http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821 Yesterday I was engaged in a lively thread on intelligence. I know the folks with whom I bandy words, thoughts and Ideas are smart(most of them, anyway). Some are REALLY smart even if we disagree. So, having made my point and feeling quite smug about MY high degree of intelligence and my understanding of all aspects of the world around me, I gathered up my girls, a magazine and headed to the dentist where we all had appointments. I drove across town still talking to myself(how can I not, I am such a great conversationalist)about my great post and how everyone would shrink in awe at my clever and well planned retorts. &quot;Yeah&quot;, I kept muttering to myself, &quot;That's right, you can't out think ME&quot;. Then I got to the dentists office. I signed in and flopped into a waiting room chair with my magazine, the first issue of my brand new subscription to &quot;Scientific American&quot;. I had never even opened one before, but it looked like such a cool rag(which it really is)I just had to subscribe. I began going through the little blurb articles and regular columns. &quot;Wow&quot;! I thought, &quot;This sure ain't National Geographic or Astronomy&quot;. I understand the vast majority of what those fine publications print, but the deeper I got into this mag, the more I relaized how little I know about a great many things! An article on what plant life on alien worlds may look like and how and why they would look that way, while fascinating and logical, got WAY over my head in the chemistry and botany end of things(my semester in Horticulture as a freshman in High School was no help at all!). A piece on the shrinking of the Aral Sea was straighforward enough and again I was feeling scholarly. Then an article on regrowing human limbs left me genetically baffled. It was followed by a piece on new technologies in utilizing laser lights and how so many things could be more accurately measured with these new discoveries and theories. The article was interspersed with terms like &quot;integers&quot; and &quot;light combs&quot;. Some of it made sense, but most of it far outgunned the two semesters of Algebra(that I scarcely recall)I took as a freshman. Gee..I was starting to feel like a real poser with this magazine for the intelligent&nbsp; held up for all in the waiting room to see. When I was called back I read it as I waited for the dentist to work on me. As I sat there an assistant asked me what I was reading about. I mumbled something unintelligible but hopefully smart. I attributed the sweat on my brow to my impending dental work, but I knew better! I gave up on the light article due to the pounding in my head and turned to a piece on sports doping. A subject which I have researched in the past and felt comfortable with. It was a very interesting article and brought my IQ back into the measurable range(in MY mind anyway)and made me feel smug again. I closed the magazine when I was finished as I would need my high self esteem to get me back across town and utilize in the event the bloggers came after me again. I never even got back online and when I went to bed I selected my new Racer X motocross magazine as reading material because if there is one subject on which I truly am an expert, it is motocross. I drifted off into a smugly content sleep and awakened fresh, invogorated and intelligent. I am actually looking forward to getting to know what some of the things this magazine will teach me even if I have to do extra research to figure out what it is they are trying to get across to me. I highly recommend this magazine to the curious and open minded, but I think I'll go with Racer X again tonight. &nbsp; Yesterday I was engaged in a lively thread on intelligence. I know the folks with whom I bandy words, thoughts and Ideas are smart(most of them, anyway). Some are REALLY smart even if we disagree. So, having made my point and feeling quite smug about MY high degree of intelligence and my understanding of all aspects of the world around me, I gathered up my girls, a magazine and headed to the dentist where we all had appointments. I drove across town still talking to myself(how can I not, I am such a great conversationalist)about my great post and how everyone would shrink in awe at my clever and well planned retorts. &quot;Yeah&quot;, I kept muttering to myself, &quot;That's right, you can't out think ME&quot;. Then I got to the dentists office. I signed in and flopped into a waiting room chair with my magazine, the first issue of my brand new subscription to &quot;Scientific American&quot;. I had never even opened one before, but it looked like such a cool rag(which it really is)I just had to subscribe. I began going through the little blurb articles and regular columns. &quot;Wow&quot;! I thought, &quot;This sure ain't National Geographic or Astronomy&quot;. I understand the vast majority of what those fine publications print, but the deeper I got into this mag, the more I relaized how little I know about a great many things! An article on what plant life on alien worlds may look like and how and why they would look that way, while fascinating and logical, got WAY over my head in the chemistry and botany end of things(my semester in Horticulture as a freshman in High School was no help at all!). A piece on the shrinking of the Aral Sea was straighforward enough and again I was feeling scholarly. Then an article on regrowing human limbs left me genetically baffled. It was followed by a piece on new technologies in utilizing laser lights and how so many things could be more accurately measured with these new discoveries and theories. The article was interspersed with terms like &quot;integers&quot; and &quot;light combs&quot;. Some of it made sense, but most of it far outgunned the two semesters of Algebra(that I scarcely recall)I took as a freshman. Gee..I was starting to feel like a real poser with this magazine for the intelligent&nbsp; held up for all in the waiting room to see. When I was called back I read it as I waited for the dentist to work on me. As I sat there an assistant asked me what I was reading about. I mumbled something unintelligible but hopefully smart. I attributed the sweat on my brow to my impending dental work, but I knew better! I gave up on the light article due to the pounding in my head and turned to a piece on sports doping. A subject which I have researched in the past and felt comfortable with. It was a very interesting article and brought my IQ back into the measurable range(in MY mind anyway)and made me feel smug again. I closed the magazine when I was finished as I would need my high self esteem to get me back across town and utilize in the event the bloggers came after me again. I never even got back online and when I went to bed I selected my new Racer X motocross magazine as reading material because if there is one subject on which I truly am an expert, it is motocross. I drifted off into a smugly content sleep and awakened fresh, invogorated and intelligent. I am actually looking forward to getting to know what some of the things this magazine will teach me even if I have to do extra research to figure out what it is they are trying to get across to me. I highly recommend this magazine to the curious and open minded, but I think I'll go with Racer X again tonight. &nbsp; en-us <p><span style="font-size: x-small">Your a braver man than I,Moto. I have read that magazine several times...my head&nbsp;hurt and&nbsp;I have never felt stupider in my life&nbsp;~ well that's not quite true,I find myself feeling less sure about &quot;all I know&quot; with each passing day! But it is on occasion a good thing to make the old noggin ache~ making new synapses and stuff. Great read.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249516 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249516 <p><span style="font-size: x-small">Your a braver man than I,Moto. I have read that magazine several times...my head&nbsp;hurt and&nbsp;I have never felt stupider in my life&nbsp;~ well that's not quite true,I find myself feeling less sure about &quot;all I know&quot; with each passing day! But it is on occasion a good thing to make the old noggin ache~ making new synapses and stuff. Great read.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>My Dad reads Scientific American.  It IS a slog.  What's better (and easier for us science amateurs) is Discover.  Discover magazine is what got me into physics, which I formerly thought was a boring waste of time.  Discover is less academic and more reader-friendly.  They did an article on dark matter and dark energy that really blew my mind.  My mom has a subscription to it so I read it for free.  Tellingly, the only magazine I actually pay for is US magazine.  I'm a slob.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249537 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249537 <p>My Dad reads Scientific American.  It IS a slog.  What's better (and easier for us science amateurs) is Discover.  Discover magazine is what got me into physics, which I formerly thought was a boring waste of time.  Discover is less academic and more reader-friendly.  They did an article on dark matter and dark energy that really blew my mind.  My mom has a subscription to it so I read it for free.  Tellingly, the only magazine I actually pay for is US magazine.  I'm a slob.</p> <p>Nicely written Mark. My family thinks I'm nuts cuz I'd rather watch the Discovery, History, Military, or National Geographic channels than watch American Idol. Now that's one show I just can't slog my way through!</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249545 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249545 <p>Nicely written Mark. My family thinks I'm nuts cuz I'd rather watch the Discovery, History, Military, or National Geographic channels than watch American Idol. Now that's one show I just can't slog my way through!</p> <p>I bought a few issues of Muscle &amp; Fitness magazine. I read them all the way through - cover to cover -&nbsp;and I still didn't look like those guys!&nbsp;</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249783 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249783 <p>I bought a few issues of Muscle &amp; Fitness magazine. I read them all the way through - cover to cover -&nbsp;and I still didn't look like those guys!&nbsp;</p> <p>I watch the History Channel all the time. There was a great show&nbsp;on&nbsp;the other day called Wild West Tech, hosted by David Carradine; it was all about vigilante justice in the Old West and some of the creative ways they devised to &quot;deal with&quot; criminals.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249790 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249790 <p>I watch the History Channel all the time. There was a great show&nbsp;on&nbsp;the other day called Wild West Tech, hosted by David Carradine; it was all about vigilante justice in the Old West and some of the creative ways they devised to &quot;deal with&quot; criminals.</p> <p>Some of the most amazing knowledge comes out of those TV shows.&nbsp; It's one of the few reasons I keep tier cable.&nbsp; As for that magazine, sounds like a good one for a rainy day (or in our case, foggy day) when there's nothing to distract you.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249967 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/motopoet/27821/#c_249967 <p>Some of the most amazing knowledge comes out of those TV shows.&nbsp; It's one of the few reasons I keep tier cable.&nbsp; As for that magazine, sounds like a good one for a rainy day (or in our case, foggy day) when there's nothing to distract you.</p>