h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

sorry couldn't resist

F22128501?thread=8297201&latest=1

and the link won't work in Pliny I haven't learnt that yet

I looked at your journal thread for NaMaWoFo (we never remember what it is and just make it up mostly)

that a very interesting list you have there and I looking forward to see your techniques in action

I have been looking into false memories, nothing to do with Jimmy another tangent from elsewhere do you know anything about them off the top of your head by any chance?

I first heard about them on UFO scene in the 1990s so am rusty and quite out of date

false memories

Good question Peanut,

At what level… well they are real.
There are certain psychological procedures that have been linked to them.
Trauma is widely linked to them.

On a personal insight, there is a thing in the brain called the Corpus Callosum.
Extreme epilepsy patients have had their Corpus Callosums cut.
http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/corpus-callosotomy
A few experiments on these people after that procedure, revealed some interesting facts that may enlighten the subject. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Wolcott_Sperry

When the right side of the brain knew what was true, but was unable to communicate with the left side [via the Corpus Callosum], the experiment would “ask” the left brain *why* something was and the left brain would “confabulate” an answer. This example seems to me to be like a false memory. The person really did not know they were making up an answer, but clearly the person, or rather the left brain of the person, was just making up an answer to a question that the person knew there had to be some kind of reasonable answer.

I would assume that in some psychological situations a false memory could be planted in a similar condition where the two hemispheres did not properly communicate. During some severe trauma the person may go into a very primitive mode of survival where logic [the left brain] is not important to behavior.

[smiles] is that what you wanted to know?

AE

Morning

Thanks for the links
I will read them later as this is a quick stop over

Im after all information but specfically I was looking for 'recovered memories' that hasn't arisen from brain trauma

Some thereputic techniques can implant false memories, this can also occur through self help techniques
and more be a more spontanous

oh I believe that they are 'real' to the people who have these memories even though I don't believe they have actually happened

I remember being hugely concerned about the techniques that people who weren't best qualified were using to recover memories about UFO abductions because I knew people who were actually investigating them to some degree or another and this was a big discussion that I was having with them

One thing to investigate sightings, to interview witness,I am all for that, to meddle with peoples psychology that was not ethical

and this made me question recovered memories in general

It seems that the issues that I had weren't so far off the mark. It still seems to a hot topic but apparently I would no longer be a heretic

Also just to let you know, as it Halloween some people anagram their name as part of their Halloween disguise, just in case you are confused about not recognising people, that'll be why

*I was looking for 'recovered memories' that hasn't arisen from brain trauma*

…But you were looking for information about memories from people who were involved in some kind of UFO sighting. The theory is that if someone witnessed a UFO, those people could have had their memories messed with by the aliens. That turns a sighting witness into an abduction experience. With this theory, the ‘recovered memories’ would be from people who may have received various traumas from the aliens and then brain trauma to cover up [or erase] the abduction memories.

Without giving any credence to the theory that the UFOs people saw may have been extraterrestrial, any attempt to “recover” memories is quite suspect because of there being no way to differentiate between memories of real and memories of false experiences.

If anyone really did experience what they thought was an extraterrestrial event, they could have been subjected to brain trauma on just that account alone, regardless of what an alien may have done to them.

Then there is the fact that if five eyewitnesses report seeing the same accident, there will likely be five different accounts of what happened. The accounts can be so different that they are inconsistent with each other. An eyewitness is not as trustworthy as we generally like to think. False memories seem to be more common than we think. However, even witnessing an accident can be a bit traumatic.

AE

All that the gory Corpus Callosum crap shows that there is scientific evidence that *normal* people make up false stories without any awareness of an effort to falsify the story.

I wasn't looking for information about memories from people who were involved in some kind of UFO sightings though, now or at the time

I just, well, met them and people that were investigating them
social like, part of social circles

we got on, as people and we discussed stuff, like the best ways to investigate,

Seems I am just off base and can't find my way...[smiles].

we will find it,you know, the way
t'is all part of getting to know each other

and

as faulty as I am, it is a wonder that reality has any bearing.

Perhaps more to the point of this discourse [smiles] is the question of reality.

Memory being faulty and our senses being fooled, is it not just a travesty to think we understand reality at all?

Where is Peanut?

Gone marching?

AE

One important benefit of friends with a small *f* is that when others might avoid a subject on grounds of politeness, friends would broach a subject on the grounds of politeness. To that end, have you noticed this Yank writing anything distasteful?

I know I passionately explore unusual points of view. I assume that could be done in a tasteful manor. Yet, I have come to suspect otherwise.

In Peer Review I had problems accepting every point of view offered and I tried to question those points as if I needed to learn. To me the shocking turn of events was how the response to such questions was less than enlightening. When I thereby dismissed those points, I seemed to have lost support. In that whole process, the *test* entry just got worse and worse until even I considered it to be worse than unpalatable.

You get around on h2g2. I am sure you have seen some of my posts. Have any of those posts suffered from worse-than-awkward communications?

Perhaps this line of questioning is testing the limits of our friendship, but if you feel comfortable responding in any way, please do respond with your opinions.


Thanx,


Æ

No, they don't test me, ask anything

I don't know what is going on in Peer Review, I rarely go there

I have not found your posts worse then awkward, I have found when we have mis communicated then we looked to sort that, because we have then that gives me confidence.

When we disagree, or not sure we understand, then we talk more, this for is good

You are direct, honest, you express yourself, I'm not entirely sure people know what to make of you

you have walked into a very small, well established community,
with history, that is getting by now after a huge unheavel on the voluntary efforts of individuals

you can't be expected to know the rules, the norms,the backround

my feeling have been on occasion, to think whoa, the pace here is kind of slower and you would benefit from taking a little more time to find your feet

my best advice to you would pull out peer review,if you are still there,for now

take your time to get to know h2g2 over the next few weeks and for people here to get know you

I feel badly, I have written that out quickly and I would have liked to go your threads to see what actually is happening

but I am going away tomorrow, not sure of what my wifi is going to be like, I know I am going to have to walk for it, it is not going to 24 hours and well on holiday, walk on the beach or wander round for wifi, much as I love you all think I am going to be on the beach, freezing my butt off

I am hoping to check in at the very least, and should be able to spend some quality time here but it will likely be limited

and tonight I still haven't packed and my house is a mess and Mum is coming round to feed the cat, so I feel I should both pack and clean and I wouldn't mind getting a bit of sleep in

I have told Spiller and Hiccup, everyone has decided not to do any housework so we are all up at 5am, there is going to be hoovering, dusters, sweeping, washing and drying up and putting away,none of this leaving to soak, or leaving to drain so it will dry enough to snatch a plate and eat off it as we go along malarky

things are going cupboards and drawers and we are wiping the draining board down

that cat of course will probably promptly shit behind the sofa as soon as we hit the motorway instead of going outside,because it is quite chilly and he hasn't got me to give him a shove but hey, draining board, clear and mopped down

and it would be helpful if we also packed clothes

not just the bar of booze and food and stuff that I have actually packed and is in the car already to go apart from the fridge stuff

I also feel bit badly that I can't be more supportive right now, due said circumstances because otherwise I would be ableto spend more more time going though this as it is troubling you

and I would like to do that

No problem, be happy.

Enjoy the weekend.

My concerns are not so time dependent.

I plan to recap my Peer Review experiences.
So, when ya get back, you can use that to save lots of time and effort.

Take a nip for me [smiles].


AE

I will take a nip for you any preference

ameretto

tequilla

glass of wine??

and just so you are definately clear, it has been a pleasure to meet you and I'm glad we have these threads

I hope very much if you are having a bumpy ride, you stick around and not find too much like hard work



see you soon

Ameretto aperitif would be my pleasure, but imbibe liberally. [smiles]


Æ

My most difficult problem was with Recumbentman.
From day two, Sep 2, 2012, he takes issue with some perceived slight of the value of comedy to society. From my initial bemusement he hammers the idea with many rounds of critical posts. It is clear from his first post that he does not know what he is talking about. But I try to let the old man have a bone. Sept 5th., I respectfully decline his suggestion that I put the subject of Comedy on some kind of pedestal. He can write his own article. I did change a few words, but this is hardly an improvement of the article and he was not satisfied.

Five weeks ago he posts a long list of corrections. One example I interrupted to signify that he is an unqualified reviewer was a criticism of my use of the word muckraking. Then he writes, “I appreciate that you are writing gnomically, in the style of dark hints, but alas that doesn't do in the Edited Guide.”

In that same list he takes issue with my definition of the word raspberry, which was, “a cry or noise made to express displeasure or contempt.” I just shake my head in disbelief. And yet he goes even further to take issue with my use of the phrase “mark in the sand,” based on some arcane historical reference.

At this point I begin referring to his remarks as narrow minded. To wit he responds, “AEH, please get me right. "Implies" does not admit other possibilities; it is (in this case) a logical implication.” “Narrow-minded if you wish -- logic is strait [sic].” At this point I write the fellow off, as his logic is clearly sick.

Now I am thinking to myself that he does not represent h2g2 as a whole, but I do wonder why he goes on and on and why other reviewers take issue after such a prolonged effort on my part to appease the dolt. No one seems to care that the entry is being degraded by the rantings of some crazy old man.

Four weeks ago I post:
Please comment on the dumbed down version.
Is it more understandable?
Is it more like other entries?

To which he replies, “It is, and it is. I wouldn't call it dumbed-down.” And to another issue, “Please don't respond to serious questions so huffily. Smiting your reader in the face does not improve his eyesight, or insight.” My reply follows:

---begin post
I am so very sorry if you feel my reply to be only huffy. Sure, you think you are here to help me and h2g2, thank you. If not out of respect for that fact, I would have ignored your concerns. I must say I have found your point of view askew to the extent that I thought I should try to help you to see the error of your ways. I am trying to help you be a better reviewer. I have learned that I could be wrong. I could be sure of my position and still be found wrong. That could even be true in this case. After very careful review of the subject, it still seems clear to me that you are mistaken.

I expect you to be as wise. I expect that when a suggestion is questioned, you would carefully review the situation with an open and honest re-appraisal.
You are still right, “The story of Monty Python does not start in Ancient Greece.” However, that is neither what I wrote, nor that what I implied. I have been blinded by pride before. It was very hard to see the truth in that situation. I am not saying you were blinded by pride, I am saying you seem to me to be blind to the facts. I do not know what the source is of our different understanding of the facts.
When I feel I am not being heard, I will alter my message to see if the difference can be understood. In your case I was being blunt, but only to be heard. Clearly that was my mistake. Evidently that approach made the situation less able to be resolved.

As I understand it, the issue is an almost whimsical phrase, “That story starts long ago,…” In my opinion that phrase is not really needed. As I understand your perspective, it is actually inaccurate. To make matters better, I have tried to help us resolve this otherwise petty difference. I want to know if I am off base or if you made some error. From your response I gather you do not see that you are mistaken. But from your response I have not learned how I was in error.

The problem, as I see it, was that the first sentence introduces, “…a short story about how using the name “Python”…” It does not say, “a short story about how using the name “Monty Python” as far as I know, using the name “Python” came long before Monty. Then I wrote, “…but let me pick it up with Monty Python…”

Restating the facts as I did in the above paragraph seems way too demeaning, but that is not how it is offered. It is possible that my sentence structure is such that I unknowingly confused any “normal” reader about this message. I assume you are not a “normal” reader. I assume you are an above average reader. With that assumption, I expected some understanding of my question of your concern when I responded: “Surely you jest!”

“That” is the first word in the second sentence of the second paragraph is a pronoun clearly referring to a short story about the name “Python.” I should have added, “Not about MONTY Python.” All of this phrasing is but a trifle compared to the issue of whether my words were read or assumed out of some subconscious imagination. Let me add, as writer I do take some [but not full] responsibility for what subconscious connections are normally conjured up by what is written.

If you now feel smote or otherwise slighted, it would not because I had the authority to do so. I leave it up to you to condemn or excuse your thoughts.
---end of my post

He posts again:
Starting your story with the etymology of the word Python is just excessive in my humblest of opinions.

I think I have said all I usefully can, I'll leave it to someone else now. A lot of what I have said would eventually have had to be dealt with by the sub-editor, and as a sub-ed myself I was anticipating that work. I won't be volunteering to sub this, should it be chosen. Good luck and keep writing.

I reply:
My entry is about how we can change History.
It is not about Monty, Guido, or Computers. It is about how those things are connected.

My essay incorporates a short story about how three things were connected by the name “Python.” The first changed the second. The second changed the third. The three are tenuously connected by the name “Python.”

As the first passes into History, the third may affect our future. Indirectly, the first, Comedy, has foreshowed the future, just as you thought was important but overlooked.

This connection is the jest of my theses. <Smiley>

To apply the theses to this situation, what you or I choose to do may impact the future in ways you or I could not possibly imagine.

Sorry I my etymology seems excessive to you.

[pun in jest noted]

etymology removed

…thus ended any posting in this Peer Review.