Study Summary 9/10/10 to 9/16/10

What a disappointing week. I achieved only two out of the five goals I had set for myself. I don't know whether it's due to some lack of action on my part or my setting my sights too high or what; something was definitely different. Early on in the week my brain felt very strange: It felt as if it were internally pressurized with air, and it was throbbing and pulsating. It wasn't painful or even uncomfortable, but it did correlate with a noticeable impact on my cognitive powers. Worse yet, it didn't go away until about two or three nights worth of sleep. I found it extremely hard to concentrate on my subjects, my learning and comprehension was harmed, and I felt mentally strained. I hypothesize that this may be my brain trying to recover from the stress I applied to it last week, especially considering my incorporating talking into my studies, but I don't know. I hope to at least get back on track and catch my stride again.

Nonetheless, I did get some things done. I completed note-taking for chapter five of both The Journals of Ayn Rand and Good Calories, Bad Calories, completing five conceptual exercises for the former and seven for the latter. I had some realizations during these readings. First, I didn't like chapter five of Journals. Considering my purpose in reading this book -- to gain insights on philosophy and methods of clear thinking -- this chapter was nearly totally unrelated to that aim, so it bored me to tears. I could hardly conjure up half a page of notes for the fortysome pages. Second, during my reading of GCBC I realized that my explicit purpose in reading the book -- to gain insight on proper scientific methodology -- is interfering with the total of what I could gain from this book. Since I was so focused on learning about the scientific method I was passing up good information on nutrition and its history, which is the specialization of this book. In other words, I was passing up the trees in the forest in order to examine its leaves. Having abstracted a general scientific principle, I was unimpressed and uninterested in information that I thought merely duplicated the same abstraction when it was really valuable concrete information. Next time I go to my studies I'll be sure to maintain an awareness of this selective focus.

I managed to complete the last two David Harriman articles, Proof of the Atomic Theory and Errors in Inductive Reasoning. Due to my cognitive "impairment" I had trouble with comprehension and concentration, but, to repeat from last week, I don't consider that much of a problem since the author states much of this material is taken from his book, The Logical Leap, the very book for which I am reading these articles to help decide whether or not to purchase it.

As for my verdict on whether to purchase the book, I have decided to do so and will incorporate it into my current study round. Surprisingly, even with my poor scientific background I was able to exert myself enough to understand the scientific concepts the author spoke about. If I have my notebook and dictionary around while I read the book my ability to comprehend the science is sure to improve. I don't know when I'll receive my shipment, so in the meanwhile I'll concentrate on Journals, GCBC, and incorporate in some other goals.

For next week, I think I'll aspire to complete two assignments for both GCBC and Journals, to start a focused entrepreneurial journal for an idea I want to start working on, continue my writing pace, and to exhaustively document my online recipes in one place (as opposed to having them scattered in bookmarks and whatnot).

Hopefully you're working to better your life as well.