Sometimes I dream in Japanese. In the dream, when I come to a word which I don’t know, or have forgotten, my brain just “makes up” a Japanese sounding word. Then I wake up and think, I’m sure that word is not real.

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Possibly, a neurotransmitter released under stress, nore, has a small optimal window. Too much and too much “cognitive constriction”, too little and not enough focus. Bit like the wonderful work of the now sadly deceased Patricia Goldman Rakic, the best researcher on primate prefrontal function, wherein she found the same with dopamine function. So as I like to say: a little stress goes a long way. Too much and you go the wrong way. This, will you note, is highly conjectural.

Of course there are petty flame wars and political snarks in the blogosphere. At one point I got so depressed by all of that that I considered quitting blogging altogether. And the quality of blogging does vary (just like the quality of journalism). But to lump everyone in the same basket is a bit rich, and shows a lack of depth of reseach.

Incidentally, you do have a choice to subfusc, though it might be less glamorous.

You do? No-one told any of us, if that’s true. We all turned up looking like penguins and sat the exam accordingly. With carnations…

Re Burchell: if that piece is indicative of Burchell as a journalist, I dread to think what he’s like as an academic. Maybe there should be a picture of the guy next to the word ‘drongo’ in the next dictionary of Australian slang.

Too think skinned, SL. Maybe pre-exam nerves?

Incidentally, you do have a choice to subfusc, though it might be less glamorous.

“This vast outpouring of pseudo-expertise and vituperation serves mainly as a testament to Western societies’ tendency for producing self-important, opinionated folks far in excess of our capacity to employ them.”

…there being only a finite number of journalist jobs at any one time.

Actually, my best ever exam result in spoken Japanese was achieved when slightly tipsy. I think there’s a moral in there somewhere.