GammaGlobulin

If you want to be super polite, and in Traditional Chinese: 我愛您

How many of us would wish to establish the rate of decline of our verbal memory? Of course, most of us would rather know than not know, maybe hoping that we might modify our behavior in order to slow the decline. But then, should we not first take some test, now, in order to establish a baseline? And then, periodically, we could re-test, and just see if we are declining as fast as we might fear? What test might be useful? I am toying with the idea of taking The Logical Memory (LM) subtest. This is the most frequently administered subtest in the Wechsler Memory Scale, the 4th edition (WMS-IV). I, like you, have taken the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) several times after reaching puberty, or almost puberty, as I first took this test when I was eleven, and I was sort of in the middle of becoming fully pubescent. But, as far as I know, this Logical Memory (LM) subtest might just be the ticket, for me. If you want a short blurb about this Memory Scale, then here is a link at ScienceDirect: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/wechsler-memory-scale (This article is from 2010, but I guess it's still fairly valid, today.) My only question, now that I have decided to establish my baseline, is....WHERE can I have this test administered reliably in my city, in Thailand? I am now in the city overlooked by Doi Suthep. It's good, too, 'cause....tests like this are far cheaper to pay for here in Thailand, than if I were getting the same test in Manhattan, I would imagine. My unbiased belief is that I am declining far more slowly than I would have expected. Definitely, it would be a plus to take this test now, for baseline purposes, because...I really doubt that I will be able to score higher in coming years. So...yes...I will take this Wechsler Memory Scale, 4th edition, first chance I have. I have nothing to lose, and much to gain, through further insight into my aging process. Aging is normal, but it sometimes feels to me...abnormal. Not sure if you feel as I.

You are correct: The linguistic term, I guess, for mixing up languages is.... INTERFERENCE In other words, there is interference experienced by the learner when learning and speaking more than two languages. If one's native language is English, and one is using an L2 and an L3 that one has learned, then there is often interference experienced between L2 and L3, so that, for example, when speaking Thai, often one's generated utterances will include both Chinese and Thai. This is often annoying to the utterer, and most confusing to the listener. For the listener, it sometimes seems as if the utterer is almost speaking in tongues. How best to avoid this problem of interference between L2 and L3 is a mystery to me.

In the Original Post, I asked the question: "What's to be Done?" And unlike in a minority of my other topics, I am trying to rigidly adhere to the original question. And so, I have another warning for you old guys who are wannabe editors. Give a consideration to the joints and muscles in your hands, because, you just might exacerbate any existing symptoms of arthritis that you are experiencing during long typing sessions. I type about 65 words per minute on a good day. However, after 12 hours of solid typing for weeks on end, either my fingers become more limber, or they begin to ache. Sometimes, I even experience shooting pains in my thumbs, although I have never been stricken with carpal tunnel syndrome. Therefore, one must be confident that one's hands can go the distance, pounding away, day after day. The student is, during the thesis writing process, full of anxiety, and you must also help her to stay relatively calm in an encouraging and supportive way. You become even more important than her thesis advisor, IMHO. Obviously, so much can go wrong for the conscientious editor. And this remedy for our aging brains is a medicine only accessible to a very few of us. Still, it's worth it if one is confident in one's abilities. I have done over five full edits, and I have always sworn that the most recent edit has been my last. I now believe that my editing days are behind me. But you might be a more resilient editor than I, and you might be in need of some stimulation, especially if you are a high-sensation seeker. Good luck if you are among the willing.

A word of caution to readers here who might now be considering donating their time to helping an ESL-author edit her MA thesis for the purpose of slowing one's inevitable progress toward linguistic and cognitive decline: Helping an MA student in this final challenge of her degree is not a joking matter. You have her academic life in your hands, and you are the surgeon offering victory or doom. You absolutely CANNOT back out and change horses halfway through the race. You must see the edit through to the bitter end, like a true gunga-din, though you may die by a thousand cuts in the process. Also, even before the race begins, you will need to obtain approval from the headman of her village, the thesis advisor. This will involve showing your academic credentials in the form of a CV, or something. Therefore, it's always best to have some sort of advanced degree, like maybe an MA of your own, or even a PhD. Likewise, it's good to have experience in the students topic, and therefore one should have spent time at university studying both the Social Sciences and the Natural Sciences, maybe some Environmental Sciences, and the like. If you are the type of person who is slow to reach utter exasperation, then this is another important qualification. In my humble opinion, an MA-thesis edit is worth its weight in gold if one seeks to avert overly-rapid waning in the "brain department". But, again, so crucially, one must see the project to its final conclusion, the publishing of the final chapter. Many MA students are on their way toward writing a PhD dissertation, eventually, probably within another few years. And, you can even help her with her PhD thesis, too, if you live that long....

Here is one solution you might try, but not for the faint of heart: Here in this country, there are many MA theses written by ESL-authors just crying out for not only editing but almost complete revision from the ground up. A 150-page thesis edit written by an ESL-author in this country is a veritable minefield of unintelligible gibberish. All sentences require not just simple editing, but also translation from jabberwocky into common English in order to introduce any semblance of coherence. One must also be a mind-reader. Basically, one must just re-write the whole 150-page mess. But, the fun does not end after the first complete edit and reworking is over. The student, after defending her mess, will use cut-and-paste to completely rearrange the order of hundreds of paragraphs, while also adding hundreds of new pearls of wisdom. But, she will not tell you what has changed. Therefore, you must also be a Sherlock Holmes to ferret out all undocumented revisions she has made throughout the original 150 pages. If one is to end up with a presentable product before publication, one must be willing to sink to the borderline of madness. Is this experience worth it for the editor? In my opinion, this laborious effort can help to stave off even more rapid decline in our aging brains. Just be warned that this free help you offer will eat up much of your days for at least a 90-day stint. You will grow hair on your chest. But, when the madness ends, you can hold your head high, and your mind will be improved. Try it, if you will. You might like it, and then come back for a second bout of punishment, and even a third or fourth.

Overusing the word LIKE is just the same as surrendering to the use of UPTALK. It's the first step toward complete insanity.

Correct, I think!!! Yes. no matter what, when speaking to others in countries like this, dumbing down is imperative if there is to be any minimal understanding, whatsoever. So...YES...I do agree with you. The only help for this is to try to read more, maybe. And, teaching of anything to anyone might help, as well. Good point, in fact. (Engaging in editing work, even for free, at the university level, just as an effective prophylaxis, seems worth the effort....maybe. Editing 150-page MA theses, "MA feces", is very effective. )

And further, in my darker moments, I sometimes think of my life as just another good example of an externality. In simpler terms: My life sometimes seems sort of like a "cost or benefit caused by a producer that is not financially incurred or received by that producer". My parents, in this case, were the producers. And now, I am bearing the cost of the risk they incurred, even while my parents often remained oblivious to it. Is this too dark of a thought? Or, can you also see the logic in this perspective?

Dear Friends, When I was in my middle years, I knew my linguistic abilities were a-waxing. Now, in the twilight of my time on this orb, I finally must admit that the very thing that makes me human, my ability to use language, is gradually waning. Sometimes, I forget how to spell certain words. I no longer am able to so easily generate words I need to use. What is to be done with me, in such a state as this? Here is an example, for example: This word “externality”, I can never remember when I most need to use it. Sometimes, I must pause, mid-conversation, while I struggle to cough up this simple but useful word. How can I even carry on like this? What can I do to improve my word-generation facility? Sometimes we hear of those like Philip Roth, or even a Wouk, that could write lucidly with perfect paragraphs, even until the day before they kicked off. Do you feel sad, assuming you, too, are in my boat? For people like us, those who have superior intelligence, we can usually maintain our outward appearance of being fairly capable of writing coherent sentences, using appropriate vocabulary… But, then, when our time comes, we do not just lose our minds gradually, but our cognitive abilities just seem to drop off a cliff, and with little warning. According to research, it is the dumb person who loses his faculties gradually, though earlier in life. I had not given much thought to my cognitive decline in my youth, even though I did know that I was experiencing this waning, probably beginning in my early 20s. There really ought to be a pill one could swallow to solve this issue. I mean I do not mind living, and I am able to endure life pretty much as well as the next guy. I just don’t like the fact that some (most) of my cognitive functions have been continually and steadily declining, for decades. My math skills were somewhat still OK, up to my 60th year. I was able to manipulate math calculations in my head, without paper, pencil or abacus. But when I hit 68, it was as if I was solving these math problems in my head in slow-mo (slo-mo). Some days, I even feel like, one day, I may become the Marlon Brando character in the film, The Godfather, lying in a tomato patch, with some kid spraying me so lovingly. But, you know, Brando always mumbled. Brando might have had a speech impediment to begin with. So, what is to be done? Is there a fix for this? How much longer must we wait for a cure to our, commonly experienced, verbal warning problem? Regards as usual, Gamma

No... Really... Also, IMHO, Buckminsterfullerene is the most beautiful carbon molecule in the entire universe. Also, amazingly stable. Let us imagine, as a thought experiment, that you had two Buckminsterfullerenes swinging between your thighs. And let us postulate that some Pattaya GF were to use all her might to kick you where your testes once were... How much energy would be required, from your GFs kick, to sever the bonds of your new, and improved, testicles? This is why we often say that testicles of Buckminsterfullerenes are even better than Brass Balls. The binding energy is on the order of 2278.1 ± 14.4 kJ mol–1. . I am just saying that C60 is miraculously stable, and completely impervious to Pattaya pain. Or, we can think of it this way: If one's balls were made of Buckminsterfullerene, then you could easily send both down to see the Titanic, and they would return to the surface, smelling like a daisy, unharmed,and unimploded. Sometimes, the testicle fails to descend. In this case, a strap can be attached to gradually coax it out. If you wish to know more about C60, then please contact Dr. Richard Smalley. As I recall, he shared a NOBEL for his work on C60. Also, as I recall, Smalley once stated that Young Americans are just too limp-wristed and soft to pursue the Hard Sciences. His view, before he died, was that Asians were filling the seats in his lecture hall. Richard Smalley was a kind, humble, and caring teacher. Most unfortunately, at the end of his career, just before he died, he was misled by an Oil Tycoon who was promoting Peak Oil. Charletans are a dime a dozen. But real chemists are worth their weight in gold, unlike Goldfinger. So, anyway, this is a test. Are you able to improve this description of C60, just from your own knowledge chemistry? Aesthetically, what is your opinion? What is an allotrope? What is a fullerene? === Calling all Asians... The World is Watching. It's now time for Asians to take up the cudgel, and flog away where American farmers now fear to tread. You know, after almost completing this comment, I really wonder if, now, one requires a dual PhD in Physics and Chemistry, just to make any meaningful headway in the field of Chemistry. For example, I no longer see my testicles as swinging orbs. I now see them, and everything, as quantum anomalies and fluctuations. Also, if we can just delay the destruction of homo sapiens for one more decade, just 10 more years, then, through the miracle of Physics and Chemistry, we still might have hope. Musk, at the Pure Science level, is like your toddler at his first day of Preschool. Musk is reinventing the wheel, and basking in limelight (also in the spotlight). If we, as a functioning society, are to survive, we must hope for major breakthroughs in Pure Science. Also, we must be wise enough to not blindly follow sycophants who, too much, love French Fondue. I mean, watching XI go wuolehog on that large bowl of warm cheese, was like... the book... Who Moved My Cheese! Probably most of you guys don't know what it was like to grow up at the time of the Cultural Revolution. This is why XI so much loves cheese. Even the Gang of Four never tasted Fondue. So, really, XI is just behaving like any normal person who just won the Trillion-Dollah lottery. And, now, I am thinking of FO DOLLAH, Michener's classic character in South Pacific (Hawaii). Time is running out. Fish or Cut Bait. By the way, is anyone keeping track of the acidification of the sea? Most of everything we are witnessing today was predicted 50 years ago. So then, why fly off the handle now? IDK. So, in order to distract yourself from reality, I recommend reading more John Cheever. Cheever resonates with me. Also, I like writers from Ireland. Who was that Irish writer who grew up in poverty, tortured by his father, and moved to Boston? Frank McCourt! I guess you might be wondering why I so much love Celtic music and Irish writers. If you gotta ask, then... There is no use in the explaining. When I was a wee lad, I was smitten after watching Maureen O'Hara. Such a bonney lass was she. She was smart enough to put any Vassar girl to shame. I have the ultimate respect for Irish wit.

Of course, I meant abstruse, and not abtruse. I am using SwiftKey which, after having been acquired by MS, is now swiftly becoming a dud.

Understood. No worries....!

Keith Floyd....... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Floyd Died, age 65. No matter your persuasion, Keith Floyd brightened your world, and the lives of many millions. As Floyd once told it, he kindly had a helping hand in popularizing The Stranglers. Keith drank a lot on camera. Also, as far as I know, I think he might have experienced a one-time drink driving ban.... https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/nov/24/ukcrime.martinwainwright Nobody is perfect. Floyd was the quintessential traveling cook of CLASS in SE Asia, and around the world. Keith Floyd, we love you. Pink Floyd, these days, not so much. 2009 Time flies.

A good reader should never feel intimidated by the literary tool of Stream of Conciousness. In my opinion, James Joyce is second only to Dostoevsky. So then, why do so many readers fail to wade through Ulysses, to the bitter end? Obviously, you can't just pay USD250,000.00 to have somebody read James Joyce, for you, and expect a FREE RIDE. Any billionaire fool can buy a one-way ticket to the bottom of the ocean. But, how much time does it require to read 250 good books? And then, to read them again? The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind. Why? Because, as we know from reading The New Yorker, the end of organized human civilization... is nigh. Who are the guys in charge of our world, these days? Obviously, the guys in charge of our world, today, share many of the same personality traits as the guys who boarded the Titon. How long, how many years, has it been since you first watched the theater showing of Strangelove? Almost 60 years. I loved, above all, Miss Foreign Affairs. Miss Foreign Affairs was my second awakening, just after having read Fanny Hill. Even to this day, in black and white, I can still recall every inch of her body not covered by that journal. Those were the days when Foreign Affairs was printed on very expensive paper, with a grey cover and black type. These days, the writing in Foreign Affairs has been completely dumbed down to about the 8th-grade level. So, I just wonder. How low can we go? For example,... Yesterday, I tried to read The Taming of The Shrew, just because I was seeking advice concerning how to handle my Thai landlady. But, after having watched three years of UTUBE, during the pandemic, I quickly found that, even, Shakespeare was no longer accessible to me. Most people on this forum, if you really want to know the truth, as Haulden Caulfield might have said, are smarter than I. But I just wish I knew which are which.

Although I might be among the minority on this forum, I completely agree that Love is far more important than Eroticism, after age 25, at least for our wellbeing. Introspection is also important, and I just wonder if there are any, even one, introspective souls on this blessed forum. As you may have heard, one of the principle reasons I come to this form is to enjoy the barbs, the slings, and the arrows, which can only come my way through actively posting topics here. I am really thankful. What I am saying is that, I sometimes feel like Dustin Hoffman. Posting on this forum is like descending in a bathosphere to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. It's really scary. But, I just cannot get enough of comments contributed by the people from Ireland and Scotland, in our group. I realize that I am not worthy. But, yet, I just hope that, through engaging with people from Ireland and Scotland on this forum, then, someday, I will be able to actually move to Scotland. I have been dreaming of moving to Ireland for many years. And, Ireland is even more on my bucket list, now.

Great question! The breadth of my vocabulary has been shrinking continuously, over time, as I continue to age. Linguistically, I think we enter decline before age 58.3. But this is not the complete story. You gotta differentiate between word RECOGNITION and word GENERATION. For example, in reading most text, including PhD theses, which I refer to as PhD feces, I seem to rarely encounter many vocabulary words/terms that I do not know. However, the generation of vocabulary I once knew, and wish to use, is an ability which seems to be gradually diminishing. But if you are wishing that I will soon become totally incapable of posting comments on this forum, due to something such as what you see with Biden, I don't see this happening to me within the next two years. Also, I am doubly challenged. As I have mentioned, I am using a very old Samsung Galaxy interface between me and you. I can see only one line of text between my keyboard and the popup ads on this old device which is still functioning perfectly after almost 9 years. More interestingly, if you want to gain some understanding of your ability to recognize many very obscure and obtruse English vocabulary, my advice is to get some GRE practice books. But, before you do this, it's best to enroll yourself in an intensive Latin course. Also, fortunately, I seem to be able to easily memorize new Chinese and Thai vocabulary. But, retaining L2 and L3 vocabulary terms is highly dependant upon environment. So, in conclusion, if you don't use it, then you are very likely to lose it. Maybe you have found this same thing to be true, under the sheets. Always keep your member exercised and in tip-top condition. Otherwise, someday, you might find yourself at 6:30... Liu-dian Ban. Picture your privates as the hands of a clock at Six Thirty. How would you feel? This has not yet happened to me, but stay exercised, lest it happen to you.

Please link the paper that you quoted. Thank you. I will, of course, enjoy reading it.

OK. I understand that some divorces are difficult. However, this was not true of my divorces. All of my wives and I parted as good friends. Maybe this is why I continue to dream about them. And, additionally, these past divorces from my wives, and also the separations from my more recent past girlfriends, have, finally, impressed upon me the importance of staying single, and staying celibate, notwithstanding how taxing to my spirit this decision sometimes truly is! I have heard horror stories, as have you, of divorces that end badly, even after two people had shared years together as lovers. Why does this happen??? One starts out as a couple who are in love, sharing the most intimate discussions and caring for each other. And then, so suddenly, things turn sour. This, on the surface, just seems so illogical and unpredictable. Yet, these days, this just happens far too frequently. IN FACT, as you may recall, Hollywood even made a movie about this very thing. I think the title of the film was something like... War of the Roses. They began their lives with such HIGH HOPES. And then, due to illogical and poorly understood reasons, maybe even due to some conflict of Ego, they met their doom. They turned a beautiful life of plenty into a horror story, and this film is not a fantasy. This film is one of my favorites because, it has an amazing punch line: "Avoid the Fish" Here is the REAL reason I will remain completely celibate until my dying day (Kathleen Turner is amazing!): I believe, just as Danny DeVito stated, when one needs to separate, then....one must look FORWARD. Look to the future. Because, someday, maybe, you will be dreaming about her, and the good times you shared, under the covers.

Sometimes, maybe often, there is a very fine line between fantasy and reality. And, I am NOT referring to any type of psychosis.

You used a comma where, instead, you should have used a semicolon. Otherwise, what you wrote is almost impossible to decipher. By the by, honestly, it seems to me that, if I were Australian, I would NOT leave such a beautiful country, one with extremely low population density, pristine beaches galore, and so much more. The only thing I can think is that you mismanaged your steam control. As Tom Wolfe mentioned, maintaining social stability is all about STEAM CONTROL. I forget the exact quote, but once your boiler gets out of control, then you are facing chaos. In my opinion, in the 1960s and 1970s, Australia was always seen as an idyllic place, and the envy of many. What happened? The problems of Australia, today, are directly related to the failure to practice proper steam control. Did your people in government never take a university course in Biology? I mean, if you take a pristine agar petri dish, wave it in the air, and then cultivate it, what do you expect to see? So, as Tom Wolfe correctly stated, if you want to maintain social stability, then you just gotta have STEAM CONTROL. Please just keep in mind this metaphorical Agar Dish of which I now speak. Looking forward toward the very near future, you gotta listen more to one of Yale's famous sons. Musk, on the other hand, seems to dream about saving the ENTIRE human race through utilization of the technology he creates. This is a CLASSIC example of COMPENSATION. Although I love Musk, yet still he is blinded by his madness. I just really hope that you can somewhat comprehend the import of what I am telling you, on so many levels. Maybe I should add a time-lapse video of bacteria on Agar? It's almost like you have no conception of what exponential growth looks like in the real world. What more can I say? Except, IF I had my wish, I would ask for my first wife to return to me, looking just the same as she did at age 22.

Sorry. But did you say a Red GUM tree? Because, I have always wondered about this song....

Peaches?

Maybe he was thinking of Newark, but then...He finally decided that the lyrics just didn't sound right, and, thusly, opted for Baltimore, sort of at random. We shall never know. IF only, somebody could buy us a big-enough wagon to haul us all away. Driving through NJ on the NJ Turnpike, the stink of it is just completely overwhelming. It was the same, as you might know, in 1960. The refineries keep on belching. Nothing new. We will need ALL of the renewables, PLUS ..... ALL of the underground carbon, just to get us by....