The bright side of the Dark Ages

The Inquisition, burning books, scientist and philosophers dying slow and painful deaths because they held a belief opposed by the 'Church', suppressed urges and emotions... A creepy image of the Dark Ages...

I started reading this book on the Middle Ages, "Liebe und Sex im Mittelalter" (love and sex in medieval times) by Alexander Ballhaus and I am surprised to find that those Dark Ages might have a bright side too. (and no, I don't mean the Hollywood 'princesses and knights' bright side!)

Even though the 'Church' (and thus to an extend Christianity) have been the driving force behind that terrifying Inquisistion and other horrible things, Christianity has also brought about important changes that distinguish the ancient from the modern world.

For one thing Christianity, with its claim that all humans are equal in the eyes of God, laid the foundation for the later abolishment of slavery. (note that in the Roman Empire slaves were regarded and treated as animals; also note how Christianity was initially adopted by slaves and how they were persecuted by the Roman Empire)

Beside this, it also brought about a shift in people's minds about the position of women.

Clement of Alexandria reported: "Christians want women to be appreciated on the basis of the purity of their behavior and not their beauty; furthermore they don't want men regarding women as subservient objects, because nature gave us marriage, just as it gave us food, which we can use but not abuse." [4]

Even though it might have taken a long time until women and men became equals and slavery was abolished, it seems that the Dark Ages have been a breeding ground for this. A first step in a long-long journey...

Homosexual necrophiliac duck

Yes, you understood correctly. Homosexuality and necrophilia (finding the dead sexually attractive) have been observed in ducks (both at the same time, an all-in-one bingo) just outside the Natural History Museum of Rotterdam.

How did this happen? Well, one fine day a male duck (the 'victim-duck') flew against the museum's huge window and dropped dead (just like many other birds do apparently). Then another male duck arrived that started ahm "copulating" with the dead duck... Kees Moeliker who worked at the museum happened to pass, video-taped the whole event and described it extensively in a paper (he later even won a Ig Nobel Prize for this).

A funny detail is that when Kees tried to collect the carcass he was faced by an aggressive attack from the 'molester duck' who was defending his 'prey'...!

Well, isn't nature full of surprises?!

Wealth distorts perception

Living in the pink bubble of a "rich" country distorts your perception of reality.

Few days ago, in the Netherlands, a discussion emerged about animal rights with the concrete proposal of applying a "meat tax" (up to 2 euro's per kilo, depending on how "bio" the piece of meat is), with the aim to reduce meat consumption and ensure better treatment for the animals.

For quiet a while I was myself very involved into this discussion. Until I saw this. A documentary about child trafficking and women forced into prostitution. To give you an indication of the extent of the problem: about 50.00 women per year are being trafficked to the USA alone...

When I am confronted with stuff like this anything else seems SO FUTILE... "Animal right, 1 or 2 euros"- What are we even babbling about!!... But alas, we DO live in our own MICROCOSMOS... It is a problem of perception. Apparently to 'us' it seems that most problems pertaining to "human rights" are solved (in our part of the world at least) so we can now actually start worrying about "animal rights"...

Don't get me wrong, I find any initiative to better the world (animal or human) more than welcome but sometimes things just seem awfully out of balance...

Anyways. Beside the point of us living in our pink bubble, I also wonder:

Is forced prostitution a poverty problem? Or is this a social/mentality problem? (ie. where there is a need that shall be a supply)

Tree Man

A man growing into a tree... Or so it looks like. He has a rare illness called Epidermodysplasia verruciformis. It is a virus that causes growth of huge "moles" resulting in tree-like extensions.

Could this illness be where those myths about humans turning into trees are inspired from?.... ( like the ancient Greek myth of Daphne).

Although I guess human imagination could have made that up easily anyways.

You can see some videos about him:

The tree man

Tree man cured

Human without a body

Unbelievable but true... A human without a body...

They are two twins joined by the head. Only difference is the the second twin (called "parasitic" twin in the documentary) has no body.

Even though the "head-only" twin shares part of her brain with her sister she does seem to have a consciousness of her own with a distinct personality. She can smile and reacts to her environment (follows people and objects with her eyes). For obvious reasons (lack of throat and lungs) she can of course not speak.

The "head-only" twin was feeding her brain off her sisters blood directly (so her sister's body had to pump double the amount of blood to the heads). I wonder, would she feel hunger? Or would her sister feel hungry for her instead? (since she is the one who can actually eat and digest)

How is it even possible to have fused brains yet different personalities? (and does that say anything about people with multiple personality disorder?Or is that taking it a step too far?)

Fortunately/Unfortunately we wont know the answers.

To save the life of the twin with the body the mother and doctors decided to separate the two.

I would highly recommend the documentary to anyone: See part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Milk for calcium???....

You see them every day, advertisements about smiling families drinking "healthy milk" and "actor-doctors" advising women to drink lots of it in order to avoid osteoporosis. But how healthy and necessary milk actually is is questionable.

The very fact that we are the only animal that consumes milk beyond infancy should make us think. Furthermore, how is it possible that huge animals like elephants, which become as old as humans (70) and weigh much more (i.e. bones have a much "heavier" job), do not suffer from osteoporosis?

The answer lies in the green leaves they eat which are rich in calcium.

For us humans there are also plenty of green calcium-rich vegetables, (mostly green ones) like spinach, broccoli, soy beans , collards, bak choy, mustard greens, wasabi roots and many others.

Also, about 75% of world population seems to be lactose intolerant, meaning they can't really digest and eat diary products... Maybe another sign we don't really need it?

And what about those voices that say there are tons of carcinogen hormones, antibiotics and other dubious stuff in milk?.... You can of course ignore them, or read about them...

Conclusion: I would say, mind the milk. And if you want to continue drinking it in huge quantities, then at least go for skim milk (0% fat). This will keep you from growing fat PLUS you avoid all the hormones (estrogens) which reside in milks fat.

Do we need a brain? The 100gr human brain

Do you think that a person with a brain of just 100 grams (compared to the average "normal" brain of 1500 grams) could still function normally? Sounds impossible right?

Well, meet the impossible.

A normal young guy, studying mathematics and with an IQ of 126, was diagnosed with a serious form of hydrocephalus (a condition in which part of the head is filled with liquid instead of brain).

His head was 95% filled with liquid!!! Meaning that he actually had a brain of just 100 grams!!

How is this even possible? Is all we assume about the brain false? Where does our consciousness lie, where does our "thinking" really take place? Or does it mean that actually just 100 grams of brain would suffice?

The fact that such a condition is usually fatal, that people who have it often don't survive beyond childhood and that if they do they are severely handicapped makes it even more remarkable.

I am clueless!

You can read more details in this article or search the article published in Science magazine called "Is your brain really necessary?". I read about the above in "Eindeloos bewustzijn"(Endless consciousness) from cardiologist Pim van Lommel.