Can't sleep?

[Joe]

Try one of Bill's historical programmes. Try following intently ...you will find yourself slipping in-and-out of consciousness while trying to follow along. Perhaps even dreaming about Ogg of Bashan...

No matter how hard you try, you will find that you can only remember the last word said. Sometimes it will seem as if Bill has skipped to another topic, but that is only because you have been out for a few minutes.

Eventually your mind will be so weary, that you will give-up and have a restful slumber dreaming about the days of the patriarchs.

[wmfinck]

Wow, and I was thinking about presenting the German Origins series on Saturdays sometime soon. Guess I will have to package it as a cure for insomnia instead.

[Staropramen]

Try one of Bill's historical programmes. Try following intently ...you will find yourself slipping in-and-out of consciousness while trying to follow along. Perhaps even dreaming about Ogg of Bashan...

No matter how hard you try, you will find that you can only remember the last word said. Sometimes it will seem as if Bill has skipped to another topic, but that is only because you have been out for a few minutes.

Eventually your mind will be so weary, that you will give-up and have a restful slumber dreaming about the days of the patriarchs.

This has not been my experience at all. I think the problem may be with you. I find this stuff energizing actually. I dunno Joe, your post seems rather insulting and unproductive.

[brucebohn]

Try one of Bill's historical programmes. Try following intently ...you will find yourself slipping in-and-out of consciousness while trying to follow along. Perhaps even dreaming about Ogg of Bashan...

No matter how hard you try, you will find that you can only remember the last word said. Sometimes it will seem as if Bill has skipped to another topic, but that is only because you have been out for a few minutes.

Eventually your mind will be so weary, that you will give-up and have a restful slumber dreaming about the days of the patriarchs.

This has not been my experience at all. I think the problem may be with you. I find this stuff energizing actually. I dunno Joe, your post seems rather insulting and unproductive.

Nor has this been my experience Staro , although I must admit that on
more than one occasion I have, late at night ," slipped from consciousness"
while listening.. lol. But then, I try to go thru each podcast several times each.
Invariably I catch something I had missed. I do not think Joe meant for his post
to leave that impression, at least I hope not. Maybe he was in a state of subconscience
while making the post....

[Fenwick]

Ouch.

Well personally I quite enjoy the historical programmes. I understand that these are quite complicated topics but it's all a matter of maintaining focus. I used to spend a lot of time sitting through lectures on Equity and Trusts, and all that was far worse than any scriptural discussion.


I'd recommend, if you're having trouble following the podcasts, reading through the text that Bill often posts along with them. They're usually more detailed and it's easier to grasp translations when you can see them written down. Things can sometimes stick in the memory better that way than only listening to a recording that may move too fast for you to keep up.

[wmfinck]

I noticed long ago that the youth of today have a very limited attention span. I believe that is because they were brought up on television, and are accustomed to the ever-changing series of images which enraptures and often fascinates them. But they end up with brains like sieves, and little-to-no ability to retain serious information.

I am not saying that is the case with Joe, but I wonder just how much television has impacted his senses.

[Joe]

I was trying to make a light-hearted joke, sorry. The reason people interpreted it the other way is simply because they don't like me on a personal level.

It has happened a few times, I am usually very tired from the day but will often try and listen to a podcast. Sometimes it becomes very difficult. As I will try to keep going even after I am on the verge of falling asleep. I keep trying to hang-on, but end-up dreaming about the info instead. I tried to make it into a joke about insomnia, but that is not the case in my life.

I thought that this was funny. I am tired because I don't sit around watching TV all day. I hardly watch TV, if I do it is because I am tired and will only ever watch agreeable non-fiction.

It was not meant to be insulting at all. Once again, sorry. I appreciate Bill's work very much, he makes it too easy sometimes.

My mind is not a sieve, I think I have learned much of CI very well, from the start to where I am, I think I have memorized much of it and most importantly, I have interpreted into my own way of contemplation to understand it. I am not a surface reader either, I investigate every Scriptural question I have, usually I get a satisfactory answer in Bill or Clifton's work or Matthew Henry's commentary.

I don't have a short attention span at all, I don't own a mobile phone and do not care for the passing fashions. While all the kids around me use to gossip, I would be reading about things that they would never learn. This is all I do, I don't go out and drink, I don't socialize, I don't gossip.

I found CI while learning about the holohoax, something that I would often cycle through. So I didn't just walk-in the door and start leaning on the wall.

And you know, history is not my favourite subject. I have done very well in other areas in tertiary education, I am not stupid nor senseless. No-one could ever hope to make me into a fool, I may make mistakes but I am not a fool. Nor am I weak in mind, spirit ...I am strong in heart and I am a big guy. I am not weak and I do not bend to the rules of the weak. Period. That is why I am a lone wolf.

It is the clique mentality, once again. Bearing it's ugly head. A weakness, a senseless stain; the rules of the weak. Petty social power games.

[Joe]

An intelligent/rational assumption to make would be:
'Joe highly respects Bill's work and Bill as a good man and has shown that he understands the material, this must be a joke, even if I don't understand the humour'.

A stupid/semseless assumption would be:
"This is an insult, people younger than me these days. Must be that TV, or some other spurious factor".

Option 2 has come-up because of group dynamics (how people get along, not the other notion) and egoism. This, too, is a rational assumption.

[wmfinck]

I did not aim my remarks concerning television towards you personally. I only stated what I know from experience: that the way material is presented on television has, in general terms, dumbed us down.

When I got to prison in 1996, even though I had long been reading programming and technical materials, it took me awhile reading to redevelop the ability to read and keep focused on a single subject and absorb the information I was trying to digest.

When I started teaching others, I loaned them books. It was rather easy to notice that many of them could not read more than a few pages at a time, and most of those could not discuss what they had read with any depth. And they were not all redneck crackheads. Many of the guys I spoke to were degreed, or had at least some college.

Seeing your post, reminded me of a few of the guys from my past. It was not that they were stupid that they could not stay focused on a particular topic for any period of time. It was simply that they were not disciplined. It takes discipline to be able to read a book or listen to a recording and actually remain engaged with the material.

You may be surprised, at how many people have been here who did not read the material on my website, or who did not listen to the weekly podcasts. There have even been people who regularly visited the chat server who did neither of those things. So many people in CI feel that after Swift or Comparet or someone similar, they have nothing more to learn. For my part, I cannot keep track of what everyone else is thinking. i can barely keep track of myself!

So no, Joe, I took your words at face value because I did not think you would mislead us with a joke. And I looked for reasons from my own experience as to why your attention span may be so short.

[bahr]

I was trying to make a light-hearted joke, sorry. The reason people interpreted it the other way is simply because they don't like me on a personal level.

It is not necessarily the case, Joe. The fact is, a forum on the internet is not the best place for humor sometimes. Nothing could replace face to face communication. That's why Yahweh didn't create Adam with an iPad, I suppose. <-- joke