Rod Mailley-Smith
I'm retired and use Futurelearn to keep my remaining grey cells active. I have a BSc (Sheffield) and an MA (Sussex).
Much of my spare time is spent outdoors doing conservation work and gardening.
Location Rural East Sussex, UK.
Activity
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Develop new habits.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks. I've enjoyed the first week.
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Rod Mailley-Smith replied to paul weldon
@paulweldon Hi Paul, I think that a student blog which has not been reviewed by appropriate academics should be treated with the utmost caution.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
'An avoidable disaster'.
Hi, at 76 I need to keep my remaining grey cells busy. I want to be well informed about climate change so I can discuss it sensibly with my grandchildren who will suffer the consequences of my generation's failure to act fast enough. -
@AndrewWebb I agree with decriminalisation of drug use if it went hand in hand with legally enforced rules and regs for manufature, distribution and marketing similar to those applicable to the pharmaceutical industry.
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Even if all the behaviours listed above are deemed to be crimes there are bound to be degrees of seriousness. For example are members of the armed forces or police marksmen who kill whilst operating within their official guidelines committing a crime or doing their job well? For example is growing a few cannabis plants for personal medicinal use as serious as...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I don't think my views have changed, in fact they were reinforced by the passage, "Other approaches contend that crime has no ‘natural’, objective existence, but it is socially constructed."
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Hmmm, well I don't think that crime is an inevitable consequence of our nature it is, I think, behaviour which breaches formally defined acceptable behaviour. In the countries I know anything about crimes are codified in legislation which is decided by law-makers who are politically and/or religiously powerful. In theory they legislate for the good of society...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Hello, I have strong opinions on crime and punishment so there's a danger that I am blinded to other, contrary points of view. I hope this course will make me think outside my 'box' and develop a broader understanding of an important issue in society.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
When I signed up for this course there was no hint of the abstruse details of genetic analysis which are being presented. I expected the results of research to be presented not all this unnecessary detail.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
"Can you try to give an explanation of what biological meaning the assymetric (sic) division of the cells may have and for which cells it is especially important?"
Does 'biological meaning' mean 'biological purpose'? If so it seems likely that asymmetric division ensures that one of the two cells carries all or most of the burden of mutations, damaged cell...
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I think this course shows a serious mis-match between the preliminary blurb, particularly what it said about the level of previous knowledge required, and the reality which is that much of the course material assumes at least an undergraduate level of knowledge about genetics. My biology degree dates from the 1960's and covered only elementary genetics. I am...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
"This equals to roughly 10 million cell divisions each and every second." I'm blown away by this statistic, absolutely awed by the wonder of nature!
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The jury seems to be out on whether there is a convincing correlation between telomere length and longevity in humans and if there is whether it is a causative relationship.
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Well that hurt my brain but I think I grasped it at the end - no pun intended.
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Possible reasons:
• random behaviour of biological systems
• cells may start off genetically identical or nearly so but different mutations in some cells may lead to changes in lifespan. -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
'Why is it that over time the progeny is not weakened by the accumulation of mutations to the point that the colony collapses?'
Possible explanations could be:
• the rejuvenated daughter cells may have more efficient DNA repair mechanisms than the senescent mother cells
• mutations may have selective advantage and would remain in the colony
• deleterious... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for an interesting week.
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The 'Scientific Method' should apply:
1. What's the question?
2. Research and get as much information as possible.
3. Come up with a plausible explanation (hypothesis) and use it to make predictions.
4. Test these predictions by further research and experiment.
5. Does the hypothesis hold up or does it need changing or should it be binned?Demonstrating a...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I think the quality of life is far more important than increasing longevity if it means condemning people to dementia, physical suffering and dependence. A healthy old age? Yes. An unhealthy one? No!
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I'm happy to agree that ageing is natural. Whether we should fight it or not is, I think, a moot point. If keeping physically fit, eating sensibly and keeping our minds as alert as possible can prolong healthy, useful and enjoyable lives then it would seem to be a good idea to keep fit, eat sensibly and try to keep our minds alert. However I'm not sure I will...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I'm not going to guess at how much human ingenuity might extend human life-expectancy although I'm sure it will be extended. Isn't it more important to evaluate the risk that human ingenuity will create yet another massive problem for the world to add to global warming, plastic pollution, etc.? Why should life be preserved and extended at all costs if the cost...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
The role of hetero- and euchromatin in switching genes on and off.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Morse code?
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Outside of driver's door.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for another interesting week.
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Some FutureLearn courses have a great deal of tutor/mentor input. Some courses have none but, maybe the tutors/mentors on this course are holding themselves back for a torrent of interactive help later on. [Non-deductive argument!]
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Argument no.3: in standard form this non-deductive argument is:
P1: Only 54 percent of eligible New Zealand voters voted in the 2009 referendum about the repeal of the so-called anti-smacking legislation.
So probably:
C: nearly half of the members of the eligible voting population are either happy with the existing law or don’t care about the... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for another interesting week.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
[1] Can you make up an argument involving percentages which is deductive, rather than non-deductive?
P1 30% of my average day is spent in bed
P2 5% of my average day is spent on mealtimes
P3 5% of my average day is spent on hygiene and grooming
P4 25% of my average day is spent at paid employment
P5 5% of my average day is spent travelling
30% of my... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Maybe I've missed the hidden subtleties but to me the two premises given, whether they are true or false, lead naturally to the suppressed conclusion 'I did not see the Loch Ness Monster'.
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Rod Mailley-Smith replied to Irene Mitchell
I agree Irene.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Having muddled through 71 years without any training on logical and critical thinking I thought it was time to put that right.
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It seems to me that there are two main challenges for EU migration and asylum policy in response to continuing maritime arrivals.
[1] increasing resentment and resistance to further immigration and asylum from citizens of the receiving countries whose livelihoods, wellbeing and safety may be, or be perceived to be, adversely effected. This is already... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
There seem to be two main categories of driver:
=Escape from physical threat, poverty and starvation.
=Attraction of physical safety, economic and educational opportunities and the charitable
provision of food and shelter. -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I confess my ignorance about the distribution of Syrian refugees. It would be easy to blame our media for giving a disproportionate emphasis to Syrian refugees in Europe but I should have probed deeper. The refugee numbers in countries bordering Syria surprised me, the effect in the receiving communities must be seismic!
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Irregular migration: betterment, risk & dreams.
Asylum seeking: fear, danger & enterprise. -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
As immigration is such a high profile issue I feel obliged to be better informed about it so I´ve enrolled on this course.
I was born in Sierra Leone where my caucasian British parents were working but have lived in the UK ever since, according to the course definition that means I'm a migrant. Surely the definition should be refined to include cultural and... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
For 5 or 6 days each week I average 3 hours vigorous gardening (3 acres) or woodland conservation (6 acres) usually in the morning. The rest of the day is divided between DIY, pottering, reading and deskwork which includes Futurelearn.
I am 71, have a selection of arthritic aches and pains, replacement hips, major back surgery, a pacemaker and am currently... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Wax, wane, rise, fall, proud, ruthless, paternalistic, altruistic, lucky, successful, opportunistic, racist, cruel, well-intentioned, missionary (position?), powerful, organised, etc.. In other words some good chacteristics and some shameful. But, interesting to compare the British Empire to all the other ones of note not to mention the many countries, nations...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for an interesting course.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thank you for an interesting course.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for an interesting course which actually required me to put pen to paper rather than just sit in the study in front of a FutureLearn course on my PC. I signed up to find out if I am capable of writing anything even vaguely creative and I think I have survived on the literary nursery slopes. Unlike many others on this course I do not aspire to be a...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
The Educational Psychologist whose poor parenting skills have created a dysfunctional family.
The born-again Christian who uses church funds to pay for prostitutes.
The anger-management councillor who beats his laptop to death because it keeps shutting down and deleting his work when he is typing a document to an imminent deadline. -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for another thought-provoking week.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Review some of the ideas in your notebook and your menu of concerns. Are there any characters or story ideas that match up with any of the concerns listed on your menu?
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My main concerns, other than for my immediate family, are about the degradation of our wonderful planet by humans:... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
A memorable experience from my teens in the sixties which could be turned into a story concerns a bear scare in the middle of the night in the forests of the Dinaric Alps.
Necessary research would include: (1) rapids on the River Drina in Bosnia-Herzegovina (2) natural history of European bears (3) timber industry along the Drina valley. -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
This is all new to me and proving to be very interesting. My biggest challenge so far is to understand why I do or don't like a piece of writing, trying to be analytical and consistent about my reasons rather than subjective 'gut feel'.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
The Educator's version omits the fact that the rush-hour crowds are oblivious to the impending cloudburst, just as they are oblivious to her concealed weapon. Isn't one of the features of rush hour, especially in London, that people are said to ignore other people e.g. no eye contact, cheery comments to strangers, etc.. So the author might be using this and...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
The rush-hour crowds around Hilary failed to notice her concealed gun just as they seemed oblivious to the impending downpour.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I guess it's about striking a personal balance between gross overconfidence in the quality of what one has written and destructive over-critical lack of confidence. I guess the former would be in danger of writing endless rubbish and the latter writing undiscovered masterpieces.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
• Did you think what you wrote was a story? No, but I think it could lead into one.
• What made it a story? N/A.
• Did it have a structure? Yes. The news headline which prompted it was the recent road accident at the Natural History Museum. I wrote briefly about a single-parent mother and her two primary-age children who were involved and tried to sketch... -
Rod Mailley-Smith replied to Rod Mailley-Smith
Blog - ur what blog? Where do I start?
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
An interesting and enjoyable challenge so far.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Are we supposed to share our efforts? The 1200 character limit makes it impossible on here unless we spread our text over two or three boxes in rapid succession. We have been encouraged to critique each other's work - any suggestions how we can do this with longer pieces?
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Useful devices aren't they? I suppose 'Once upon a time' is the one we used to use when making up stories in our heads for our kids. Others might be somthing like 'Fred looked up and saw .....' or 'When he turned the TV off he became aware of .....' or 'The arrival of the new boss meant change .... ', etc..
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
(Emma said that) school meals are always crap, they just range from average crap to super crap. Miss Blenkinsop stood behind her, peering icily over her horn-rimmed spectacles. "Emma, come with me," she barked and a shame-faced Emma obeyed.
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Yes, just enjoy the voyage of discovery.
I signed up for this course to find out if I can write creatively and if so whether I enjoy it. Whatever the answers I'll be very pleased to have found out something new about myself. So, if a story begins to emerge from my character all well and good but I'll try not to panic if it doesn't. -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Elsie, my lonely eccentric old lady, could be developed into a story. Some of the things which could help me make the story readable are:
- exploring reasons for her present unhappy state (trauma, family, health, finance, etc.).
- bringing in other interesting characters.
- being clear about where description helps or hinders.
- researching relevant info.... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I'm very new to creative writing so I can't call on years of experience about blank pages but so far neither blank page nor screen have concerned me. What has struck me is how much quicker it is to work on screen where corrections, deletions, cutting, copying and pasting are so easy. Also it's easier to read my own writing.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I continued feeding the bonfire with dead, dry branches lopped from Scots pines in the wood. The flames were flickering upwards, bullying thick smoke out of their way. Soon the heart of the fire was so hot that the previously separate flames were glued together into a single pulsating incandescence hovering above it and the heat slamming into my face with such...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for that good advice. The one about using a dictionary made me smile because, after years of trying to remember to take the damned thing with me whenever I went to a different room to read, I now do nearly all my reading on a Kindlefire so all I have to do is rest a lazy fingertip on the target word and - hey presto - the dictionary opens at the right...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
My answer to these five questions is yes but only if I have the necessary writing skills and imagination to build on my little character sketch .... we shall see.
I´m rereading Dickens' ´Martin Chuzzlewit´ at the moment and am thinking about his approach to characterization which seems to be to place his main characters at opposite extremes of the...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Both extracts gave me a good feel for the characters. Greene did it by third person description of what Spicer was doing and seeing peppered with a few first-person thoughts. Atkinson uses third-person narrative throughout so maybe we should be cautious about unquestioning acceptance of her version of Victor's thoughts.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Elsie's in her 90's and lives alone. Her clothes are clean but untidy and her long gray hair is gathered into a straggling bun which she often rearranges and repins without obvious improvement.
Clean and untidy also applies to Elsie's home. From the front door it's a squeeze in the hall past stacks of newspapers and magazines, not just a few but twenty... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
............. Elsie's conversation is also clean and untidy. An endless torrent of words - a waterfall of words - mainly about her own daily doings not just current and recent but stretching back for a lifetime. She has a natural way of engaging strangers in conversation: she asks an appropriate question, listens with apparent interest to their reply then...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
.......... Her friend is a perfect listener and only ever says things which Elsie likes to hear. The friend lives with Elsie and usually accompanies her wherever she goes in the house but never outside, not even in the tiny garden of the Victorian terrace house. Her friend is always keen to hear what Elsie has to tell her about her visits outside their home...
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Nice! I think you've highlighted the inner doubts that hold so many of us back from fulfilling our potential, not just at writing but at so many things in life. However, I hesitate to mention it, you haven't answered the question have you?
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
David breathed deeply and released it in a long sigh of contentment, the only other sound beside the quiet sliding of his pencil on the notepad in front of him was the steady patter of raindrops on the roof of the garden room: his sanctum. Relaxed and comfortable, he eased into his second chapter of the morning. Meanwhile, across the border, his brother...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for an interesting first week.
Am I the course dullard? I am taking a lot longer to do justice to the course content than the few hours per week suggested in the preliminary blurb.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
....... and recent but stretching back for a lifetime. She has a natural way of engaging strangers in conversation: she asks an appropriate question, listens with apparent interest to their reply then gently takes over. She never shouts anyone down, she just looks earnest and keeps talking enthusiastically and quietly without ums, urs or noticeable pauses....
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Version 2:
Elsie's in her 90's and lives alone. Her clothes are clean but untidy and her long gray hair is gathered into a straggling bun which she often rearranges and repins without obvious improvement.
Clean and untidy also applies to Elsie's home. From the front door it's a squeeze in the hall past stacks of newspapers and magazines, not just a few...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Flory: Orwell describes Flory's disfigurement graphically then explains how he has modified his movements to reduce its visibility. Clearly the birth mark prays on Flory's mind so we have been prepared for it to have effected other aspects of his personality and behaviour.
Sheba: Heller describes Sheba in such a way that we visualise a woman affecting a...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Elsie's in her 90's and lives alone. Her clothes are clean but untidy and her long gray hair is gathered into a straggling bun.
Clean and untidy also applies to Elsie's home. From the front door it's a squeeze in the hall past stacks of newspapers and magazines, not just a few but twenty years' worth since she moved in. Every room is partly or entirely...
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Spring chicken!
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
• My own motivations and reasons for wanting to write.
• What elements of your life experience and personal circumstance do you think might influence your writing?I don't know whether I want to write but I do want to find out if I can. I read a lot of detective thrillers which range from badly-written tripe to well-written gripping well-characterised...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I thought that there were three common denominators for why and how the six writers started writing:
• came from families where sophisticated personal expression through art and the spoken and written word were important and taken for granted.
• writing was a source of enjoyment to them from an early age.
• had embraced writing rather than had it forced... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Duh! Just found the transcript.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
The audio is so badly distorted that I gave up trying to make sense of it. I'll have to rely on other people's comments.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I've not written any fiction since I took 'O' level English fifty five years ago - aaaaaagh - so a writer's notebook is a novel idea to me, no pun intended, honestly! I plan to use the nice coloured notepaper at the back of my Filofax which I have rarely used before. I don't want to interrupt the flow of the course modules at the moment so I'll sit down this...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
One fact and three fictitious elements.
I am working in front of my study window looking at the bank of trees I planted twenty years ago. A light breeze is stirring the leaves on the overhanging branches of the nearest tree, a vigorous young oak, which are dappling the bright Autumn sunlight. The kaleidoscope of light and shade, greens, browns and bright blue... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Interesting and helpful.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Nothing different indoors to add to your list but outside in our garden there are:
1 - fallen branches of all sizes in the wooded part - no I'm not going to remove them as they are ecologically beneficial
2 - dips in the lawns due to partially collapsed rabbit and mole tunnels which are difficult to spot because I cut the grass to about 5cms - no I'm not... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
1 - do you walk differently to how you walked several years ago? Yes: slower, shorter and lower steps; often veer off course.
2 - do you recognise any gait problems from observing other people you have seen? No.
3 - have you ever lost your balance when distracted by something else? Yes: usually if something stops we looking where I am putting my feet. -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I think I'd say that an increasing risk of falling is a normal part of ageing.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
1 - I rarely go down stairs hands-free .
2 - I use one or two light-weight trek poles if I am going to walk far. This was something I felt very self-concious about at first but they are such a help with balance that I soon realised that the benefits outweighed my vanity.
3 - I look where I am walking. -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Due to 3 hip replacements, 2 spinal ops and spinal stenosis I have significantly reduced sensation below my knees. I've learned to make much more of an effort to look where I am walking; it doesn't help my posture but it does reduce the number of trips and stumbles.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
1 - imminent fall
2 - lessening control of movement and posture
3 - room's whirling
4 - floor approaching -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Even though the consequences of falling to the ground may be similar for all types of fall there seem to be two main types of fall:
1 - related to the internal condition of the faller
2 - related to the faller's surroundings -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
1 - Clumsiness
2 - Ow
2 - f**kSorry about the expletive but you did ask. I often fall over when I am working outdoors in woodland. I always feel annoyed when it happens as I feel clumsy, it usually hurts and a few rude words as I plunge my face into leaf mold yet again makes me feel a bit better.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
On most days I check the BBC and Yahoo website forecasts for my town (Uckfield) and the Daily Telegraph for the S.E. UK. They are usually, but not always, similar and fairly accurate for the next 24 hours, however as the forecasts move on to up to 10 days ahead they become much less accurate and are sometimes subject to major revision. I assume these forecasts...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Globalisation is the worldwide mutual sharing of trade, services, knowledge, culture and social interaction.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for an interesting course.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for an interesting course. What a shame that only hundreds of us signed up for it rather than billions! Perhaps if each of us pass on the message and, I hope, our enthusiasm for helping the environment we can spread the benefits.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Q: What do you think is needed to curb the sixth extinction?
A: A huge reduction in world population and an equally dramatic increase in the eco-friendliness of the activities of the remaining humans. To stand any chance of this happening there would have to be a universal educational drive to inform people in all countries about the issues involved and... -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks for an interesting course.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I´m sure the maths is simple but I'm even simpler so I´m just taking the basic points on trust. It means I'm having minimum stress but grasping the interesting essentials.
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
From a global perspective environmental damage by chemical pollution and the release of greenhouse gasses does, in my opinion, make power generation with fossil fuels the least desirable method. Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and tidal are the least polluting and therefore most desirable method from an environmental point of view, but...
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Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
I'm retired and use Futurelearn to keep my remaining grey cells active. I have a BSc (Sheffield) and an MA (Sussex).
Much of my spare time is spent outdoors doing conservation work and gardening. -
Rod Mailley-Smith made a comment
Thanks.
