February 01, 2005

my acedemiac carrer. alas.

whan i was in grad schol my theseis was gona be about langauge. specificly the phanoumenon whare u prepeat a word agan an agian until it begins to seem arbatrery an stragne. wierds u rigight ouut!

the idea was to mesure quanitativly how logn it takes for that to hapen with difernt words. 'galoshes' for example turns wierd real real quick. but 'osprey' stays normel for longer than youd expect. also does it take logner or snorter if u say em out loud. an is it differant if youve got a dozan ppl chanting a word tagether in a groop.

if that aint a origanal contrabution to human knowlege im damned if i know waht is.

so i aplied for a reserch granat an i was havin visions of rooms ful of paid valunters sayin 'quack quack quakc' or 'catagory category catigory' oer an over for days on end. an me in a white coat presidin benignly over teh whole operation.

the grent came thruogh ok but teh truoble was i culdnt get any volanteers so i hada do all teh repeatin myself. so there i was walkin aroun campus sayin 'duodecimal duodecimal duodecimal' all the time. an after a whial aphasia kickd in. culdnt comunicate worth squat! an then the vertigo. real bad. in fact i endet up in hte hospitla an i culdnt even tell em what was wrogn. i was just kinda rolin aroun and garglin. nevar did finish teh thesis.

an thats how i gave up on teh life of hte mind an took up my presant ocupation.

update! jul 7 2005

...to repeat monotonously some common word, until the sound, by dint of frequent repetition, ceased to convey any idea whatever to the mind...

tahts from e.a. poe. 'beranice'. 1835. thanks to our interepid new reder dint! he also says 'Jane Austen also mentioned it somewhere but I can't remember the quote.' but jane ostan can bite my ass quite ferankley.

Comments:

For me, 'osprey' gets weird quicker than 'galoshes'. But the strangest words are the little ones: 'the', 'odd', 'dog'.

What does one do when one gives up on the life of the mind?
 
what dos one do? one strats a bolg! jeez.

i once siad 'walk' over an over agian for a while an yeah. i see wath u mean.

wiht the osprey vs gologshes thign u can see why i was so hot 2 do teh reserch with a variaty of subjetcs. o wel.
 
Tears kept rolling down my cheeks as I read your deeply moving story. Academia is shite. It pays squat. You're much better off now. At least you still have your health. All the best, Pierre
 
Let's try it right now:

integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer

Still sounds normal to me. How long do I have to keep doing this?
 
piare teh problam is my curant gig dont pay to good neither.

jef thats not ur life pasin bafor ur eyes thats kim novak.

tim u have 2 kep doin it until it sonds abnormel. jjust gota have faith in teh precedure.
 
tim on secnd thot (2**31)-1 times otta be jsut abot rite.

ablacore netsuko oh man! 'polyp' is horable. that one totly creaps me out! makes me fel like im turnin inta a forg.
 
integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integer integra intrega inegtra intrgoi irioerhg owerji iwtlksd w l;ads inhwr

wait, I think it's happening.
 
see? told ya!

now ull haveta clim inta a barel to restoar ur relity. which is actuly not a bad way 2 spned ur time anyhow.
 
Im curieus, half u efer werkt at IMDB.COM http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0088248/?

Plot Outline: A wheelchair-bound, former boxer deals with his long estranged granddaughter whom is seeking financial help for her writing career and helping her loser boyfriend get out of debit with the local mob. (more)

Keyp up thee gud werk!! Reelie gud riters and comictaters rn short sublie theez daze.
 
This is the best post you have ever made, ever.

Also, the worst word to practice this with will always be one's own name. Not only aphasia and vertigo, but also schizophrenia ensue. No kidding. I think it's what happened to Niezsche. Or something.

vague
 
Poe got there in about 1842

Look for the phrase "by dint of frequent repetition"

http://www.4literature.net/Edgar_Allan_Poe/Berenice/

Jane Austen also mentioned it somewhere but I can't remember the quote.
 
Whoops 1835 to be academically pedantic - I should have looked at the fucking webpage properly.
 
Thanks for the link Bogol. BTW I think you should get pareital credit for that unfinished PhD. You could be a P. I have two unfinished PhD's. I could be a PP.
 
"an thats how i gave up on teh life of hte mind an took up my presant ocupation."
This, in fact, is evidence of your good sense (your lack of appreciation for wodehouse notwithstanding). Of course, it might be argued that in losing you, academia has suffered a loss. However, I think it might be equally well argued that academia's loss is our gain.
 
Your article is very informative and helped me further.

Thanks, David
 
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