Benpercent

Here's a suggestion that may come off as absurd, but in all seriousness: Why not get a treadmill and write in a notebook while on it (there will be a little space to lay it down, most likely)? An exercise bike might do as well.

I do this a lot myself, but, taking my own advice that will follow, I'll probably train myself to think while sitting down as my legs can't stay as active as my brain can (I get exhausted quite often). My advice is simple: Form new habits. If you want to be able to think straight while sitting down, then sit down and will yourself to do it. Practice practice practice. At first it will be frustratingly hard, as you will find yourself either unable find the thoughts or would prefer to daydream. Sooner or later, in a time span as short as one or two weeks, you'll find yourself amazed that you struggled in the first place. However since you are a businessman I suggest you set some time aside to do this rather than trying to integrate it into your daily habits immediately, so that it doesn't affect the quality of your work. I got similar results during my personal studies. At first I just couldn't keep my eyes and mind on my grammar book; I wanted to daydream as I always have since childhood: All day. But the simple act of just struggling to concentrate improved my concentration. Within a week I found my desires have changed; I found it more preferable to think than to daydream. In fact, it felt like I actually had to will myself to daydream as the urge to had died down so much. Even then any fantastic daydream I could conjure bored me. Oh, and I almost forgot: Remember that the pain you will encounter in the process is necessary and given. The simple act of remembering that will help to ward off any feelings of despair or giving up. Habits are ultimately the key to most, if not all, self-improvement ventures.

Ah, here's another problem. You're assuming that brilliance is intrinsic, that one is either born with it or not. This premise is very self-defeating and must be fixed otherwise you will view all the fields you come across in the same way. Rand commented on this (sorry, but I've forgotten where), saying that people who hold this premise, when they fail, do not ask "What do I need to learn?" but rather state "I'm just not made for this." Here is a quote, that is within circulation on the homepage, that will suffice:

A nice thing I think to remember is that 100% of all apocalypse predictions have been wrong up to date, and it's a damn nice rebuttal too. Surprisingly, however, I have been asked how I knew this was so.

There's nothing more harmful to the Objectivist movement than those pretending to advocate Objectivism, as it gives people a false idea as to what Objectivism is about. In other words, it makes the guilt by association fallacy more likely and common.

I am probably going to start having nightmares once November rolls around, but Obama's plan to stimulate the economy by taxing the oil companies even further is literally a recipe for economic disaster, and thus makes me view McCain as the slower road to hell, unless he has a plan just as bad. But it is still early, of course. The convention is in ten days, I hear. All in all I'm surprised and rather depressed at how childish this whole race is, on all sides.

Mmm....I don't think I'll press the issue any further then. A good quality recorder is not much use to me if my hearing is not able to detect the distortions in the first place. And I've been thinking about what Thales said, and he's right. Without those hearing aids all this drill work will pretty much be for naught, so I'll focus on incorporating the /s/ and /th/ sounds into my speaking patterns, in their proper contexts I mean, and also record myself reading book chapters as to strengthen my articulators (I don't often speak at lengths) and my overall speaking skills. Once I get those hearing aids and can "truly" hear myself, then I'll work on my voice.

I called an audiologist at the place where I go for hearing tests and the such, and he said the cheapest, least-advanced digital hearing aid is $3000 per pair, while the highest end one is $6000. Even with insurance discounts it will be awhile, and I've started saving. I will be using this recorder to track my progress, but do you think I perhaps needs to get one of a different type? I have a month to return or exchange. I'll probably stick with The Doctor is Sick then, because I don't own a copy of, and haven't read, Atlas Shrugged. (My interest in Objectivism started after reading VOS, and by then I had intellectually matured enough to dig further through the nonfiction alone.) ----- Oh, and I feel silly for forgetting to include this. Here is the passage I read, typed out:

Thank you for the encouragement. I get plenty of motivation looking towards people who did not bring up the motivation to self-improve, and are now senior citizens in the fast-food industry. Yes, I must remember to keep that in mind. After some brief thinking I figured out why I try to speak so fast: I was holding onto the premise that if I speak slow I might be perceived as mentally slow. I've got a plan of attack now. Since my dispute with my voice, the very first sounds I should begin drilling on are the ones that are "voiced", that is, sounds that require the vibration of the vocal cords. Using the phonetics website listed above, I'll go through and separate all the voiced sounds from the unvoiced sounds. After that, I'll get a library membership and create some exercises. My therapist give me these lists of words to drill from a book that lists words according to sound, and I'm sure I could rent it out of the library instead of trying to pick words out of the dictionary. Using these lists, I will then write sentences incorporating sounds. For added challenge, later down the road, I will create sentences that incorporates multiple sounds. It will be a long process, since I am trying to overhaul my entire speaking patterns, but one far well worth it. [Edit: Spelling]

For sixty four dollars today I managed to snag myself quite a nice voice recorder. It's so sensitive that it can record whenever I inhale, and can even transfer and convert files to my computer. It will be very useful for keeping track of progress as I do my drilling exercises. To offer some clarity on my speaking issues, more specifically issues with my voice, I have recorded myself reading a short theme-important passage (50 seconds) from my favorite book The Doctor is Sick. Boy, listening to it, that kid was right. I do sound rather cartoony and am a tad bit embarrassed posting this. Nonetheless, other people hear me speak everyday in the shops and on the sidewalks, so why should be this any different? Thank you in advance for taking time out to listen, if you choose to do so. Of course, with respect to the owner of this forum and as to not clog things up, I will not be posting files tracking my progress, unless explicitly and specifically asked for (for the purpose of constructive criticism). Once I do reach a point of satisfaction with my speaking patterns, I plan on redoing the passage reading. Again, I appreciate your efforts and advice. They have been extremely helpful as of far. DoctorisSickPassage.mp3

It was one of those annoying moments in the show where they simply quote a study without citing a reference or stating how it works (as opposed to the rest of the show, where they go so far as to tell you what's happening to egg proteins when you stir a batter). However, I've found some other studies. Here is an article on the topic by the United States Department of Agriculture: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/1999/990910b.htm Here's a more in-depth article: http://www.oregonblueberry.com/health.html Now I've got a craving.

I've heard on Good Eats, a cooking show that often delves into science for explanations, that blueberries are a good aid to preventing memory deterioration with age.

No apology is needed. I have been hearing-impaired since I was age zero, so it's not like we're talking about an attribute I long for. As Anthony Burgess said in One Hand Clapping, "You can't miss what you never had." My therapist recommended this to me as well. It's helping out quite a bit. I could check it out, but I *highly* doubt I'll get a discounted pair because the kind I need are of rather high-end quality. A pair of analog hearing aids (these type amplify ALL sounds) will probably cost under $1000 at this day and age, but a pair of digital hearing aids (these kind only amplify specified frequencies), which are the kind I need, can cost up to $3000. I'm definitely going to save up for them. My Pepsi shaped bank is nicely heavy already.

I hate to say it but the Practical Method is one I'll be unable to use. My speech difficulties arise from my hearing-impairment, that is, I hear differently and thus I speak differently. It would do me no good to try and make other people as the standard of how I'd like to sound because in my ears I sound no different than they do. Until I get a good pair of hearing aids it is physically impossible for me to be able to distinguish the difference between my speaking and theirs. Though I do think I have an alternative method. Sometime last year I came across this website which not only provides the English phonetic alphabet, but also a step-by-step guide of where you should place your teeth and tongue to produce certain sounds (and how you should control your airflow), demonstrations of the sounds via both animation and video, and example words including specified sounds. A great site for students of linguistics. With this I could do some drill work on the sounds I have trouble with, because although I may not be able to hear certain sounds, I'll be able to see how they're produced and learn to incorporate it into my normal speaking. For maximum benefit I'll save up for a digital recorder so that I may track my progress. What do you think?

What method did you use to do so?

Hmm...It seems as perhaps I may not have attacked the root of the original problem after all, not to say none of the problems have been dealt with. A kid tonight rode up to me on his bike and asked me why I spoke like a cartoon character, and then inquired if I could do any more impressions. He then gave me his impression of Alvin and the Chipmunks. As I said before the reason why I am so considerate about this issue regarding how others perceive me as I speak is because it is usually this trait alone that decides how seriously people take me, and how they judge my intelligence at face value. Given my past experiences, it has lead to very many frustrating experiences indeed, including some people treating me like an outright mentally-handicapped person. So it seems as if my problem is as I've previously thought: My voicing. I'm not sure how to tackle this particular, and would appreciate further advice. Should I save up for some voicing lessons of the sorts? Or perhaps get a tape recorder and practice the phonetic alphabet? I will, of course, being doing further research on this, not to be lazy and throw the burden on you. And my other assigned exercises, I won't forget. Thank you very much for taking the time. I appreciate it.

The best update yet. The HRC has dismissed the charges. Though, agreeing with Mr. Levant, there is still plenty to be angry about.

Mine are rare, but when they do come they are so bizarre that the only conclusion I can come to is that they are a random grab bag whatever thoughts and daydreams I may have had recently. Strangely enough though, since I dream so rarely, I have found my most of my nightmares entertaining after waking from them, except for one. This one I had in particular two years ago was terrible mostly due to me being half awake the whole time throughout, so I couldn't distinguish if I was asleep or not. I was in the Grand Canyon at night, with this huge "machine" to the left of me. The machine itself did not look like a machine, but a glob of oil in the shape and form of a 30ft tall leech. Apparently there was this big flood of water, which I could see using my sleep endowed powers of seeing miles away, rushing through the canyon towards where me and a bunch of these other unknown people were. We would drown unless we used this machine to drill holes in the ground to drain all the water, but all the women and children and such were somehow getting stuck in the gears, and were moaning quite terribly. I was trying to figure out how to get these people out while at the same time keeping an eye on the fuel gauge, which happened to be my alarm clock (4:30? What unit of measurement is that?). Also at the same time I was quite concerned that I would drown once the water starts coming in through my bedroom windows, which is a strange thing to be concerned about since the canyon had no windows. I could not make myself aware of the fact that I was seeing two different environments depending on whether or not my eyes were open. In a rush of frustration I hit a button which turned my bedroom lights on, and then stared around, trying to remember that my room is not in a canyon, and then went to the bathroom to sick. For these kinds of dreams I coined the phrase "Dizzy dreams" to describe a class of dreams that always make me want to throw up. After sicking and going back to bed, I had another dizzy dream about some sort of cartoon clown jugging foam balls in a yellowish darkness, and then I got up and sicked again. Never on any other day was I so grateful for Vernors. If I was still a kid, however, my answer as to the worst nightmare I ever had would be different. It took a lot of introspection to find out, but apparently these dreams were influenced by the movie Look Who's Talking, where in one scene the child of the movie has a nightmare that the toilet wants to bite off his genitalia. In my version of the dream I was going up the stairs when suddenly one of them turned purple, and the whole staircase started moving downwards like an escalator. The dryer came out of the laundry room and ate me in a single cylinderful. For a few moments I floated around in a dark bluish-purple environment along with the Kool-Aid man, whom had either been devoured or drunken, until I came along side a rocket ship. I boarded it (being inconsiderate to the Kool-Aid man) and blasted off, puncturing a hole in the top of the dryer which then caused it to deflate. Finally I woke up, with a new childhood fear. After that I would not go in the basement without having an adult waiting at the top of the steps until I turned a light on or fetched whatever they needed. I remember once the power went out while I was watching television in the basement, and I screamed thinking it was the dryer messing with the fuse box. If that wasn't bad enough, I had two more nightmares (different enough not to be called recurring dreams) about that dryer. In the second my friend and I were playing chicken with the dryer as it chased after us (this time it was hiding in the bathroom) when we went to the bottom of the steps. The second time I ran up the steps my friend did not follow, as he was watching the dryer move after him, in awe. The dryer ate him up and then went back to the bathroom, to take a leak I suppose. In the third nightmare the dryer attempted to go up the steps after me and my grandfather, but failed and sent a policeman after us instead. I'm not certain, but I think this fear lasted several months, if not several years. Good thing I'm over it now, as I'm near the darned laundry dryer now. Nowadays I either don't dream or don't remember the ones I have. The ones I remember quite vividly are a quite random selection, and include such insignificant dreams such as running through the kitchen at night.

A good resource would be Edwin A. Locke's Study Methods and Motivation. It's also good for far more than just tips on taking notes.

Good news! There is now an extra file you can download that will insert subtitles: http://herebedragonsmovie.com/download.php (At the bottom of the page) For those who do not know what to do with this file: Merely make sure it is the same name as the corresponding movie file (ignoring the file extension), and is in the same file directory. If you have the VLC player, then the rest is automatic when you execute the file. [Reason for edit: Clarification]

Strange. If Kant never argues for the existence of duties, then why does he talk about them at all to begin with? Your instructor unintentionally implies that he is begging the question: In other words, he is arguing based on an assumption. Why does your instructor view Kant as the greatest philosopher ever, if he places the most important parts of his system in a logical fallacy? People cannot act on an arbitrary "If".

I just saw it today after viewing some of the recommendations on the first page of this thread. Having never really enjoyed Batman before (and thus going into the theatre with little expectations), I am extremely pleased. Heath Ledger played a phenomenal part of the Joker and, as others have said, did a damn good job showing the manifestation of evil. He alone made the movie for me. I could care less for, however, the character that played Harvey Dent. I didn't care much for Batman either. And, funny, my interest in linguistics was fired up again, when Overall I would recommend this movie, and perhaps the DVD, but for me I'd like to only see it twice.

Not all of them are closing. According to my local paper, a few in Michigan will continue to stay open, so perhaps you might want to check with the locations in your state Mammon. Though I must add I have never been to Bennigans. What is so special about it?

Sounds incredibly helpful. Unless something happens to change my schedule, I think I visit a nearby group this Tuesday. And wow, memberships are dirt cheap.

Hmm...I've heard of this title some time ago, but strayed away from it since some reviews said that the prose was quite boring, but perhaps I'll check it out. I do have a question though: Wasn't this book translated with the help of Anthony Burgess? My memory hints at it.