A Rare Event in Udon This Sunday!

Post by **milkman** » August 30, 2014, 10:27 am

Boys, A rare event is taking place in Udon tomorrow, Sunday: a lecture that is likely to be thoughtful and interesting.

A smart friend of mine named Terry Clayton, who is knowledgeable and engaging and cares about his topic, is giving a speech on "Our Aging Brain"- and how to keep it young-at the Expat Club at 2 at Bangkok Hospital, 4th floor. http://www.udonexpatsclub.com/meetings/ ... g-2014.pdf

Now, I have been to some horrible speeches at the Expat Club in years past. The worst was a guy from Bangkok Bank whose speech consisted of reading the rules of Bangkok Bank. Really! "Should your balance fall below 1000 baht, you will have 100 baht withdrawn from your account monthly..." I sat there, simply amazed at what I was hearing! Then there was a salesman for some insurance company who spent his whole lecture trying to sell us insurance.

So I am the very last person to recommend any speech at the Expat Club, except this time it's really likely to be worthwhile. If you're not a member (I am not anymore), I think it's free, but if it's not, it'll be some small amount. And wives and girlfriends can come- lots of others to socialize with.

I've had a cold, so it's 50/50 I'll be able to make it, so don't get down on my case if I don't show.

--Milkman

Post by **mathusalah80** » August 30, 2014, 2:03 pm

Milkman,
A short summary of Mr. Claytons' qualifications & experience, relevant to the proposed topic, would be most helpful towards deciding the benefit likely to be gained from attending. Thanks.

Post by **milkman** » August 30, 2014, 2:50 pm

Wow! I'm impressed! I've been Terry's friend for months, and he never told me any of this:

Terry Erle Clayton is a psychologist and certified Cognitive Behaviour Therapist. He has a Master of Science degree from the Institute for Cognitive Studies, Rutgers University, Newark, and is preparing to undertake a doctoral program by research. Terry’s research interests are cognitive wellness in aging, international retirement migration, and expatriate psychology. Terry has been living and working in Thailand and SE Asia since 1990.

Post by **joepai** » August 30, 2014, 3:30 pm

Terry’s research interests are cognitive wellness in aging, international retirement migration, and expatriate psychology

Well he'll certainly find plenty of material in Udon for his research !

Post by **mathusalah80** » August 30, 2014, 6:40 pm

Much obliged Milkman. Since the interests listed have occupied me for several decades, plus a fascination with the intricasies of human behaviour, (on both a personal & professional level), I look forward to Terry Claytons' presentation. Thanks for the 'heads up'.

As joepai has already remarked, a shortgae of material is not a problem he is likely to encounter, either in Udonthani specifically, or Thailand in general.

Post by **GT93** » August 31, 2014, 12:02 pm

I'm very much an amateur on this topic but I think lots of nooky and love with a much younger Thai spouse won't be hurting your brain. Learning more Thai might help as well but that sounds a bit onerous.

When I was living in Melbourne, Australia my tram line used to travel past some grafitti that asserted: "Watching TV makes you stupid". There might be some truth in that as well. Hopefully someone will post some of the speaker's insights.

Post by **BigBubba** » August 31, 2014, 12:15 pm

GT93 wrote: ...Hopefully someone will post some of the speaker's insights.

Perhaps a video uploaded to youtube?

Post by **430xc** » August 31, 2014, 8:48 pm

A very well done presentation. Great Q& A after. Thank you Terry. Also, thanks to Milkman for letting us know about this worthwhile event.

Post by **milkman** » September 1, 2014, 5:35 pm

Success. You can now view/download Good News for Aging Brains from Slideshare http://www.slideshare.net/mangodhamma/g ... m_search=1

Post by **terryclayton** » September 1, 2014, 7:14 pm

Alan, thank you so much for great support! Also thanks to all who attended the presentation on Sunday and gave me such great feedback. I am truly thrilled by the response.
I am now thinking about expanding the topic into a seminar/workshop format or possibly an 'interest group' format for people 50+ who are interested in keeping their brain sharp. I'm thinking a mix of readings, discussion, personal experiments with different techniques to find out what works best for each individual (because there is no one size fits all).

Post by **430xc** » September 2, 2014, 9:53 am

At the Expat Club meeting, the speaker, Terry Clayton mentioned a website for online learning courses from universities all around the world. It is called Coursera.

I highly recommend checking it out. You can get a course certificate and "credit" for completing a course for a small amount of money or just audit the course for free. Seems there many many (maybe hundreds) courses that can be taken. Huge diversity of course material. I found one and did one week's worth of work by staying up till 5 AM today. Lots of fun
=D>
Thanks Terry for letting us know about this really cool opportunity.

430xc

Post by **terryclayton** » September 2, 2014, 11:17 am

So glad you enjoyed it! I love Coursera. There is another similar platform called edx and there is also Khan Academy (entirely free). You are NEVER too old learn and,as in the presentation, learning is a great way to activate the brain, plus it is a great strategy to build "resilience", which is something every expat needs.

Post by **430xc** » September 3, 2014, 11:16 am

I just started a course (free - auditing) titled "Think Again -- How to Reason and Argue".

This is a REAL MUST for any guy that is married or has a TGF. 55555555

It is rather in-depth and requires some effort but lots of fun.

430xc

Post by **terryclayton** » September 3, 2014, 7:33 pm

Good for you 430xc! I looked at that course myself, but long ago gave up trying to reason with my wife. I'm willing to bet this will be the first of many courses for you.

Post by **terryclayton** » September 4, 2014, 7:45 am

Gentlemen, I invite you all to join me in a new thread "Good News for Aging Brains" in this same forum. I am hoping, with your help, to reach a wider audience with the more descriptive subject header. In the new thread, an update on video games and how to grow your brain as you age.