New Shrapnel extension meme - Scars

[Cainad (dec.)]

Scars are often better than Shrapnel because they are your own flesh.

Cainad,
Stretching these metaphors till they scream

[Cainad (dec.)]

BUMP

Since the Intermittens tomfoolery has everyone back in a thoughtful, excited mode, I thought I'd push this one up for consideration.

[Fujikoma]

*practices the foulest rituals of thread necromancy to rouse this horrid bubble of stink-filth to the surface*

Well, if you didn't read already, it's, erm, gone. It was ballsy, fun to write, inconsiderate to anyone here, and it was written while blasted (good enough reason to get rid of it in my book, and if it isn't in your book yet, it damned well should be), which, I'm still blasted... But after actually eating something (and countless hot peppers, you'd be surprised how many you have to eat once you get out of Texas to get that REAL spicy kick), it struck me as a terribly bad idea... Ya'll seem too sensitive at times, you're not ready to handle this sort of garbage...

And I can understand that, I can be sensitive at times too. We just don't know each-other well enough for this, though.

Call me a bad sport if you must, but the whole vibe has been rather tense and uneasy since I got here, so, it's all your fault... :P

Maybe some day down the road.

[AFK]

What the hell are you babbling on about?  I think you have some Shrapnel stuck in your head. 

[Reeducation]

I think that he just can't concentrate. Like he has all these "great" ideas in his head but he has to say them all at the same time, all the time.

Or he is trolling.

[Fujikoma]

Likely a bit of shrapnel lodged somewhere. My bad, it seemed good at the time, but... It had to go. Sorry about that.

I was kind of being a turd, though. I'll come back some time when I've got my crap together better.

I don't really have any ideas that could be called "great" (well no shit, Sherlock), or even "that could be good under the right circumstances."... Sorry if I worded things poorly. I have a lot to think about now...

I did like the thread, though. My reply sucked, took me a little while to realize it. Might not seem like that by the way I edited it, but I ate for the first time in about 48 hours today, after I'd had a little bit to drink, and came back and said "Nope, that's totally stupid, and I don't hardly know any of these people at all.".

Sorry about rambling about peppers too... Aw screw it, I need some sleep. Perhaps next time I'll have something better to say.

EDIT: Even overusing the word "though"... Yeah, sleep is probably the best thing atm.

[Pæs]

 I half-read your reply and I didn't dislike it. Now that I'm awake, I'm disappointed to come back and find it gone.

[Reeducation]

I actually liked the original too.

[Fujikoma]

I'm so sorry, ya'll... It's just, I unfairly bashed left-brain dominant people, and found some shrapnel within myself. I was so afraid someone would read it that instead of editing it I quickly deleted it. I really didn't want to get picked apart for my ideas (actually, other people's ideas, chopped up and mutilated, then reassembled into some shambling Frankenstein's monster), which always seems to happen, because of a lack of documented evidence to support my outlandish claims.

I have spent the past three hours searching for material to help explain my unfair assessment of the left side of the brain, and how I came to such a flawed perspective (all things considered, there are too many chaotic factors to actually call any of the "split brain" experiments scientific)... The ONE article I was looking for, I can't find anywhere, I did, however, find the names of the researchers responsible for the experiments: Roger W. Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga. The gist of it that I got when I read it, I think, a number of years ago, I don't remember how long ago, was that the left hand side of the brain is better with linear reasoning, but also with retroactive rationalizing...

That is to say, the left side of the brain will go to great lengths to excuse the seemingly irrational actions that the right side of the brain undertakes (pointing to a chicken claw) due to visual stimulus the left side of the brain has no access to, while the right side of the brain simply indicates that it has no idea what is going on. This can certainly be a useful quality, but the implications of such kinds of behavior, and the consideration that we live in a world made by, and for left brain dominants, are a little disturbing. I did find the experiment mentioned on the following link, though the subject matter is a little different.

http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2009/04/confabulations.php

In truth, I am a bit jealous of left brain dominants, such is the source of my unintended outbursts at times, and shrapnel I have yet to remove, but I'm working on it. This is not the first time it has come to my attention. At an early age, I had a kind of nasty head injury, and it damaged the left side of my brain a little bit. I was left handed, and I was forced to use my right hand. Now that all the myellin sheathing has taken place, I'm not so sure I'd be able to learn to use my left hand anywhere near as effectively as my right hand, and my handwriting with my right hand stopped developing around the 3rd grade... Not to mention, I have to use my right hand to draw, and it's a painstaking process, sometimes with good results, but often frustrating. So yeah, jealousy, anger at living in a world that's constructed for the most common denominator (which, it makes sense if you think about it, but it really upsets me sometimes), and having to argue with people who constantly want facts and proof of everything without just taking my word for it (which is entirely sensible, but I like to just say my piece and move on to something else, not spend hours verifying what I've already looked into, though I should do so more often)... But really, coming to understand this gives me another opportunity to grow as a person.

More links I found on my unholy quest for the information I was looking for:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain
http://scienceblogs.com/developingintelligence/2007/01/asymmetric_architecture_in_the.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralization_of_brain_function
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-handed

Should you choose to read them... The truth is, a left brain dominant individual without a split brain has access to the right side of the brain, which is actually better with statistical analysis and intuition, and so one cannot assume that they are so unbalanced as I, at times, assume them to be... The wording of my previous post, as well, was atrocious, and lacked any sort of humility in its expression.

I'll try to relate my views of the subject matter a in bit, having read all those links and searched for all that stuff strained my attention span and sort of blew the post I'd been thinking of making right out of my brain, which is why I don't like to go to such lengths often.

[Cainad (dec.)]

For someone who damaged the language-oriented side of their brain, you seem to be pretty good at putting your thoughts into words. When you're not wasted, that is.

Left brain-Right brain is a pretty interesting subject, but as you seem to be already aware, it's a pretty big piece of Shrapnel for you, it seems. Based on what you've written, it seems like you tend to fit nearly everything into the Left brain-Right brain dichotomy. This is probably something of a distortion to your perspective; not everything people do can (or should) be categorized as Left-brained or Right-brained.

Looking forward to reading more of what you have to say!

Cainad,
Left-handed, Left-brained

[Fujikoma]

This is true, however, the damage occurred at an early age, giving plenty of time for process usually found on the left hand side of the brain to either be shifted to the right hand side, or to be accessed via a neuron reach around (LOL) of the damaged tissue... I still suck with math, though. Thanks for the compliment! Yeah, I had learned quite a bit for a child of that age, then WHAM, and there were all sorts of holes in my memories and abilities. Kind of set me back a little bit. I must admit that I was fortunate to have it happen earlier, rather than later in life, although, I could be wrong there.

I do mention that my assumptions were wildly out of control (though, perhaps I didn't expand upon it enough for it to be noticed in that soulless slog of a post), as just taking the left hand side of the brain's functions alone and attributing them to left brained people is incorrect, as they still retain the functions of the right side of the brain, and the whole working together is what really makes the brain function... It was kind of a stereotype, which I've held on to for way too long. I've been bitter for quite some time. Extreme left brain types don't always seem to appreciate my strengths, and this can be troublesome when I'm working a job and there's a management shift... If I must mention, my personality type is INFP, though I do shift to INTP from time to time. Still not ready to write up my thoughts on the shrapnel concept, as my brain is still a little nuked from the alternating tedium and overload of looking up those articles. I would have gone to other sources, but I just couldn't find anything in all the soup, and I also kept getting articles on Terry Schiavo.

EDIT: But yeah, I get the whole thing you said about trying to fit everything into a left-brain right-brain dichotomy... I also consider personality types, but, it's hard for me to figure out what personality type some people are... I know I sometimes have problems with SJs (sensory judgmentals, guardian types) as they seem to get hung up on rules without (in my opinion) being able to consider the concept behind the rules in the first place sometimes... Not to mention, my dad is an SJ, a Christian (more spiritual than religious), a major asshole, a socialist (I'm libertarian) and a probation officer, although when we sit down and drink a few beers and talk about things, we usually have a good time, and talk about all kinds of taboo subjects, like religion and politics. He has his good moments... In fact, talking to him has kind of made it easier for me to relate to socialists and liberals.

[BadBeast]

If you consider that for all intents and purposes, in five years time, you won't be here, the issue of scars isn't nearly so relevant. In five years time, you will be no more. You will have been slowly, but inexorably chipped away, and whittled down, and killed, little bit by little bit, until what you think of as you, will be no more. Instead, there will be a completely different person walking around in your body, using your identity as their own, and living your life however they want to. They will not even remember you. Your family and friends won't notice. They, also will be this new persons people. Everything that you call yours, will now be seamlessly grafted to this new person, with no scars, or pain or memory of the event. There is not a single thing you can do about it. You can't make any contingency plans. There is no defence. You will be erased from existence, as completely, as if you had never been here at all.

If you are finding this a little disturbing, there is a small, but significant fact, that may comfort you, in the 5 years existence which you now have left. In 10 years time, this imposter, this usurping interloper, this eraser of all things you, will suffer the same Fate themselves. They will be deleted from existence, just as thoroughly as you will be. Every bit as thoroughly as the person you have just this very second, evicted from this meat life you now have complete authority over. It really is just a ride.

And you've been worrying about a few little scars. Welcome to the future!

[Ob_Portu]

This all said.
Mightn't masochist be an entirely different psychological species than harm avoiders.

I mean, visualize the difference with your artistic visualization machine. It's awesome. (I threw in a little hindu person as an energy matrix into to the starter and the bread was SO prettty.

Ob