I would take the job, if it involved teaching Chinese online, and editing either MA theses, or PhD dissertations, written by either Chinese students or Thai students, or Cambodian students, or Burmese students. In fact, I would love a job like that. The only deal-breaker might be the potential for rooster noise. I am unable to tolerate rooster noise when I work.

Maybe it is true what is often said: What goes around comes around.

As always, such a stickler for detail. And, IMHO, it's good to be a stickler. (Your visual memory is still not too shabby.)

I have noticed quite a bit of visual memory loss as I age. Visual memory is so key for reading comprehension, and even for recognition and discrimination of icons on a computer screen. Visual memory is critical to all linguistic tasks, and even for using a computer quickly and efficiently. It takes me longer to search through text for what I am seeking, for example. Visual memory decline is a fundamental part of the aging process, as we all know. By visual memory loss, I am talking about the natural effects of aging: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3557412/#:~:text=Results showed that VWM changes,8 and 9 year olds.

Harking back, once again, to the OP: Concerning this idea of decline in linguistic ability as influenced by the aging process, I have, throughout my life, with no factiousness intended, been in search of the perfect paragraph, both in academic writing as well as in the popular English prose written by authors published between the years 1748 (Fanny Hill), 1749 (The History of Tom Jones), and the year 2010 (Philip Roth's novel, Nemesis). My writing abilities, laughable as they may be, have waxed and waned throughout my writing career, and I experienced a resurgence in meager writing ability most recently during a brief few years when I agreed to edit theses, for free, in exchange for the opportunity to save what was left of my mind. These days, I am convinced that the only thing that might help me to forestall more-rapid memory loss and diminishing cognitive function is to do another thesis edit. However, I also realize that my capacity to sit typing for many hours each day is not what it once was. And, engaging in thesis editing usually cannot be done in a piecemeal way; once you begin, there is absolutely no rest for the weary. It's a long process, simply because you are always presented with an unfinished manuscript. You begin on chapters one, two, and maybe chapter three. Then, you must wait for chapter four, five and six. Then you carefully edit four and five. And then you must RE-EDIT chapters two and three, after the student has totally rearranged everything, and added new material. And then you begin editing the conclusion to this mess, chapter six. And then you are asked to re-edit all chapters, about 150 pages. And then the student submits her thesis for defense. And then after many comments, the student will add and subtract great gobs of text and extraneous ideas, sprinkled throughout the entire thesis. And then, FINALLY, you are allowed to RE-EDIT the entire thesis before publication, the deadline-date of which has already passed. And so, this becomes a most hair-raising enterprise for any editor of worth. This is why I will never do another edit of this kind. But still, editing is such good medicine that I would like to, maybe, edit just one paragraph a month. Unfortunately, as I have stated, such opportunities are scarce. You gotta be in it for the long haul, or nothing. There is no pill like an ESL-authored MA thesis in the Social Sciences, for retarding the aging process, is my opinion. And I feel such great nostalgia for the days I was emotionally up to the challenge. Maybe I am becoming too lazy for my own good.

Regarding the vlogger you commented on here, I TOTALLY agree with your assessment of this vlog. He and his content is DEFINITELY not for me, and he lacks the humility required for his job, in my opinion.

I am very picky about the vloggers on UTUBE I spend time watching. However, recently, I have found a UTUBE Dude whose hitchhiking vlogs I find more than refreshing. A very few vlogs remind me of my youth, are informative, and are entertaining. Here is just one short sample of one vlog I recently came across: Note: This vlogger dude is ANYTHING BUT shallow, in reply to the Originally Posted question above... Note2: I just sincerely hope he remains SAFE and SOUND during his unconventional travels around Thailand.

Please let me clarify my remark: When I say "more like you", I mean "civil in discourse, and respectful of others", in case you were in doubt. Regards, Gamma

You are correct. I am trying to be more like you, even if you have not yet mentioned it. Regards, Gamma

Actually, I am using the word externality in its literal sense to describe engaging in behavior which can likely lead to risk while knowing that one will never need to shoulder the burden of such risk. An example might be the petroleum companies of today. The risk is global warming. However, who shall be burdened by this risk? The oil companies will take the immediate profits, today. And, the majority of the risk, which is an uninhabitable world, will be born by our children and our grandchildren. This is just one example of an externality. BUT, I am referring to the externality involved with my being born. My parents did not consider the risk of such a risky proposition, and too few parents do. My parent, probably mostly my mother, wanted only to see the benefits for her. She rarely, if ever, considered the many risks involved. And, these risks are born, mostly, by our children. Farm families, for example, tend to have larger families so that they can have little slaves to work on the farm. The children always bear the burden of most of the risk in being born, and NOT the parents. Therefore, I consider my birth to be a perfect example of an externality, and I do not like externalities. NOTE: As I mentioned previously, EXTERNALITY is a word that I never can remember, even if I might have used the word twice yesterday. I must have some sort of mental block about this word. Maybe there is something Freudian going on, and, in fact, this mental block concerning this single word has nothing to do with age.

Compos mentis is a word my mother loved to use, beginning back in the 1930s, even though I believe neither she nor anyone in our family, with the exception of one (not I), my brother, was fully sane, if there is such a state.

Speaking of aging and marbles: My grandfather kicked off at 95, my aunt is still alive at over 100, my father died at 93, all with all their marbles. My mother died at 94 with some form of dementia setting in during her late 80s. But then, just because one has all their marbles does not mean that one is not crazy. You must realize, by now, that we are all crazy.

I am not here offering my opinion about Campbell. I am only mentioning that I find various studies involving intake of vitamin D3 to be interesting. Then, one draws one's own conclusions. Maybe, too, Campbell has sometimes been confused by his reliance on metastudies/meta-analyses.

I do agree. Also, I maintain that turning 150 pages of jabberwocky-gibberish, usually found in an ESL-authored MA thesis, into perfectly written paragraphs is even more of a mental exercise than learning passa Thai, which is a piece of cake by comparison. Or, maybe, doing both would be best.

Is it possible that regular administration of vitamin D3 might be beneficial in slowing the advance of cognitive decline, as well as memory-loss related diminished linguistic abilities? One of the most recently-famous UTUBE personalities, a proponent of the benefits of D3, speaks to us again. Thailand is a very sunny place. However, most people stay indoors. And, when they venture out into the hot sun, they wear protective clothing which limits exposure to vitamin-D producing UVB radiation. Some studies show that, even in Thailand, a significant number of the population may have reduced vitamin D serum levels. Please google these studies at your leisure. Personally, since the virus first visited most of the world, I have been ingesting a conservative daily dose of vitamin D3. But, maybe that's just me. I don't go out in the noonday sun, much, à la Kipling. So, I figure a vitamin D3 supplement cannot hurt. And, to counteract any resultant bone loss, I take a bit of K2, as well. I never take megadoses of anything. I have done a bit of research on vitamin D3, and I like what I have read But, that's just me. I am no vitamin supplement freak. However, multivitamins, such as Centrum Silver (not the formula by this name offered in Thailand, I think) seems to be OK. And, I add one Centrum pill, which is quite large, and not so easy to swallow, though not as big as a horse pill. For me, I see no downside to this low-cost regimen. So far, my memory has only deteriorated slightly during the past three years of lockdowns and self-imposed isolation. I will continue to read more about the affects of D3 in future published research. I find this research interesting.

Thank you for the suggestion, and I am downloading this film at over 50 Mbps, at this very moment. I like films about genius, and about young people who have not yet stood the test of time, and who can still enjoy their 15 minutes of fame, minds relatively intact. Please Note: George Kennedy looked a bit better, and less the worse for wear, in the film Cool Hand Luke. Please ALSO Note: In the film, Cool Hand Luke, they all suffered a Failure to Communicate... Which is, of course, the topic of this OP.

Yes. Agree. It's all about the "experience", and capturing the experience on video, and then sharing the experience on social media. This is the new currency of social status. Probably, they see housing as less important because they don't expect the world to last that long, anyway, what with Global Warming, Nuclear Winter, and AI-Armageddon. Sexual Partners? This hasn't changed much since the 1960s. Remember the Key Parties, and such? There is more miscegenation, however, it seems, which they consider great progress.

Rather than buying unproven treatments aimed at preventing cognitive decline, initially, I would prefer to just know the rate of my decline, and to be able to prognosticate some sort of endpoint for complete cognitive collapse, such as entering into a semi-advanced stage of dementia. I am not the prez, and so I have no need to memorize the Gold Codes. However, if I could gauge the rate of decline, and thereby predict the time of onset of significant cognitive dysfunction, then I could better plan the rest of my life much more productively. I just want to know when, if there will be a when. I feel no need to reverse the final outcome.

septuagenarian