Hey everybody, yes I’m a week late, but who really cares. My true die hard fans will somehow contact me and let me know I am slacking. But the important thing is I’m here providing information that hopefully you all have and will appreciate and like.
This weeks post is, once again, about helping that wonderful brain of yours. A lot of these website/webpages I link to are for those who have told me they need a little stimulation in their lives, and I’m not talking about in the bedroom. Though you could do these there as well, or matter fact anywhere… anyway, there are also lot of older people who tend to forget things or just feel they are behind on the new methods that are out there to help them learn. So that’s why once in a while I will dedicate a post to helping those who feel they would like to boost their memory. I think this is something we all encounter at some point and time in our lives. No, I’m not talking about you photographic memory people. Stop bragging.
The first post is a webpage from Time Magazine Online. Under the column Mind and Body, Time offers what they call Brain Calisthenics.
There are mental workouts to help strengthen the brain. As the page states, “Researchers say the mind can be strengthened with regular training and rigorous practice…”. If you look at the bottom of the page there are also quick links to other helpful websites.Try it out. Oh yeah, they give the answers too, if you have Adobe Reader, it’s free.
Next we have a website called Brain Connection. It offers different exercises to help with memory. Not only is this helpful, but they have exercises with cool names,
Bumper Cows, Dunk Tank, Dressed the Doggie, etc….
Always remember,
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 2 or
8. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is
to keep your mind young.”
– Moshe Arens
Yeah, it’s nice to be good at memory games, but does it count for anything? Having recently read Richard Feynman’s autobiography
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393316041/002-9421893-7486413?v=glance&n=283155
(…well, let’s be truthful and say personal collection of anecdotes, hmm?), particularly the section where he reviews textbooks for the california public school system, I have to ask, what’s the application of some of these brain calisthenics?
Feynman, in reading math textbooks would explode in indignation at foolish problems like the addition of temperatures in stars, or other nonsensical applications of basic mathematical technique? I mean, sure, I can improve the speed of my basic math skills, expand my dual facility recognition skills, or try and develop new tricks for becoming more proficient at these games, but if there’s no practical application for something like color recognition versus reading comprehension, why do it?
Offhand, I can’t think of a reason, and yet it’s there as a ‘brain calisthenic’. A quick web search reveals that colored overlays are especially helpful to dyslexics and children with learning disabilities, but what good’s that going to do me?
Just because something’s labeled exercise doesn’t make it good or really even worth doing. It’s at times like this that I wonder why so often people never bother to check what they do; they just send something in as opposed to trying something new, or proving its effectiveness themselves.
Rant Central, next stop.
Anyways, I’ve found a site that, unfortunately, I’ve never had the conviction to spend money on:
http://www.memletics.com/
I’m not really sure why, It’s probably mostly because I’m broke, but there are various diagnostic and seemingly logically laid out programs for improving reading speed, comprehension, and learning faculties, among other things. It seems more applicable than the random willy-nilly so many other websites espouse as memory enhancers.
I apologize for being offensive. It’s my nature. I rant off the cuff. Thanks for reading though.