Browsing the blog archives for December, 2011

Hunter-Gatherer or Farmer

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Gardening, Heavy Lifting, The Earth, Thoughts

One question is which is better for the health of us humans.  One student of the evolution of humans from hunter-gatherers opined it was the worst thing to happen to the human race: people had to work long hours most days instead of the estimated twenty hours a week that hunter-gatherers spent getting food (sometimes one another but I digress ). The farmers suffered more from disease because of living and working close together and they also didn’t live as long as those who weren’t eaten.  Also discoveries have revealed the earlier humans were as much as 6 inches taller than the later farmers.

The next question becomes why did they segue into farmers if it turned out to be unhealthy. There are a lot of reasons, all of which I don’t recall. One I recall is there was a big drought, and large groups of humans discovered each other as they gathered at one of the few extant oases. From this they drifted into farming to have a reliable food supply. Agriculture led to a stratification of classes; perhaps that stratification led to agriculture. With agriculture came monogamy or at least the virtue of the female as desirable, especially since it allowed the male to be sure which children were his. Free love died along with the cultivation of wheat! But, then they did have more time and the ingredients for making beer – there are always compensations.

Sayonara Lisa Thanks for Speedreading Record!

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Heavy Lifting, The Universe, Thoughts

Lisa Randall’s book, Knocking on Heaven’s Door, took me to new heights in speedreading. I was able to whiz through chapters that were attempting to explain the innards of such things as the Higgs Boson whatever, page by undigested page. I guess I was looking for an overview of particle physics for the layman, if such a thing is even possible, along with an understandable discussion of how the “scientific approach” applies to day-to-day living and problem solving. Instead I got so much more detail on scientific history and progress than I could ever process.

Among the newer information I retained was a reinforcement that the universe is flat – less than 1% variation from being FLAT.  Additional items included that it is all there is (the universe isn’t lodged in some other thing), it’s infinite, there many be [many] other universes and, although for a time it was expanding rapidly, its expansion rate had slowed down but it has recently speeded up again. Another thought that seemed fascinating to Lisa  from around p. 375 is “Why do we happen to live in the time when the energy densities of mater, dark matter, and dark energy are comparable?” I wondered who she expected to answer her (probably rhetorical) question. Could this be a scientific hint of The LasDays?

 

Remembered Quotation

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bio, Heavy Lifting, Sayings, Wisdom I Have Learned

My barber reminded me yesterday of a quotation I had told him many years ago that he says he has repeated to many customers over the years when they mention problems they are facing. The quotation came from Monsignor John Sheridan, Pastor Emeritus of Our Lady of Malibu Church, in Malibu, California.