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.

Multiple Personality Disorder

This documentary is about Multiple Personality Disorder (i.e. people possessing multiple personalities that control the body separately).

This means these people often have blanks in their memory and can't remember what the "other personality" did with the body while they were "away".

It's a documentary absolutely worthwhile seeing.

If you watch the video you might notice some small astonishing details:

• In the case of the police officer, John, with Multiple Personality Disorder: John's dog "senses" whenever he switches to an "other personality" (the personality of a child in this case) and thus stops regarding him as his master. As a result the dog enters the living room - something he is normally not allowed to do by John. When John switched back to "normal" (i.e. non-child) the dog exits the living room.
• In the case of Barb (married and mother of 2 children): Whenever she switches to the personality of Mae (a 5 year old child) she doesnt seem to need her glasses anymore! Somehow her vision is then corrected.

So, how can a dog sense the change in personality?(just voice? behavior?)

And, how is is possible that when someone changes personality they would suddenly not need their glasses anymore?...

I thought that bad eyesight was something physical, not psychological... (?)

Shop your funeral

"What will make your funeral unique?" (this is what is written on the poster above - what you see by the way, is a bus stop in Netherlands)

Behold how consumer society has stretched beyond the realm of the living.

It all started a few years ago, rather innocently, with spots on the radio saying: "Don't leave them (your family) behind with the burden of arranging your funeral. Settle things now instead". Ok, sort of makes sense...

But how amazing to see that now, after carefully introducing the subject a few years ago, we have arrived to the point to view funerals like yet another product and consider it (apparently) perfectly normal to have posters all over the place and jolly TV spots giving you examples of how you can design your own funeral and make it truly unique.

Coming from a culture where funerals are a rather unadorned ceremony (i.e. preacher prays and down you go - no speeches) I must say I am rather shocked to find how funerals are turning (or maybe always were in some cultures?) manifestations of the self. A show with music and moving speeches of people exhibiting how much they loved the person (as if the fact that someone died wasn't emotional enough; we need to reinforce it with speeches). But apparently people have the need to say "these final words", play that song etc. So I guess there is nothing wrong with it.

But somehow, I do get the feeling that "designing" your own funeral with details such as which music should play, if you wanna have your photos all over the place etc is crossing a limit. Somehow, by allowing you to choose all of this you are in fact until your very last breath concerned with your selfimage. During your life you have chosen and bought the nicest clothes, the big house, the fancy car etc, and each one of these items expressed you: you created an image of yourself with these. Now I guess companies have correctly addressed the last missing "thing" you can buy and show your identity with.

Your funeral.