[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > A good article of general relevance, but particularly interesting in > the context of cognitive psychology/neuroscience. > http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google > Yes, well, we all used to have to spend long hours ploughing, planting, weeding, tending, and harvesting before we could have food. But we've since found other ways to achieve roughly the same end through division of labor and through technology. Reading is much the same. Nowadays, we don't quite as often have to "spend hours strolling [or slogging] through long stretches of prose," though it is probably a skill that we should maintain for the times that we do.
The problem with this guy is that he thinks he used to love it, when in fact it was a (somewhat boring) skill that he had mastered and had accepted as an inevitable part of his job (we often get nostalgic in this way for earlier "simpler" times... though they often weren't really simple at all). Now, he has rediscovered that it is not really a pleasure -- at least not all the time -- and he had lost some of his skill at it (because he doesn't do it quite as often anymore) and some of his acceptance of it as inevitable (because it is a smaller part of his job now). Many poeple used to have to walk several miles to work every day as well. O! The happy past! :-) Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ "Part of respecting another person is taking the time to criticise his or her views." - Melissa Lane, in a /Guardian/ obituary for philosopher Peter Lipton ================================= --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
