You can scan an article with your eyes and get the gist of it. You can also "scan" with your brain when you listen. Miss a lot?

I have no sense of direction whatsoever tom. I can get lost with map in hand. I've always been that way and I know it is some kind of brain defect. I have a friend (do you know Old School?) who NEVER gets lost. He has a compass brain or something. I'm the exact opposite. If I approach an area with which I'm very familiar from a different angle I can get lost very easily...disoriented. My space visualization ability is very low. I took an aptitude test once long ago and it showed a bunch of shapes and a final product and you were supposed to indicate which of those shapes when combined could match the final ones shown. I don't think I got one of them right!  That was when I was in my 20's. I can't visualize what a room will look like when the furniture is moved around. I have to just try it out physically. Thank you for your reply! :)

I'm like that with those pictures of unfolded shapes and you are supposed to pick what they would be if you folded them into a 3 dimensional solid also.

Really? Hmm. I wonder what causes that? I can imagine all kinds of abstract things but physical shapes I can't. T'is a puzzlement. Thank you for your reply. It's nice to know I'm not alone in that inability.  Maybe a screw is loose somewhere? :)

Very true. I've had several eye surgeries through the years and reading is not as pleasurable for me as it once was so I scan headers a lot. If I see something of interest I will read the article in its entirety. When I'm listening I also tune out and wander about elsewhere . It's hard for me to listen to donjohn at all so I mute him and then later on read what he said. I was an avid reader long long ago though. Thank you for your reply Hartfire! :)

I'm living in Australia. I don't know who "donjohn" is, but I'm guessing you probably mean Donald Trump. I detest the man too, and did so from when he first appeared as a republican candidate for Potus. Like you, I felt alarmed and fearful of what would happen if he won.
Now it seems that, despite the resistances from CIA, the courts, the armed services, overseas heads of states and diplomats, international bodies and many members of his own party, he is succeeding in some of his goals. My best hope is that he will do something so stupid that he gets himself impeached before he completes his tour of damages to the USA and international relationships.

I did not know - and feel sad to learn - you have developed difficulties with reading and listening. Do you listen to radio or watch TV? It's wonderful that you still take such an active interest in current affairs. Apart from civic duty, it's a great way for strangers to meet have have much in common to chat about

Things change as we age m'dear. My memory is not what it used to be for two reasons. The normal aging process and my bout with cancer in 2008. I was informed that chemo could/would/might affect my memory. It did. As for difficulty reading I have an interocular lens implant in one eye due to a torn retina. I can see distance with it because it's kinda bionic. The other eye is the one I use to read with and it become arduous at times because I don't use glasses when I read. It's okay. Frankly what is in the readable news these days isn't that wondrous  anyway. I listen intently when something captures my interest and when it doesn't I have no problem tuning out and escaping into my imagination. I'm 80 after all and all things considered I lead a very good active life. Jim is 82 and except for his "bad back" is very healthy and active. With the election of President Obama I became very interested in politics. Not so much before then except with JFK whose assassination stunned our nation and I'm sure we ever really recovered. In 1968 Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther Kind were murdered. A very heavy blow. The contrast  between Barack Obama and the thing in the office of the prez today is  unbelievably shocking to me. The more crap doofus don creates the more his base loves him. That is the most frightening thing I have ever witnessed or ever shall. How will it end? I have no idea but  I keep hoping for a Deux ex Machina or a miracle. Right now that's all we have with a Congress consisting of  spineless toadies...a Trump Party leadership that is all for richifying the already obscenely wealthy. Thank you for your thoughtful reply Hartfire and Happy Tuesday! :) Oh I refer to Donald John Trump as doofus don or donjohn publicly but what I'm thinking while I do is unprintable!  I think you're  19 hours ahead of me? Right now it is 1:01 am in Hemet California on Tuesday January 2. So it's your evening. So close in communication and so far away geographically! I LOVE the internet, don't you? This post was edited by RosieG at January 2, 2018 2:09 AM MST