¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 Today I made a significant discovery, I discovered that I’ve recently been frequently re-discovering everyday “things” in my life.

Example: every morning when I look at the shelf above my computer I re-discover the bottles of pills I must take that day, specifically my thyroid pills, after which I may remember I must take them first and alone. Today, I discovered that discovering is quite different from remembering.

I don’t know when this started, but I remember noting surprise at these events, daily – for months, but the association with “discovery” occurred today, December 9th, 2018. This week has witnessed a few major shifts.

My new, cheap, Amazon hearings aides have caused me to go deaf: almost total in my left ear, about 50% loss in the right. I also find it difficult comprehending some speech, even when adequately hearing. In the movie yesterday, I missed most of the dialog and today with 60 Minutes. I “sense” this is due to the substantial loss of high frequencies. I describe this in greater detail in my prior post. I’ve noticed lack of speech comprehension in many TV dramas (when I use sub-titles). I have no problem with most major news commentators, and most face2face conversations.

ENT exam revealed the hearing aides had softened and blasted my ear wax onto my ear drums, resulting in my deafness. Scraping off the wax returned my hearing to before, “poor”.

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 0 I EXPECT THIS SUBTLE DISTINCTION BETWEEN REMEMBERING AND RE-DISCOVERING MAY BE SIGNIFICANT.

¶ 7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 0 A few days ago I discovered that I have a loss of attention, as well as deteriorating short term memory. Attention and memory are related. Significantly, things happen which I don’t notice. I discover these events when I notice that a change has occurred.

It happened twice tonight at dinner. A friend was eating at another table, now was alone, and had his head down as if napping. A few moments later I noticed that he was gone, had left the cafe and I didn’t notice, or attend. A few minute later I noticed my plate with uneaten food was gone, removed by my server – an action beyond my attention.

¶ 9 Leave a comment on paragraph 9 0 I expect we would be surprised how much around us is unattended to, moment by moment. Psychologically speaking, we attend only to figure, in the context of ground, in gestalt perception. Once, any decades ago when “high” I experienced ground without figure. This was quite strange, but intriguing. I “remember” inferring that this might be the quality of reported “spiritual” experiences. This might also be related to the “flow” experiences studied by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.

¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 0 —————-

AS AN ASIDE to new readers of my sems, I have no, zero, sensory remembrances; I cannot re-experience any of my past, even 3 seconds ago. All my memory is “conceptual about” past happenings. This is related to my total lack of mental imagery in all sensory modalities. I know of only one other person reporting such a total lack. One very old research study found (in the population studied) 3% lacked visual imagery ans 7% lacked auditory imagery. Most persons are unaware that there can be an absence of mental imagery and are quite surprised to discover this fact, even their own lack of mental imagery in some sensory domains.

¶ 12 Leave a comment on paragraph 12 0 —————-

¶ 13 Leave a comment on paragraph 13 0 I hope my hearing will return to near its previous functionality; and I will need to invest in better hearing assistance.  [To do speeck2text I really don’t need headphones, only a quality microphone.]

¶ 14 Leave a comment on paragraph 14 0 My frequent and many insights can be also called discoveries, but not re-discoveries.

¶ 15 Leave a comment on paragraph 15 0 I am concerned about my losses of mental functioning, and hope I can reverse some losses by introducing new activities in my life. I’ve got a long list – more than I can do.  I also will arrange things my place to attract attention for where things are and tasks to perform, an S/R Environment.