Subjective Matters

"I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is..."

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:28:24 -0700

“I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.”

- Einstein “gets” death. He reportedly told this to doctors when he refused surgery. He died in 1955 at the age of 76.

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of..."

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:04:08 -0800

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”

- Thomas A. Edison

Symptoms Can Come And Go

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 11:57:00 -0700

Symptoms Can Come And Go:

My take from the article:

The flaring up of a runny nose or itchy throat does not require that it be followed with a true illness or cold. These symptoms can be transient, they do not need to lead somewhere worse, and are simply your body’s natural inflammatory response to viruses in the air. In fact trying to “boost” yourself up with various nutraceuticals may only increase that “annoying” inflammatory response above and beyond what was normally needed by the body to do its thing. So called symptoms do not need to lead somewhere else — you’re getting better already.

Unappetizing Mix

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:55:58 -0700

There is something truly unappetizing about having flu shot signs and medicine in your face as you walk into a grocery store. It’s like putting a perfume section in a bakery shop.

Truly, nature is beautiful. Something else strikes me. It is...

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:25:00 -0700

Truly, nature is beautiful.

Something else strikes me. It is “man” who composed the background music and framed the shots, and developed the instruments to be able to do so. That also is beautiful. The lens of man is a witness to nature.

Don't Look At The Trees

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:18:23 -0700

Don't Look At The Trees:

Want to know the key to skiing successfully through the trees? Don’t look at the trees! Instead, focus on where you want to go between them. If you spend your time focusing on the trees, you’ll end up hitting one. This principle applies to life and marriage as well. If you focus on where you want to go and your role in the process, by default you’ll avoid most of the pitfalls and issues along the way.

The Seasons of Life

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:44:28 -0700

The Seasons of Life:

In a letter to an acquaintance, Emerson compared the mind to a pear tree that goes through a season of barrenness only to suddenly burst forth in fruitful growth. Emerson learned that to avoid the frustration of barren times, a man needs to “adopt the pace of nature” whose “secret is patience.” Just as the farmer must continue pruning and grafting his trees in the winter in order to reap the harvest in the spring, Emerson continued to work and cultivate his mind to prepare for the return of inspiration. After a mental winter, his mind would inevitably bloom once more.

An Urgent-Paced World

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:56:00 -0700

There are the often sighed phrases — “life is fast-paced”, “society these days is so fast-paced”, etc. But “fast” really isn’t descriptive enough. It’s a little generic to define our life with the same adjective we might use to describe a car.

Closer, I think, is “urgent”. That’s what these phrases really seem to be getting at. There is an ever present urgency to our lives, to our society. An urgency to do, see, achieve, or fix that next thing ahead of us. Peel one thing out of the way and the sense of urgency creeps up for the next thing moving up behind it. If something within us isn’t driving the urgency, then it is something or someone outside of us. Yes, we are moving fast, and we’re moving fast because of the sense of urgency compelling us forward. In a sense chasing ourselves off the edge of the cliff.

It makes sense for life to have some degree of urgency. To have moments of urgency. The question is, does life and society need to be defined by it. Or, can we move in and out of urgency more gracefully and deliberately as the situation calls for it, as we call for it, and ultimately walk off the edge of the cliff in peace.

How Microbes Defend and Define Us

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:40:00 -0700

How Microbes Defend and Define Us:

Scientists are regularly blown away by the complexity, power, and sheer number of microbes that live in our bodies. “We have over 10 times more microbes than human cells in our bodies,” said George Weinstock of Washington University in St. Louis. But the microbiome, as it’s known, remains mostly a mystery. “It’s as if we have these other organs, and yet these are parts of our bodies we know nothing about.”

Baby Moose Playing in Sprinkler

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:55:00 -0700

Baby Moose Playing in Sprinkler:

We’re all made of the same stuff.

If you liked that, watch an otter juggle a rock around his paws.

An Overheard Airport Conversation

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:58:51 -0700

Boy: Dad, why do some planes have wings on their tails and some don't?
Dad: Well, all planes have on their tails.... well, most do.
Boy: Home come some do and some don't?
Dad: All of the planes you'll see here today have wings on their tails.
Boy: But what about that one over there, how come it doesn't have wings on its tail?
Dad:

Fat or Carbs: Which Is Worse?

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:28:00 -0700

Fat or Carbs: Which Is Worse?:

The saturated fat lauded in this menu won’t kill you. It may even be the safest element of the meal. … This contradicts nutritional dogma we’ve heard repeated since 1970, when a physiologist named Ancel Keys published his “Seven Countries” study that showed animal fat consumption strongly predicted heart attack risk.

A Decade Later, Genetic Map Yields Few New Cures

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:05:00 -0700

A Decade Later, Genetic Map Yields Few New Cures:

The primary goal of the $3 billion Human Genome Project — to ferret out the genetic roots of common diseases and generate treatments — remains largely elusive.

What if the “roots” of disease aren’t entirely or even substantially genetic?

In the Singularity Movement, Humans Are So Yesterday

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:13:00 -0700

In the Singularity Movement, Humans Are So Yesterday:

I’m sure the singularity movement has heard all of the arguments, but I can’t help think it seems somewhat driven by a fear of aging and death.

Diet, Lite, Low-Fat Tip

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

If you’re eating or drinking anything with diet, lite (light), or low-fat on the package label, then you are eating or drinking too much of it. Switch to the non-diet, full-fat version. If the amount consumed is truly your concern, then eat or drink less of that product. Your body will thank you for the simpler and less processed food you will consume, and your mind will thank you for disposing of the diet / lite / low-fat label.

You Aren’t What You Eat There’s a common saying: “you are...

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0800

You Aren’t What You Eat

There’s a common saying: “you are what you eat”. It’s a harmless enough saying, right? Loosely we know it’s just scratching a surface, yet in general we nod our heads and think: “yeah, whatever I put in my body is going to have an effect on me, positive or negative.” Usually this phrase is used negatively, like a shake of the finger at a food stuff believed to be unhealthy.

There’s a deeper thread to “you are what you eat”, though, that isn’t worth loosely accepting. It’s a thread that throws out the “you” and says that the food you consume can fully constitute you — that your external environment fully constitutes you. “You” are merely an outcome of the external world.

The implications of this simple phrase may exemplify our modern thought. Why didn’t we collectively settle on a phrase that instead puts “you” into the primary position? It’s not far off after all — a phrase that instead honors “you” would be: “you eat what you are”. Think about that:

You aren’t what you eat — you eat what you are.

This simple rearrangement of words completely changes the meaning of the phrase, making you primary and the external world secondary. When you eat what you are, the objective world becomes a symbolic reflection of a subjective you. This is much more responsibility than we’re used to dealing with. We’ve instead decided to put the responsibility on food, television, companies, pollution, bad bosses, and microbes. We’re viewed as products of our parents, society, generation, or genes.

Are you ready to take responsibility for your world, or will you continue to let your world take responsibility for you? It’s a change in thinking, and it starts with recognizing the roots of simple daily phrases and thoughts that we take for granted.