PCS and the Marble Theory
You start the day with all of your marbles. Something happens that day, and you lose some of your marbles. You do not understand that your marbles are gone. People are not making sense; they are talking too loud and too fast. You do not know how many you have lost or when you may get them back. You know you still have some marbles because you used to have a bunch of marbles. However, you can’t remember where your marbles are located.
It feels like you have run a marathon when actually you have just folded a load of laundry. You rest and rest some more. You get up and are excited because you think you have found your marbles!

When you show people your marbles, you are actually showing them your toes. You do not know they are actually your toes. You think they are marbles. When you begin talking about your middle toe, you remember you need to make a phone call. You stop talking and walk away from the person who was listening to your fascinating talk about toes. You try and find the phone. When you find the phone, you can’t remember the phone number of who you need to call. You wonder why you have the phone in your hand and why you are not wearing shoes.

You become self-conscious, frustrated, and tired, so you decide to rest again.

You rest and rest. Finally, you need to get out and do something. So you make a plan to get a ride to the store to get some milk. At the store, you run into someone that you knew before you lost your marbles. They know you lost your marbles five months ago, but assume that by now you have found them. After all, you have had five months to find them. They quickly lose interest when you explain that no, you have only found some of your marbles.

You go home and rest. You decide to call a friend. As you are listening to your friend, you lose track of what they are saying. You are daydreaming about marbles. When it is your turn to talk, you tell them that you are going for a walk tomorrow, when you mean you just got back from one. After you say good-bye, you need to lie down.

The next day, you decide to email another friend. However, what you are thinking is not what appears on the screen. What you write does not match your thoughts. You become sad because when you used to have all of your marbles, this was easy.

You decide to share your thoughts with your new “online community.” It takes 45 minutes to figure out how to copy your document. You think you have posted it, but you really don’t know…