The cell (Air Force speak for team) I sit next to is fortunate to have a lead that "hates the swing shift because he doesn't get any work done" due to the thought provoking discussions we tend to have during the fun hours of 6pm to 10pm local.
Tonight we started with "What is a thought?" We posited that if it is only a electrochemical reaction between two (or more? ménage à neuron?) neurons, then eventually humans could be downloaded into a computer/android/Facebook account/whatever. If this is the case, then theoretically "humans" could live forever. If, however, thought is more than just an electrochemical reaction, then what is the unaccounted for "force" that influences our thoughts? This quickly turned into "What is a soul?" I argued that something (a soul, perhaps) would be lost if we are ever able to download our consciousness into a computer. I would wager that, if something or someone can ask "Do I have a soul?" it has a soul.
This flowed (my notes couldn't accurately capture every major point of ourrambling intellectual discussion) to "Okay, fine, if humans have a soul, where did it come from?" Somewhat jokingly, I said we got it when Adam and Eve at the apple. I wasn't implying that the so called "Fall From Grace" story from Genesis was true, verbatim (literally is overused), but rather that it could be one description of man acquiring his conscience/intellect/self-awareness (which really is what a soul is about, right?), albeit indirectly from God. Another example is the story of Prometheus giving fire to man and his eternal punishment. Actually, now that I think about it, Prometheus plays the part of the snake/Devil from Genesis. Interesting parallel...
So that got us to discussing how it is possible (at least I like to think) to reconcile evolution with Creationism, i.e. it is possible that pre-humans were created and then evolved over millions over years to turn into the hunched over bloggers of today. Basically, evolution means that species change over time and does not imply a specific origin. Evolution states that chimpanzees and humans have a common ancestor (Hominids) but does not theorize that the common ancestor's ancestor came crawling from the sea. So, maybe Hominids were created, ate the apple, got a conscience/soul, got kicked out of the garden, chimps ate bananas and stayed in the garden, while our ancestors turned into us.
Our discussion took a break while we got back to work and then I overheard the mention of different types of intelligence come up and how if intelligence is only defined via a person's mathematical and logic skills, then there are a lot of dumb people out there. I had to interject the idea of types of intelligence and how skillsets can imply an intelligent quotient in other than the aforementioned math & logic. This lead me to try to transition into how my Crossfit/paleo research has revealed that humans ingestion of protein and saturated fat lead to a larger brain, which lead to more physical strength which then lead to higher intelligence. I don't recall the study that determined this and Googling "human athlete intelligence" gives me really weird search results.
This interjection was hijacked by myself to describe what the paleo diet is supposed to be and supposed to do for humans. Admittedly, the term paleo can through some for a loop, as I was asked "Do you drive a car? Do you wear shoes?" and similar questions after the introduction of this topic. I did admit to wearing less than normal shoes, but that the point of the "diet" is to eat foods that provide as much nutrition possible. Sugars, grains and "processed" (I hate that term and feel it is too overused) foods are eliminated because these are the proverbial empty calories, which have been shown to leech nutrition from our bodies. Essentially, we don't have to be obese, diabetic and lethargic, with increased risks of stroke, heart disease and Alzheimers (which I used to think was called old-timers) and can affect the statistical risk with diet. The question is, are we denying ourselves delicious foods by doing so? I answered that if it reduces my risk of the above diseases, then any apparent lack of enjoyment is negligible.
Unfortunately, tonight (early morning, but my "night") I found out that the olive oil blend at the DFAC is only 10% olive oil and 90% canola. This is disappointing, but not unsurprising. So I added four packets of butter to my eggs and hamburger patter to increase my saturated fat content and reduce the percentage of polyunsaturated oil in my diet.
This post is the most singularly themed (if you can consider a multi-hour argument on biology, chemistry, physics, evolution, religion, mythology, nutrition and footwear singular...) blog post I've done so far and probably took the longest to write.
Tonight we started with "What is a thought?" We posited that if it is only a electrochemical reaction between two (or more? ménage à neuron?) neurons, then eventually humans could be downloaded into a computer/android/Facebook account/whatever. If this is the case, then theoretically "humans" could live forever. If, however, thought is more than just an electrochemical reaction, then what is the unaccounted for "force" that influences our thoughts? This quickly turned into "What is a soul?" I argued that something (a soul, perhaps) would be lost if we are ever able to download our consciousness into a computer. I would wager that, if something or someone can ask "Do I have a soul?" it has a soul.
This flowed (my notes couldn't accurately capture every major point of our
So that got us to discussing how it is possible (at least I like to think) to reconcile evolution with Creationism, i.e. it is possible that pre-humans were created and then evolved over millions over years to turn into the hunched over bloggers of today. Basically, evolution means that species change over time and does not imply a specific origin. Evolution states that chimpanzees and humans have a common ancestor (Hominids) but does not theorize that the common ancestor's ancestor came crawling from the sea. So, maybe Hominids were created, ate the apple, got a conscience/soul, got kicked out of the garden, chimps ate bananas and stayed in the garden, while our ancestors turned into us.
Our discussion took a break while we got back to work and then I overheard the mention of different types of intelligence come up and how if intelligence is only defined via a person's mathematical and logic skills, then there are a lot of dumb people out there. I had to interject the idea of types of intelligence and how skillsets can imply an intelligent quotient in other than the aforementioned math & logic. This lead me to try to transition into how my Crossfit/paleo research has revealed that humans ingestion of protein and saturated fat lead to a larger brain, which lead to more physical strength which then lead to higher intelligence. I don't recall the study that determined this and Googling "human athlete intelligence" gives me really weird search results.
This interjection was hijacked by myself to describe what the paleo diet is supposed to be and supposed to do for humans. Admittedly, the term paleo can through some for a loop, as I was asked "Do you drive a car? Do you wear shoes?" and similar questions after the introduction of this topic. I did admit to wearing less than normal shoes, but that the point of the "diet" is to eat foods that provide as much nutrition possible. Sugars, grains and "processed" (I hate that term and feel it is too overused) foods are eliminated because these are the proverbial empty calories, which have been shown to leech nutrition from our bodies. Essentially, we don't have to be obese, diabetic and lethargic, with increased risks of stroke, heart disease and Alzheimers (which I used to think was called old-timers) and can affect the statistical risk with diet. The question is, are we denying ourselves delicious foods by doing so? I answered that if it reduces my risk of the above diseases, then any apparent lack of enjoyment is negligible.
Unfortunately, tonight (early morning, but my "night") I found out that the olive oil blend at the DFAC is only 10% olive oil and 90% canola. This is disappointing, but not unsurprising. So I added four packets of butter to my eggs and hamburger patter to increase my saturated fat content and reduce the percentage of polyunsaturated oil in my diet.
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| The olives make me think of the aliens from Sesame Street. |
This post is the most singularly themed (if you can consider a multi-hour argument on biology, chemistry, physics, evolution, religion, mythology, nutrition and footwear singular...) blog post I've done so far and probably took the longest to write.
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