A'Villan

Kanye West springs to mind for solo acts.

I interpret the meaning to be he has accomplished understanding beyond the scope of conventional science. I think I have said enough on the topic for now and have probably hijacked the thread with what seems to be of little interest. Perhaps it's time for others to contribute their wonder.

"The greatest orator, save one, of antiquity, has left it on record that he always studied his adversary's case with as great, if not with still greater, intensity than even his own." - John Stuart Mill I take this to mean that the mark of an educated man, is to study the opposing party's case. Which I think has merit. 'The Brain That Changes Itself' is not a book by Joe Dispenza. It is by Norman Doidge. A scientist with over 170 articles written. One peer review by neuroscientist Lorimer Moseley states, "Doidge has moved way ahead of peer-reviewed medical science". Without wanting to prolong this conversation beyond your interest, I would add that I called you a scientist, and am aware you never made such claims. Let me ask you this (open for anyone to respond to), when you use your imagination, are you not capable of experiencing sensation and emotion? Well, according to Dispenza, the studies show that your brain can't tell the difference between the lived and imagined experience. In an entirely separate study, we have learnt that schizophrenics and people experiencing psychosis' brains actually light up the exact same way when hallucinating or delusional as a person without the illness' would to external stimuli. The phrase 'we create our own reality' is a bit of a marketing pitch, but it's also true to some extent. By habitually functioning under stress hormones, we elicit feelings of anxiety and nervousness in a way which hard-wires our body to expect this sort of reaction. The fact that the brain can't tell the difference between the real and the imagined means that even when we are just thinking something, our body is preparing itself for and reacting to the experience. Eventually the body does something so many times it creates muscle memory repetition to the point where slave becomes the master and the body starts telling the mind what to do because it's so conditioned to a certain response. Like a lifetime smoker having a cigarette for example. So by changing our thinking, we change the physical response. Meditation helps this process.

lol I'm sure if he put his mind to it he could.

Thought the same thing!

He doesn't have one.

I spent more time than I should've scrolling through google reviews, about 300. There are only highly esteemed responses, ranging from people who have gone on to law school and Ivy League as a result of their education with TESC, to people who credit their success as a down-to-earth, compassionate social worker to their time at TESC. Any negative replies are in relation to something that happened where white kids were held hostage by black (some stupid s*** that the college obviously made a serious error in judgement in allowing to transpire). It's different and it's a bit quirky, but as far I can tell it's a good education. I went to a high school that is ranked top 5 nationally in best results for scores of public schools, #1 for non-selective public schools. I currently attend a university that is top 2% of universities worldwide in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2018. Top 50 in the world for 'young' universities. It is a travesty that schools perpetuate the idea that students must aim for scores that by definition are only obtainable by a small percentage. Furthermore universities inflate their entrance scores to appear more sought after. A small, exclusive number of people obtain the grades to attend such schools. The entry grades are not based on ones excellence, rather the competition between peers for endless games of one-upmanship. What does science care about the simplistic correlation between high scores and the multi-dimensional qualities needed to succeed in any career? It doesn't and as far as I'm aware actually speaks against it. You say pseudo-science scam. Universal truth is not measured in mass appeal. You, as a scientist, may not have an interest in mental health and addiction, I don't know. Dispenza's work is heavily entrenched in treatment and is obtaining the kind of results we should be concerned with. Did you look into the book 'The Brain That Changes Itself'?

I did some research on Evergreen State College because your post made me realise that not all universities are the same. They have a focus on the intersection between disciplines, and that would make sense with Dispenza going on to lead the sort of career he has. They also have narrative report writing instead of A, B, C's etc. But on to the sort of stuff a lot of people care about: usnews.com's rankings has them at #1 in Best Undergraduate Teaching, #1 in Most Innovative Schools and Top 5 in Public Schools for the U.S' regional west. However it seemed they f'ed up badly by creating a day which went horribly wrong for them, a complete PR nightmare which has taken its progressive culture reputation and thrown it off a bridge strapped to a cement slab.

I don't get what you're saying in this post TRO. Would you be so kind as to elaborate or rephrase? The way I see it is we should look at where Brentford have made us come undone and seek to rectify it. Also look to identify any noticeable strengths and weaknesses of their recent outings. Then have the drills at training tailored to tactics that are appropriate given what we perceive their approach to be. If it's not working at HT, we make the appropriate changes.

Why? Chiropractors have an understanding of brain function, the spine and central nervous system. Their study is not redundant in any discussion on the mind-body connection at all. Dispenza graduated with honours in this field.

I am thinking the cynical nature of Brits has influence on you perceiving it as something that jars. Pompous lot at times. You understood because whilst different to your dialect, you understood the context in which I was speaking. I think whilst different in style, we are both as difficult to understand as each other. We have phrases like 'squidgy-didge', meaning 'have a look'. Utter nonsense. You have phrases like 'Bob's your uncle', which in context means.. I hope neither of us are taking the other as overly serious.

You might be interested in Norman Doidge's work and book, 'The Brain That Changes Itself'. How is Dispenza not a real scientist? He studied a Bachelor of Science in his undergraduate studies. His postgraduate training covered neurology, neuroscience, brain function and chemistry, cellular biology, memory formation, and aging and longevity. From what I gather he was quite successful in his studies. He is also a qualified chiropractor. So has an understanding of neurology, anatomy and physiology. I have not read the book 'Becoming Supernatural'. So I can't comment on it. Have you? I am familiar with the notion to which he believes people can re-wire their thinking to experience new results though, there's nothing unscientific about his claims as far as I'm aware. Perhaps that's not the view held by every scientific professional, but that doesn't mean it's without merit.

And yet you understood what I meant originally ? Which would mean I speak properly, if not proper. Maybe I'm missing something though, aside from any jest in your original post.

A chippy is a carpenter over here. I speak properly as far as I am concerned and have little concern for speaking proper.

I'm from Melbourne. Never been to Perth myself. It's quite a hike between the two. My sister is national manager for a retail clothing store and spends a bit of time in Perth.

Whatever the case may be, this put a smile on my face before a long day at uni, so thank you.

I don't want to assume the level of googling you did, though don't you think drawing a 'quack quack' conclusion from it is a bit 'quack quack' itself? What about it did you find so inaccurate?

Went to a cafe/restaurant last night for my little Brother's 24th. Located on the famous restaurant strip, Lygon St. Absolutely delicious. I had the calamari.

Do you think we can hustle some more of those fish 'n' chippies by annoying those humans en masse?

Well said. The question was not mine, it was the catalyst for hypothesis of a neuroscientist with an interest in the quantum field, Joe Dispenza. His talks are nothing short of fascinating and helped me further my perspectives.

I take your point. Mine was clearly not to suggest that I have the answers on moving forward, that I expect us to play like Barcelona, or that I have no faith in Bruce's ability to find a way for us to win games this season. My message was for us to learn about what works in the game, and to incorporate it in to our improvement. I simply am trying to highlight, as I did in the ratings and reaction thread, what works best in football. From a viewpoint that is based on thorough and you might say expert analysis. This is a difficult thing to ascertain for any particular club, and I don't envy Bruce for the position he's in. I agree, McGinn would be a good fit for that role, and I certainly hope that's why he's been purchased, hence the nature of my post.

I'm not looking for Neymar-esque nutmegs on defenders and 25 yard curlers at this level. Or Barca's 317 game run of consecutive matches having over 50% possession. Preferably not resting on the laurels of being a big club with clout and prestige in a lower division either. That is the culture to some degree. Culture is something you exhibit, not what you think or want. To me, it doesn't look great. I don't doubt Bruce's intentions one bit, but the outcomes we experience are down to the teams culture, whether it's effective and productive or not. It's Bruce's job to make sure that everyone's on the same page, and that values and behaviours are congruent to goals and strategy. That then breeds engagement and motivation. Bruce is hindered by the mismanagement of the board and outgoings? Maybe he is. However Bruce is a part of the decision making process that led to that. And he still has a healthy amount of proven players at this level, if they are not fit for the first team then he only has himself to look at unless its injury related. Winning and losing are ephemeral and so it's probably best to focus attention on the process that led to the result instead of getting hung up on the results. A research done on the 2012-13 season, 98 teams across the top five leagues (England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain) were analysed on their passing patterns in order to establish and define any unique playing style using statistics. Over 1 million passes were analysed. There was only one outlier. Barca's tiki taka. Surprise, surprise. The team dominating Europe at that period. What this revealed about Barca's game was that in a three-pass sequence, a player who passed the ball will often receive it back in a one-two exchange immediately. Rocket science, huh? Well, apparently that's what set them apart from the other 97 top tier teams. One-twos. It makes sense though and is what we're lacking. The Wigan game being an exception where we could have scored 6 or 7 goals and especially that one-two between McGinn and Grealish where McGinn was passed the ball from Chester, McGinn passed to Grealish, Grealish backheeled it and McGinn kept his run going to have a shot go just wide. In Barca's system, the player who makes the pass has to be quick enough on his feet to move to a new position for the return, without the defense forcing an interception or error. Equally passing has to be sharp and weighted well. There is constant and dynamic movement, something we could learn and develop. According to an interview given by a Fulham player they were slow to start due to the difficulty of Jokanovic's approach (I think it was passing in particular) and went on that run of form for the same reason. I don't expect us to try and model Barca but I just go back to the notion of focusing on the process and what's working, what's not. I'm as concerned with getting in to the Premier League as I am seeing us building the foundations to survive it with.

We're 66% win rate and undefeated but aesthetically our style has the taste of a tub of piss somebody farted in.

Good overall post. I want to highlight what's quoted though. There are many drills Bruce could use to enhance our short passing and possession play. Incorporating these drills in to in to designated sets of passing sequences and movement, if the sets break down then the players can fall back on the principles of the drills learnt to freelance it. Bruce can tailor these drills and tactics appropriate to our opponent each week. With our level of ability in respect to sides like Ipswich, I personally think this should be the main focal point of our tactics. It doesn't have to be Barca-esque. I'm not huge on stats alone but the research shows that teams which have longer passing sequences produce significantly more shots on goal per possession than shorter passing sequences, although direct play has a higher strike ratio of goals from shots than possession play. Likewise an analysis of successful teams showed that possession play produces more goals per possession than direct play, whereas in unsuccessful teams it was unclear which tactic had an advantage. The case study spanned 30 years, but is obviously partial in its understanding. It is also no coincidence that you look at the top clubs across Europe for possession and it is all the powerhouse clubs from the biggest cities. We are a big club from a big city, playing in the 2nd division, what is stopping us from adopting a philosophy that clearly has benefits beyond what we are achieving, yet seemingly within our capacity? Even if we were somehow the underdogs in all this, anyone remember back in and around 2011 when Swansea were playing a good brand of possession based football, they enjoyed their first ever season in the Premier League and were finishing mid-top half table for years. It's taken until this year to come back down. I think they're a great example of how a team working to disciplined principles can achieve success, and play a brand where their fans could enjoy long spells of possession. In 2012 Swansea cracked the top 20 clubs for possession across Europe. Not bad for a club who had no business in the top division. Surely their success has largely been down to the work of managers relatively unknown at the time, Martinez then Rodgers. Carried on by player turned manager Monk.

I have some Polynesians on my street, I think Samoan, big people but all girls. Auntie and two nieces. Few months back they were all hysterical in the street about something, and as I walked passed the Auntie asked me if I am afraid of spiders. There was a spider in their car. I say something which was a bit lame iirc, where 'no' would have been sufficient. She asks me to kill it. They won't go anywhere near the car so I go to jump in thinking it's going to be a simple swat of the hand. Nope, it's a big and nasty one that's conveniently on the inner roof right as I pop my head in the door. No bother but it's not going to be a one swat kill with my hand. I take my thong off (no, this is not going where you Americans think it just did) and go in for the kill. I was aware of the fact that in order to see what I was doing and use my right arm for the strike I'd have to put my face right near spider. Anyway, I hit. You beauty! Spider is no longer on the inner roof, must be dead. Check the seat to confirm and it's no where to be seen. Check roof again. Look all around. I don't think I've ever shat bricks harder. I'm not worried about the spider, I could care less if it was on me at that point. I had three Samaon women who are still frantic asking me, "Did you kill it?" and I'm responsible for losing a problematic spider (venomous, not just because they wanted rid) in their car! My lame comments from earlier ring around my ears as I try and refrain myself from bursting in to a similar panic over how to break it to them and their potential reaction. I'm hoping they just faint because they're already that hysterical. Thankfully I stick my head back in the car and the spider is right where it was before, it must've used web to temporarily drop from its position and then climbed back up because there was nowhere else for it to hide. Strike two is a kill and Auntie tells me I'm her hero and thanks me about five times between 'oh my gods', then tells her nieces to thank me. It's like the elephant and mouse narrative, these women are solid, warrior like, I've literally seen a polynesian girl protect a man from 7 other men trying to bash him, and while she copped it she was successful in her efforts. Yet a bloody spider..