Sounds like we're on the same or similar diet, I can't get over 365 grams of Cholesterol a day and observe intermittent fasting. I read a book called "The Plant Paradox" find it at Amazon read about it, the Doctor that wrote it has a very strong Medical Knowledge. I think you can find it cheaper at other sources though. I dropped my Cholesterol and avoided Statins. They are normal, I'll have it checked again soon to make sure I'm on track.

kv

I don't have a problem with cholesterol. My problem is carbs in general, particularly starch and sugar. My cholesterol was way high when I was eating even moderate carbs (~200 g/day). When I got radical and dropped my carbs to less than 30 g/day (and most of that from non-starchy vegetables) my total cholesterol quickly dropped to excellent, despite eating a lot of protein, fat, and eggs. My other blood work improved similarly -- and I feel a hell of a lot better.

 

Wow, you guys are really hurting me. I've got a degree in mathematics and taught two years of high school math in Ghana. In university I kept taking math classes because I loved it. As an upperclassman I was deep into logic and getting farther from practical subjects and loving it even more. Did you know there was a guy named Godels who proved that some things in math can never be proved or disproved using the available tools? It's a fantastic mind game, at least to me. My grown up daughter chided me recently for how I made her cry while helping with her algebra homework. Oh, well, now she's an MD so no permanent harm done. You guys are all too serious. I don't care if a subject is practically useful or not. I care if it's interesting and beautiful.

Remember that when talking about generalities, it is understood (or should be) that there are plenty of exceptions. We may talk about the problems presented by today's spoiled-entitled-whiny-babies youth but that by no means rules out the existence of many truly mature, well-grounded, strongly-motivated young people as well.

Every profession and every generation has always been a mix of people drawn from a broad spectrum. What we (or at least I) am saying is that I believe that mix has been, and continues, to demonstrably shift in a direction that is not good.

For those increasingly fewer people that pursue a field of study for the right reasons -- a love and passion of the field -- and a willingness to work hard and become truly good at it, the good news is that you are increasingly rising to higher levels in a shrinking pool of well-qualified competitors.

 

Nicely put. I think it's even harder when it's your own kid. BTW, I'm staying out of my grandson's homework, going into eighth grade. He attends tutoring at Kumon and does their exercises. I have a real problem with their rote learning method. I doubt he can explain anything but he can factor polynomials like crazy for whatever that's worth. Sometimes I get to play the grandpa card and just stand back.

I have my daughter attending Mathnasium and I think it is helping -- a bit hard to tell because we don't know where she would be without it. I looked at both Mathnasium and Kumon and I was not impressed at all by Kumon because they had way too much emphasis on rote application of techniques and excessive drill with little emphasis on comprehension of why those techniques work. Mathnasium seems to be much more balanced and they constantly present students with problems that require them to figure out how to apply what they've learned to problems that are quite a bit different than what they've done before -- usually as a means of motivating the transition to the next topic. They also don't load down students with a bunch of work that they have to do at home -- in fact they do not allow students to take work home, it must always be done there.

 

I see this in plenty of adults also. So many are afraid to attempt anything new or outside their comfort zone. They've convinced themselves that they can't, they'll fail, it's not worth their time, whatever. They cannot visualize themselves doing the new thing and have rationalizations to comfort themselves with a 'good reason'. I grew up with "the knack" and so I'm frankly baffled by this self-limitation. I can't explain it but I can tell from your post that you know what I mean.

If I want to go kayaking, I rent one and go. If I want to play an instrument, I'll get one and give it a try. Cook something new or do an electronics project? Why not!? I have friends that look on in awe as if I'm actually good at any of these activities. I'm not, and that doesn't bother me. Failure is to be expected and is part of the learning process. Who can possibly be good at more than a tiny number of things? I don't want to limit my life to doing only what I'm good at!

I have one friend, a friend of my wife's, that grew up in a small world bordering on abuse. She couldn't even pump her own gas or put air in a tire, at age 50, before we met her. Fortunately she has picked up a few Pinterest-type crafting activities (which she's better at than I'll ever be). Not long ago I taught her to use a pop-riveter and my drill press. Both just blew her mind because they were so easy compared to whatever she thought they were beforehand. I watched her drill holes in over 300 plastic lids and bottle caps for one of her projects and she absolutely loved every minute of it. But she would have never even tried if I hadn't been there to teach and push her. I just can't relate to that defeatist attitude.

Like you, the unwillingness to even attempt something new because it's challenging or intimidating baffles me. I may fail miserably at something, or discover that I don't like it even if it turns out I have the potential to be good at it, but that's the price of admission.

I was very concerned about my daughter for quite a while because she took this fear of new things to extremes. She might want to do something that she hadn't done before (like ride a horse) but when given the opportunity (to ride on a horse in a small ring with the trainer doing everything) she wouldn't do it unless you literally threatened her some way. But then, of course, she'd do fine and enjoy it. She's largely broken out of that, but it was a painful process. We made a point of taking her to do new things and made it clear that she didn't have a choice in the matter. Last summer she went white water rafting, shooting, horseback trail riding, hot air ballooning, and on a lot of the thrill rides at the amusement park. That last one in particular resulted in a lot of crying and screaming, but it also taught her that doing new, even scary, things aren't a death sentence and when it's over it's over and you can decide if you want to do it again. I think it paid off when my wife signed her up for violin lessons last year because her teacher believes in having lots of performances and having all of the kids get out there by themselves and doing solos. This was a kid that just half a year earlier literally hid behind me when I took her to one of the classes I taught and wouldn't even go over to a desk on the other side of the room unless I walked over there so she could use me as a shield. Imagine my surprise when, after only a couple of months of violin lessons, they were performing at a nursing home with about fifty people in the audience and she marched right up and did her solo of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

 

Interesting statement... what did you say to her?

It's too easy to make little girls cry. Once upon a time, my nieces daughter copied a CD and she scratched the original. I asked her how she managed to scratch a CD between the drawer in the computer and the protective sleeve. She ran away crying.

My nephew has a 50 year old wife that can be stopped with a dirty look, like a deer in the headlights.
Wimin! I just can't figure them.
So I'm doing all of them a favor. I don't speak to them.

 

I see this in plenty of adults also. So many are afraid to attempt anything new or outside their comfort zone. They've convinced themselves that they can't, they'll fail, it's not worth their time, whatever. They cannot visualize themselves doing the new thing and have rationalizations to comfort themselves with a 'good reason'. I grew up with "the knack" and so I'm frankly baffled by this self-limitation. I can't explain it but I can tell from your post that you know what I mean.

It seems to me that a significant percentage of my work has been caused by that kind of people. I so much want to tell them, "If you would just bother to look, you would see the problem." Then I shut up and cash the check.

"My deadbolt is difficult." I look at it, whip out my pocket knife, and whittle away the wood that wasn't cleared out properly.

"My TV won't come on." I look behind it and plug it in.

"My car makes a ratcheting sound when I try to start it." I look at the battery and clean the terminals.

"My door closer doesn't close the door all the way." I wipe the tiniest dab of Vaseline on the striker plate and it's all fixed.

"My air compressor keeps popping its overload." I go get a 12 gauge extension cord and plug it in.

I know the denizens of this site find these things to be self evident, but there is a world of people who don't.
Good, bad, or neither? It depends on who's writing the check.

 

It seems to me that a significant percentage of my work has been caused by that kind of people. I so much want to tell them, "If you would just bother to look, you would see the problem." Then I shut up and cash the check.

"My deadbolt is difficult." I look at it, whip out my pocket knife, and whittle away the wood that wasn't cleared out properly.

"My TV won't come on." I look behind it and plug it in.

"My car makes a ratcheting sound when I try to start it." I look at the battery and clean the terminals.

"My door closer doesn't close the door all the way." I wipe the tiniest dab of Vaseline on the striker plate and it's all fixed.

"My air compressor keeps popping its overload." I go get a 12 gauge extension cord and plug it in.

I know the denizens of this site find these things to be self evident, but there is a world of people who don't.
Good, bad, or neither? It depends on who's writing the check.

Nothing wrong with making a living... after all, we all sell information, not just hard labor.... my dad didn't know in what direction a light bulb was supposed to be screwed... and yet he was a brilliant (understatement) pediatrician... "zapatero a tus zapatos" ... shoemaker to your shoes...

 

@Aleph(0) et al -- Ok, already!

By way of clarification of post #116:
While indeed I can by no stretch of reason descry anything "illogical", "obscure, mentalistic, and frankly bizarre" or "arrogant" in the assertion that mental discipline is key to high mental function -- I do recognize the danger inherent to casual application of ambiguous 'labels'! -- hence my desire to let it ride!

With that, I return to (would you believe?) my life

Tolerantly
HP

 

Wimin! I just can't figure them.
So I'm doing all of them a favor. I don't speak to them.

So that's it!

And to think I was under the impression that your apparent 'boycott' of our 'EHT thread' owed to addition of our UNs to your famed 'ignore list' corollary to 'fallout' from the recent 'wage/price discus bicker' --- Golly!


Wadda world!
HP

 

It seems to me that a significant percentage of my work has been caused by that kind of people. I so much want to tell them, "If you would just bother to look, you would see the problem." Then I shut up and cash the check.

The reality is many see wasting their money on paying some to do simple basic work, they could do themselves for themselves, as a sign of affluence. I've met people will brag about how they pay a guy $50 to do 20 minutes of lawn mower work while they then spend $50 more to go to the gym and work out on the cardio machines so they can stay in shape. The same workout they would have gotten for free if they had done their own yard work themself.

 

The reality is many see wasting their money on paying some to do simple basic work, they could do themselves for themselves, as a sign of affluence. I've met people will brag about how they pay a guy $50 to do 20 minutes of lawn mower work while they then spend $50 more to go to the gym and work out on the cardio machines so they can stay in shape. The same workout they would have gotten for free if they had done their own yard work themself.

It is said that 'success' is paying another to tend the lawns while one golfs for exercise

The reality is many see wasting their money on paying some to do simple basic work, they could do themselves for themselves, as a sign of affluence.

Not that really - But, rather, 'bone idleness'!


TTFN
HP

 

Not that really - But, rather, 'bone idleness'!

I think I was clear in stating my opinion that people, in general, don't want to try new activities. It puzzles me because that behavior is the antithesis of my approach to life. I think it's about fear of the unknown (I might break something.) Or it could be fear they might learn something.
In which case, bone laziness might apply.

I tell them, "I was born knowing nothing, but I bother to look. That is the only reason I know how and you don't."
That is about as effective as barking at a tree.

It is said that 'success' is paying another to tend the lawns while one golfs for exercise

I say that success is autarky.

 

It seems to me that a significant percentage of my work has been caused by that kind of people. I so much want to tell them, "If you would just bother to look, you would see the problem." Then I shut up and cash the check.

"My deadbolt is difficult." I look at it, whip out my pocket knife, and whittle away the wood that wasn't cleared out properly.

"My TV won't come on." I look behind it and plug it in.

"My car makes a ratcheting sound when I try to start it." I look at the battery and clean the terminals.

"My door closer doesn't close the door all the way." I wipe the tiniest dab of Vaseline on the striker plate and it's all fixed.

"My air compressor keeps popping its overload." I go get a 12 gauge extension cord and plug it in.

I know the denizens of this site find these things to be self evident, but there is a world of people who don't.
Good, bad, or neither? It depends on who's writing the check.

Just remember who might survive the Zombie Apocalypse, us of course, along with the girl at Harbor Freight who drives a Truck, hunts, fish, fixes her own stuff and refuses to take failure as an option other than to learn from it.

As long as the born on a silver platter folks don't kill us first. We might have a chance.

kv

 

while they then spend $50 more to go to the gym and work out on the cardio machines so they can stay in shape.

Ewwwe! The only place grosser than a public gym is a public swimming pool which I say is really just an unflushed public toilet bowl in disguise!

 

along with the girl at Harbor Freight

killovolt I say all ppl connected with HF are surviving something totally worse than the apocalypse already!

 

I was simply explaining "Jim's rule of algebra". What ever you do to one side of the equation you must do the same thing to the other side.

her teacher had told her one of those "bring it over to the other side" rules

jguessling So I say second rule is Jim Morrison's rule!

 

So I say second rule is Jim Morrison's rule!

I would never suspect you're that old. The way you write seems like a twenty-something to me.
Or was the '60's music that good that later generations still like it?
1960 to 1970 does seem like the best decade in Rock&Roll, but I'm prejudiced.
I was a skinny teenager with unlimited energy and not a pain that I can remember!
I did get a lot more muscles in the next 7 years (from 19 to 26), but they came at a price.

More fond memories! Chicago, summer of 1969. I spent a week in the Museum of Science and Industry.
Me & my high-school sweet-heart, 4 months before our marriage.
I'm really sorry about losing that one, but I only allow one strike on adultery.
I guess the best part is that I still remember her as 20 years old.
What a hottie! 1/2 Polish. Her sisters used up all the ugly.
I got the middle sister, a total babe!
When I fantasize about Heaven, that's the one I hope to see there.

I still have that Doors album (and a direct drive turntable upon which to play it).
And a 123 db home stereo with 15 inch speakers.

66 and still rockin' out!

 

Or was the '60's music that good that later generations still like it?
1960 to 1970 does seem like the best decade in Rock&Roll, but I'm prejudiced.

Must be. When my oldest granddaughter was 2 years old, her favorite song was... LA Woman. God only knows why...

What a hottie! 1/2 Polish. Her sisters used up all the ugly.
I got the middle sister, a total babe!
When I fantasize about Heaven, that's the one I hope to see there.

When I get to the Big Beyond, I'm counting on hooking up again with Giant Janet. 6'1", endless legs and a positive mental attitude.

Sigh...

 

Giant Janet. 6'1", endless legs and a positive mental attitude.

I remember saying to my mother, "Oh momma! She has legs all the way up to her hips!"

 

killovolt I say all ppl connected with HF are surviving something totally worse than the apocalypse already!

What does HF mean please, sorry.

kv