Concussion | Sci-fi Short Audiobook

[@RoweLit]

Join me in the all-new 24/7 Sci-Fi Stories Livestream following today’s release: kzbin.infofd9E47qrSnM 😃

[@RoweLit]

Direct link to Bird on Mars and Other stories: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1GLQ1N?ref_=ast_author_dp (For interested parties 😃)

[@danirizary6926]

I'm dont have any words after this story (aphasia joke). So many strong emotions, almost didnt listen, glad i did. I survive a TBI that took my iq down 70 points, from 99 percentile to cant read a calender. Long recovery. Got the magnetic treatment, transcranial light, neuropeptides. Thank you for this. It feels good to have this described in such a beautiful way, it puts voice to a sea of subtle feelings i thought could never be put into words.

[@RoweLit]

Thank you, Dan, for such a thoughtful response! Very grateful to hear that this story resonated with you. I don't have first-hand experience, so I had to rely heavily on my conversations with a very good friend who does. To the extent that the story rings true for you and others, a lot of the credit goes to her good humor and willingness to talk through her struggles.

[@cecile862]

I have no experience of what your life has handed you. Thank you for sharing your very personal story. P.E. Rowe has a way of reaching into our hearts with compassion, touching the rich and varied facets of our human journey. A wonderful gift in this sometimes uncaring, dismissive world.

[@garfieldparker2080]

Rowe. You know what's most fascinating about your stories? It's the breadth of topics that you cover so well. You delve deep into medical literature, philosophy, engineering, science fiction, astronomy, physics and the list goes on and on. Never surface level bs or shortcutting these difficult topics either. I can only imagine the amount of time and research that goes into each story. You're amazing man. I'll contact you about my signed book thanks!

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Garfield. A lot of it is banked time. I've read a lot about brains over the years and did work in the medical field for a while. However, it is true that I've lived a diverse live with lots of seemingly unfocused changes. The one constant was always writing, so chalk up those many different avenues as research for this 😃 I'll be in touch shortly. Thanks!

[@karlgru3n654]

Loneliness is a thing in the foothills of bell-curve mountain. Thanks, P.

[@RoweLit]

😃 You definitely have a way with witticisms, Karl!

[@michaelcalder8431]

As soon as I get the notification of a new story dropping, I'm on it, and never disappointed. Thank you once again Mr Rowe. 😁

[@markjames-k7w]

Mark CEN CA this is my cup of tea PE😂 touching my feelings again

[@markjames-k7w]

Mark CEN CA well done PE 😊

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Michael! Glad you're enjoying 😃 Always fun to share a new story!

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Mark!

[@markjames-k7w]

@@RoweLit your welcome PE

[@MrsCaranAmy]

Thank you 🙏❤️🤗🌟

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Amy!

[@robertwesterfield3454]

It seems like traumatic injuries and getting over them is part of a theme in this universe. Good to see the new story.

[@RoweLit]

Hmm. Thanks, Robert. Maybe so. Overcoming struggles is always a good story. We humans surely do a lot of it 😃

[@CraigKing-bv7jx]

Yeah! It's Thursday.!

[@RoweLit]

The best day 🚀 Cheers, Craig 😃

[@michaelgarrow3239]

Hooked on Rowe!

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Michael!

[@swiftmatic]

That last line, "There are far too many universes at stake." 💯💥

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Swiftmatic! 🙏😃

[@swiftmatic]

"Concussion" was written (and narrated) far better than 98% of what I hear on YT. I've been an avid reader since I learned how at 5 years old. I am PICKY AS HELL when it comes to new literature, and I just keep coming back for more of YOUR content. 👍👍👍 Keep the Faith and Keep Up the Fire, my friend

[@RoweLit]

@@swiftmatic Thanks! I'm working hard at this every day! The support means a lot and helps keep both the faith and the fire going 🔥🔥🔥

[@sanecanadian2351]

Great story! I hope the best for your friend. I have had too many friends that have suffered a TBI. About the only thing I was afraid of in combat was to sustain an injury that robbed me of who I was. As for the other elements of the story. I think you nailed the stress that gifted children often have to live with. Luckily for Julian his family seems to understand it better than most. No overbearing expectations, or being treated differently by his parents. I think I mentioned we homeschool our boys. I have made the point not to let them skip past "easy" math questions without learning the formulas. I know that will bite them in the butt later in life if they don't. What is easy in grades 1-12 math may not be in secondary or post, if they choose that direction in their future. From what I know most gifted kids have a kind of falling out after school. Trying to learn formulas for algebraic calculations while meeting deadlines isn't fun. I think its great you are writing a positive side of this. PS. I hope the gardening is going well. We planted sun chokes/ Jerusalem artichokes this year. I want to grow enough over the next few years to help feed our animals.

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, SC! The strawberry patch looks promising for next year. But I tried to plant a sunflower patch and the crows are gobbling them up by the roots in the seedling stage. We'll see if any survive. I'd never get any writing done if I were keeping watch for pests. Thankfully, the potatoes are all safe underground. Just have to pick off the potato bugs from time to time 😃

[@sanecanadian2351]

@@RoweLit This may sound silly, if you don't want to make them x crows. You can set off a fire cracker while holding either a real gun or a gun shaped object. As far as the crows are concerned you meant it. A broom or garden hoe would do. Put a fake crow that looks like a xxed crow out. Hang it by the feet, it has to have wings that spread out to resemble the real thing.

[@Katyas-Korner]

I loved cherry coffin last week Rowe. Reminded me of homestead life or maybe van life to be more appropriate. So many people drifting anymore even in a first world country.

[@RoweLit]

It does seem so. It's also tough out there with gas prices these days.

[@MartinGugino]

Lying in bed but had to hold on. Nice symptom.

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Martin.

[@QbicLT]

Beautiful slow Sunday morning and Your story over a brunch. Thank You

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Saulius! Hope it was delicious 😃

[@lisasnyder555]

Wow! Another well written, well read gem. Thank you.

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Lisa! 😃

[@laveraparato258]

Yay! A Julian story!

[@RoweLit]

I enjoy writing them for sure 😃

[@brianpierce5456]

This was great for me on a personal level. I was diagnosed with autism later in life, so I understand the feeling that your brain works differently from others. It's liberating when you come to understand that there is a reason for it. Thank you Mr. Rowe!

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Brian! That's great to hear 🙏 I was hopeful that would be the case for a portion of the audience with this story. All kinds of different universes 😃

[@kitkakitteh]

I believe that EVERYONE feels their brain is different, because they are, but also because we are intricately familiar with our own mind, and rarely completely familiar with anyone else’s, even those of our lifelong partners, relatives or friends.

[@brianpierce5456]

@kitkakitteh That's a good point. There's no real way to compare how one brain may operate differently from another, from an experiential point of view.

[@bravotwozero535]

Nice story. It really invites the type of self reflection that sci-fi enables best.

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, B20! Glad you enjoyed 🙏

[@markjames-k7w]

Good afternoon PE Mark CEN CA revisiting this one have a great night friend 😅

[@hartleygarland906]

Knock knock! Who is there? Thursday. Thursday who? Thursday wooohooo

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Hartley! The best day 😃

[@hartleygarland906]

You are the Super Brain ! P.E.Rowe Hartsock.

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Hartley! Big Hartsock plans coming soon ... 😃

[@Katyas-Korner]

Super chuffed to see the new story Rowe.

[@RoweLit]

Super chuffed to share, Pharming!

[@MorganMghee]

🎉🎉

[@RoweLit]

😃🙏🏼

[@stevesyncox9893]

Thanks P.

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Steve! 😃

[@bewarethegreyghost]

A wonderful tale and a powerful moral. Well played sir.

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Grey Ghost!

[@markjames-k7w]

Mark CEN CA 😢😢 crying again darn you

[@KeithCarmichaelInFL]

I am always excited to see you post a new story! They all seem to just draw me in, this one was just as enthralling. Thank you for sharing!

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Keith! Glad to hear you enjoyed it 😃

[@louissablon4849]

You are a singular talent brother! Thats coming from one of stephen king constant, voracious reader! Thank you

[@RoweLit]

Thank you , Louis! I subscribe most to King's philosophy that a writer shouldn't just aspire to write but to get in the room and do it. Here I sit 😃

[@MDSBock]

The origins of Burch and an continuations of the Misfit universe the week after, I'm getting spoiled, I just can't wait..

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, MDS! It's going to be a fun couple weeks writing for sure 😃

[@denniskight4227]

TY

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Dennis!

[@ronbynum7304]

Another awesome story and another great start for Thursday. Thank you!

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Ron!

[@davek1855]

Absolutely spell binding. Awesome!

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Dave!

[@michaellively6467]

Love your work!

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Michael!

[@patmiller7045]

Alright! I'm going to enjoy this.

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Pat 🙏😃

[@MrIzzyDizzy]

I really like these Julian stories, i relate to them quite a lot, and this one seemed semi biographical for me personally. I played and coached soccer for 35 years and my IQ , was only ever told to me to be over 150 in 3 test. Though i was in deep depressions in those test. So i might be higher. Probably not though, because I'd say the harder questions were very hard. Basically they were splitting hairs type guesses. At college I met 2 people who were so smart I could not relate to them. They made puns from words I didn't know and their math was so good i would need software to check it. They not only knew every 8 or longer syllable word you could find in dictionaries, but they would challenge each other on the etymologies, and if they didn't know, they would make up some funny fake etymologies ( they did this as a word game). Fortunately for them they were roommates and both getting masters in nanotechnology. So they had each other to talk to. Which is a problem for geniuses and even more so for super geniuses I imagine. As for the supposed paradox. it seems self evident that there is only 1 universe that all the minds we know of have access to. If not self evident i sense a high probability of some Inferential Statistical proof. I see no reason to infer spirituality, but the minds in the one universe certainly can be amazing, like yours Rowe.

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, MrIzzy! I've actually never tested myself, but I don't think I have to worry about the problems of supergeniuses 😂 I also wasn't ever a great student until I was an adult and I actually wanted to learn. So I definitely couldn't relate to the type of vocabulary wizards and spelling bee champions as a kid. I was too busy playing soccer and skiing 😃

[@MrIzzyDizzy]

@@RoweLit Einstein wasn't a great student Is one thing they told me when i was taking those test. Which actually made me feel even more like an under achiever. I tend to be amazed at most peoples intelligence, but I can tell a real difference when meeting someone super smart. but even ordinary people frequently have some very targeted brilliance. You have both great knowledge , and a great understanding of others peoples psyche. Your Dialog is fantastic, and your plots are amazing. You are a creative genius at writing.

[@tgdomnemo5052]

... finally 🙂🙂🙂🙏🏼

[@RoweLit]

Back on schedule, Nemo 🚀🚀😃

[@markjames-k7w]

Mark CEN CA you downloaded this a week ago and I just missed it I'm going enjoy this😮😅

[@maxjjackson]

Excellent! Love the Julian stories (2 minutes in). [Edited: 53 minutes later: Yep. Excellent! lol]

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Max! I'm glad you're enjoying them. I definitely like writing them a lot.

[@maxjjackson]

@@RoweLit No worries dude. I really enjoy the universe you've created. Shame that the books aren't hardbacks, I've the ideal space on a bookshelf. (and selfishly, I'm pretty sure there's more Deep Space Assassin tales in your head just waiting to be told... )

[@RoweLit]

@@maxjjackson 🤔 to both 😂 I'll have to look into the hardback possibility. I know they added that as an option, but I just haven't had the time to explore it. If the only major change is the jacket, and I don't have to reformat the inside, then there's a high likelihood I'll adopt it at some point. The Murkist? You didn't think we were done with him yet, did you? 😃

[@maxjjackson]

@RoweLit I know that we're not because you sir, are not a dick..!!

[@TheMediaBot]

Well done 👍, waiting for the next one now!!

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, MediaBot! Working on the next one now 😃

[@dtl2081]

Excellent

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, D Z!

[@cecile862]

You know that silence? Just after the last notes of a magnificent symphony concert fade into the quiet? When the performance has translated the entire theater to some rare place of wonder? This piece has had the same effect. My mind, my thoughts, my lazy understanding have been taken captive. So much to ponder about the individual minds in my life that constantly perplex and frustrate me. Ways of seeing, of understanding and of responding so different to my own. My desire to isolate myself from the contrary nature of relationship is foolish to say the least. Deeply impoverishing. We need all the minds we can get for wider understanding and indeed survival. I've known this my whole life, but Wow! Hearing the music this morning? Stilled that ol' monkey brain.... gather your thoughts, girl, gather everyone's thoughts.

[@RoweLit]

😃Always love to read your thoughtful comments, Cecile 🙏🏼 One of the things I'm enjoying about writing Julian's story is how different a mind he has. Four more major facets to go!

[@paulross225]

How you made concussion such a big deal subject is beyond me. After all, it didn't do Newton any harm!

[@RoweLit]

Unfortunately, many people are not so lucky, Paul. Depending on the severity and affects, a concussion can be debilitating. My impression is that for most people, that is usually not the case, thankfully.

[@paulross225]

@RoweLit I was being facetious! Not to say that there's anything I would disagree with in your reply - or the fact that my attempts at humour do occasionally go down like a lead balloon!

[@RoweLit]

@@paulross225 😂 well the very same can be said of my attempts to pick up on said attempts, Paul. Much tougher to do either in print!

[@Katyas-Korner]

Hey Rowe, one of your A.I. enemies in the algorithm is working against you. I was showing my father in law your stuff. He is having some eye problems that are making reading harder. As I look back none of your videos have been given the thumbs up by me. I went back through and repunched it. I appreciate your craft. Always a delight my friend.

[@RoweLit]

Thanks for the info. Hearing similar little things here and there. They're learning. Hopefully they pick up on some of the subtext in these stories eventually 😃 And thanks for sharing! I hope your father in law enjoys too.

[@bmobert]

Excellently written as usual. Your stories have made me laugh and cry and think. This is the first one that made me uncomfortable... I haven't nailed down yet. There is something profoundly wrong here... and I don't mean like, "oh, he just doesn't understand that part of the human experience," like I think nearly every time you describe mathematics. (I'm still writing that letter.) But.. something else. Something fundamental. And maybe it's me... I just don't know yet. When I do, I'll let you know. And if it weren't Excellently written, I probably wouldn't care enough to emote about it. So, thank you.

[@bmobert]

This is not it: Pele effected the lives of billions.

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, B! Pele is a high bar. That feeling is not an unfamiliar feeling for a writer--something there that can't quite be seen.

[@bobkoroua]

Lol I had my settings recalibrated last year. They cut and shortened tendons to cure double vision. Great story P.E. Edit. I used to date a woman who had the highest IQ at her university. It wasn't just her ability to reason it was also her perception and recall that was exceptional. She could remember every ball sunk and the sequence after we had played ten games of pool. And would be able to tell me how many times I had missed each ball. It wasn't like we had challenged her to do it and she tried to remember, we only became aware that she could do it by accident. However she was completely hopeless at trivial pursuit.

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Bob! I once walked in on a dude playing pool solo at MIT (I was just visiting, btw). I asked the guy whether he wouldn't enjoy playing somebody else more and offered to play a game with him. Within two shots, I realized why he was playing alone--dude was visualizing the geometry of like 4+ bank shots, and hitting them. He proceeded to smash me with almost no resistance. I think I just told him, well done, and wished him well. There are some scary intelligent people out there.

[@bobkoroua]

@@RoweLit I absolutely love pool. I'm only good if I'm completely relaxed which results in me never sinking the black if I'm keen to win. However I play extremely well if I'm drunk. I won a round robin at a work Christmas party and was legless at the close of the match. One of the best feelings I can remember, I dominated guys who normally thrashed me and was playing shots that I would normally not take and sinking them without hesitation. Now I live in a town without a single pool table 😢

[@bobkoroua]

@@cecile862 I think it must be Trivial Pursuit ? It's a name after all.

[@cecile862]

​@@bobkoroua oh dear, yet another playful skipping stone moment sunk to the bottom of the pond.. Comment deleted with apologies for not being funny.😂

[@lararabb8888]

❤😊

[@RoweLit]

🙏😃

[@unom8]

Thanks 🙏 Mind uploading impact on IQ is an interesting topic - I imagine some of the first non-destructive attempts being somewhat disappointing ( and for others perhaps less so ) - what contributes to what can lead to higher IQ scores in human brains? To what degree will the contemporary technology be able to fully emulate that, and at which speed? Imagine having one version ending the other version out of compassion, or disgust - if compassion is lacking.

[@RoweLit]

An inherent advantage in processing speed and memory are certainly baked in if mind uploading happens, but I doubt whether the mind uploaded will be the same mind, as I strongly suspect we underestimate the importance of the biological body on the thinking being. It's tough for me to pick which prospect is more of a threat to biological humans--a truly self-aware technological AI or a former-biological being with the power of a digital, supercomputer-powered mind. Maybe it should be something like, "Welcome to your digital afterlife, Rowe. Here is your Atari brain." 😂

[@unom8]

@@RoweLit Yeah, imagine an uploaded mind without the ability to form, or integrate new memories. Or one that is completely without agency, ala an llm chatbot, you can query it and it will respond as though it were that person, but apart from supplied context otherwise completely stateless. Some interesting papers out regarding anesthesia, and how it might be interfering with quantum effects in brain microtubules to achieve the lack of consciousness effect. Rats dreaming about the future is also an interesting aspect of this - enter sci-fi: what if through dreams we discover / collaboratively create the ( inevitable? ) future by collapsing it into being. Maybe they don't get better at mazes, just able to unconsciously draw on experiences of the future :D

[@laveraparato258]

I agree with Julian's dad about doctors.

[@paultanker5606]

G'day to you again my Friend, Do I remember the name Ayla from other stories or is my Septuagenarian Brain playing Funny Buggers again? once more well done again Squire! PS in the 70s I played Football, and one of the teams was a Dutch Team affiliated with AJAX!

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Paul! I can't recall an Ayla off the top of my head, but now there's a lot of characters to keep track of! I got to see them once when they came to the states to warm up on their season by beating up on our local American club. Not their best 11, and they made short work of the home team. Fun to see, though!

[@Andrew-if3sd]

12:12

[@MarkSmith-zg5hq]

This is a comment on the Rowe Universe as presented so far. This Galaxy appears only to have Human Intelligent Life forms similar to Azimov's Foundation Universe. Azimov's Human only Galaxy was the result of the Eternals deciding on that specific Universe among many to place out history and future. The Ordinal and their Mediums seem to be a corollary to a mash-up of Eternals and Gaia (created by R Daneel). Are the Artifact builders an offshoot of the Ordinals or schism of them or a third party as yet unknown. The Artifacts do seem to bypass the will or the Ordinals and are ever-present throughout the timeline. Gisgards mental abilities which were transferred to Daneel were the result of accidental programming by a young girl (Fastov's daughter? I need to research that more), not unlike maybe Julians accentuated mental abilities might have been the result of having his "Smarts" knocked into his Noggin (Scientific term used) by his soccer accident. Where the Bipals (not your half gay friends LOL) fit in is unclear because their timeline was restarted by Burch's crew returning from a future where they did not go into that future before. The "Wizards of Athos" seem to be a fourth group of observers who safeguard the timeline not unlike Dr Who, correcting when needed. Now that I think of it, The Ordinals are the Eternals where the Wizards are Gaia when comparing both universes. Lazareth Long may come along and save the day while he is fighting his own baddies. I have way too much time on my hands.

[@RoweLit]

Cheers, Mark! Way too much time, or an encyclopedic knowledge of sci-fi universes 😃

[@sanecanadian2351]

But how do You know that is red or that this is soft? Just have to take it on faith that you perceive the world around you correctly. Have you ever read Johnny has his gun by Dalton Trumbo? I read it as a part my education to help prepare me for combat one day.

[@RoweLit]

I haven't read it, no. However, I did read an article over the weekend about the Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzula, and the reporter was mentioning all the various unconventional approaches he took to team building. He mentioned a SF amputee named Nick who spoke to the team a few times, and I was like. I know who they're talking about 😃 Yeah, he'll motivate you.

[@sanecanadian2351]

@@RoweLit Small world. The machine fighter Nick Lavery. I think that was last summer I suggested him to you right?

[@RoweLit]

@@sanecanadian2351 Sure was. I think I was hilling my potatoes 😂 Almost that time again!

[@RoweLit]

@@sanecanadian2351 Awesome suggestion, btw! That dude got me fired up 🚀🚀🚀

[@sanecanadian2351]

​@@RoweLit You are welcome, he has helped more people than he will ever know.

[@michaellively6467]

Did they have to sell the farm to pay that medical bill,? lol

[@RoweLit]

Ten generations of Hartsock corn + shrewd investing 😂

[@dannycyr2231]

If you hate spOrts as much as me, you will not enjoy the first 10 min...

[@RoweLit]

Thanks, Danny! Had to get that love of sport across for Julian. Otherwise there's no big loss. Plus, that leaves 40 minutes to enjoy after 😃