Food Bloggin'

This is my food log for 3/3 - 3/5. It'll be set up chronologically, mostly with ranges of time instead of meal titles (breakfast, lunch, etc.) since my eating schedule varies from day to day. You can find a brief overview of my schedule each day, and that should help explain some of the eating patterns.
I will indicate what food is known to be organic, and anything not labeled so can be assumed to be conventional or unknown. And since I think it is important, I will label things like "bulk" or "local." I don't know offhand which of the produce items are local, though I'm sure some of the are. And though they aren't labeled as such, all of the spices I use save for the sea salt are bulk.
My beverages are pretty much the same every day. I drink mostly coffee in the earlier part of my days, and a lot of water throughout. I'm not even sure what "a lot" means...60-80 oz? If I figure it out I will edit in that info later on.
Location and manner of consumption are indicated, and if not, it means I took the time to cook and eat it at home.
I will do my best to tell the serving size of each item. Most of the items throughout my days are pretty straightforward as to how much I ate, except maybe my dinners. Just know that I eat enough for dinner each night to usually not even think about dessert...

Wednesday, March 3

I work on Wednesdays at a co-op natural foods store from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. I don't eat while working on a typical day, except while on break. Usually I like to take my break later in the day - around 1:00. I get home around 3:45.

6:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.:

• 1 organic banana (shared in the car with my pal Cathy Wurzer)
  
• 3 organic Murcott mandarins - at work before punch-in time, fraternizing with the co-workers
  
• approx. 1 cup "Pecan Splendor" granola (bulk) - munched on periodically during my shift
  

1:00 - 5:30 p.m.:

• 1 16 oz. smoothie: organic bananas, organic raspberries, organic blueberries, just a bit of organic soymilk (I like it to barely move through the straw) - Wednesday is the world-famous "Smoothie Day" at my co-op: $1.00 off any large juice or smoothie! This is a ritual for me.
  

5:30 - bedtime:

• 1 not-quite-indulgent-sized barbecue chicken sandwich: local free range chicken, Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (from Target), organic celery, organic red onion, jalapeño, homemade whole wheat bread with flax meal
• 1 small salad: organic spring salad mix (bulk), organic Roma tomatoes, organic baby carrots, all-natural croutons, Annie's Organic Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing, organic raw pumpkin seeds (bulk)
• one too many homemade sweet potato fries: organic sweet potatoes, organic extra virgin olive oil (bulk), sea salt, pepper, organic cumin (bulk), Cub foods ketchup

I don't have a suitable table, so I eat dinner in bed with my husband while we watch X-Files on our computer. The truth is out there!

Beverages:

• 3 cups of coffee with organic soymilk and turbinado sugar
• 2 cups Organic Tulsi Green Tea with local honey (Homestead Honey - the best!), organic lemon juice (squeezed), organic cayenne pepper -- This is great when you have ominous cold/flu symptoms. The lemon is full of vitamin C, cayenne pepper allegedly contributes some wonderful benefits to the circulatory and immune systems - along with a tasty kick of heat for a bothered oral/nasal cavity, and honey is said to contain antiseptic (not to mention sweet and soothing!) properties.
• lots of water

Thursday, March 4

Thursday is a school day. I leave for school at 6:15 a.m. and return usually at 7:00 p.m. or briefly after. My backpack is huge with books already, so I just shove a bunch of snacks and leftovers from home wherever they will fit, and eat them when I have the time. After breakfast, I usually don't have time to eat much until after noon because I have 15 minutes to get from my first to second, and from my second to third classes. And for some reason I'm not big on eating in class.

5:30 a.m.- Noon:

• 1 organic red D'anjou pear (perfectly ripe, delicious) - at home before leaving
  
• 1 handful organic roasted unsalted cashews (bulk) - at Espresso Royale around 7:30, gathering my wits for the day
  

Noon - 7:00 p.m.:

• 1 leftover barbecue chicken sandwich (see 3/3) - at Espresso Exposé around noon
  
• 3 organic dried white figs (bulk) - in the class room where my Literary Theory class is held, shared with some peers
  
• 1 snack-sized bag Snackimals all-natural chocolate chip animal crackers - basement of Lind, on a bench reviewing some Linguistics details
  
• 1 all-natural Panda black licorice bar - also in the basement of Lind Hall
  

7:00 - bedtime:

• approx. 1 ½ cups skillet: Beeler's all-natural sausage links (local), organic Yukon Gold potatoes, organic broccoli, organic red onion, organic white button mushrooms, organic green bell pepper
• 6 stalks of asparagus, steamed, with (just a touch of) sea salt
• 1 small salad: organic spring salad mix (bulk), organic Roma tomatoes, organic baby carrots, Annie's Organic Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing, organic raw walnuts (bulk), organic craisins (bulk), local feta cheese
• 1 Tag-a-long and 1 Thin Mint (Girl Scout Cookies)

Dinner is again shared with my husband and special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from the F.B.I.

Beverages:

• 3 or 4 cups of coffee with soymilk and turbinado sugar
• lotsa water
  

Friday, March 5

On Fridays I work as a receptionist from noon - 5:00 at a tattoo shop on the U of M campus. I will usually sleep in until a luxurious 8 or 9:00, when I take time to actually prepare something for breakfast. During work, this time of the year anyway, it is pretty busy and I do little if any eating at all on Fridays until I get home at 6:00.

8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.:

• 1 organic red D'anjou pear (not as ripe or delicious as my previous day's)
• 1 bowl oatmeal (prepared on stovetop): approx ½ cup organic rolled oats (bulk), water, frozen wild blueberries, organic Thompson raisins (bulk), whole brown flax seeds (bulk)

6:00 p.m. - bedtime:

• 1 bowl of coconut curry soup: Thai Kitchen organic coconut milk, Pacific free-range chicken broth, rice noodles, organic crimini mushrooms, organic red bell peppers, organic broccoli, organic red cabbage, organic baby carrots, organic garlic cloves, organic curry powder, organic turmeric powder, sea salt, pepper, fresh organic cilantro
• 1 small salad: organic spring salad mix (bulk), organic Roma tomatoes, organic baby carrots, all-natural croutons, organic Salad Girl Pomegranite Pear dressing (local), organic raw pumpkin seeds (bulk)
• 7 or 8 stalks of asparagus, oven-roasted with organic extra virgin olive oil (bulk) and sea salt

Assistant Director Walter Skinner of the F.B.I. imitates my best friend Mulder and covers up the death of a woman who was stung to death by deadly bees carrying small pox. Why, Skinner, why?

Beverages:

• 4 cups of coffee
• lotsa water

And that's that. Dinner is the nutritional pinnacle of my day. Most of my food comes from the co-op where I work, but not all of it. Rarely do I eat out or buy food that is already prepared, aside from some of the coffee I drink. I just can't justify it unless it's a special occasion, in which case my husband and I are likely to get Pizza Lucé take-out.
I'm not exactly sure how much we spend on food, but I would guess 60-$100 per week. I'm pretty lucky in that I work at a natural foods co-op and get 20% off my groceries, plus a variety of expired/damaged food stuffs for free: produce, pasta, bulk beans/grains/nuts/whatever people bag up and ditch on the bulk counter, frozen foods, yogurt...all kinds of goodies (we call these items "Buddies")! In addition to that, my husband works at the Franklin Street Bakery so we get fresh bread for ridiculously cheap (not to mention chocolate ganache cupcakes...etc., etc., etc.). So a substantial amount of my diet actually consists of/is determined by free or really cheap food that's available to us.

Food Blog

Day 1

Breakfast

-No breakfast because I like to sleep and if I eat breakfast I get tired in class.

Lunch: Pioneer Hall, Noon

-Personal Pizza; onions, cheese, ham, and beef, on wheat dough

-Salad; croutons and Greek dressing

-2 Cokes

-I always get this meal on Tuesdays because it fits into my schedule and it is "free."

What I mean by free is that I have already paid for it in my meal package. I also chose this meal because I don't like the vegan food or burgers that they have there.

2:00 PM Dunn Bros. Coffee

-Large house blend coffee ($2.14)

-I needed a place to do homework and re-caffinate. It is also not that expensive and they have free wi-fi and parking.

4:30 PM Burger King

-2 Double cheese burgers

-1 Chicken sandwich

-Water

-This meal is really close to the dorms and it only cost some where around $3.25. I got the water because its free. It was also fairly quick and I had to catch the bus over to my friend's house.

Dinner: Centennial Hall, 10:00 PM

-Taco salad

-Diet Coke

-I was kind of hungry and my roommate wanted to go to late night. So this meal was more social than nutritious. I also got a Diet Coke because I don't like drinking as much sugar at night because is makes it harder to fall asleep.

Day 2

Breakfast: 8:45 AM, C3

-Full Throttle

-I chose this for breakfast because I can spend my Flex Dine money on items in C3. Full Throttles also get me ready for the day and it's hard to act awake at 9:00 AM for class. This "meal" is also really fast and portable so it is super convenient.

Lunch: 1:00 PM, Centennial Hall

-Grilled cheese

-Roast beef sandwich

-Diet Coke

-I had a big meal because I went to go study for 4 hours at the library where I wouldn't have access to food. This meal is also "free" and pretty fast.

Dinner(s): 5:00 PM, Panda Express

-Two Entree to-go with fried rice. Entrees: Fire chicken and orange chicken. (Meal Total: $8.63)

-Vitamin Water

-This meal was fairly fast and I had class at 5:45 and I still had home work to do before class. I also wanted to try the new fire chicken because it looked really tasty (which it is).

11:00 PM Pizza Hut

-10 chicken wings ($7.53)

-Water

-A friend and I watched the "Under Cover Boss" for Hooters. During the show they kept showing chicken wings and we wanted some really bad. Pizza Hut was the closest, cheapest, and it was still open.

Day 3

Breakfast: 8:00 Am

-Pop Tart Blueberry flavor

-Full throttle from C3

-I got up extra early this day because I had my debate in Cultural Studies so I wanted to be very awake so that I could perform well in class. The Full Throttle was from C3 so it was "free."

Lunch: 1:00 PM, Centennial Hall

-Ham and cheese sandwich

-Waffle fries

-Diet Coke

-This meal was fast and "free" so it was convenient and I wanted to catch the fast bus over to my friends which comes less frequently.

Dinner: 7:15 Kowloon Restaurant

-Sesame chicken with fried rice and 3 wantons (whole meal $8.50)

-1 Can of Pepsi

-I took a date to get take out Chinese and watch Planet Earth back at my place. I go to the Kowloon a lot because its pretty cheap for how much good quality food they give you. The waitress (Amy) there is a sweet heart and she always greets me by my name, so I feel like I'm cheating on her if I go to any other independent Chinese place. The Kowloon is very close to my dorm and it was nice out so we walked.

9:00 PM, Holiday Gas Station

-44oz Pepsi ($1.29)

-It was close to my friends house and you get a lot of pop for how much it costs.

Conclusion: My eating habits revolve mostly around my high pace schedule and how much the meals cost. I didn't notice it before doing the food blog, but the bus schedule dictates what meals I can have some times. I also see that the foods that I eat vary in where they are from. Even though the dorm food is "free" I can't eat it any more because I have had it all so many times. In relation to the Omnivore's Dilemma literally all the foods I eat contain corn at some level.

FOOD JOURNAL

Thursday
(800 am) two scoops of protein shake. I am always in a hurry in the morning and don't feel like waking up earlier to make breakfast so a protein shake works fine.
NO LUNCH i went straight from school to work so i didn't have time to make a lunch.
(500 pm) 2 brats with buns, and a handful of sour cream and onion chips. And a bunch of water. I was at work and at work we have a specific menu that we have to go by in order to make meals and for thursdays dinner it was brats.
All throughout the day the only thing i drank was water.
Friday
I skipped breakfast because i skipped class and slept in. I actually stayed in bed till around 3 and then ran some errands and didn't get home till 5 and thats when i first ate.
(500 pm) 20 oz steak with pepper and garlic salt. After it was grilled i poured a little melted butter, garlic, pepper, and salt mixture over it to make up for the lack of juiciness in my cheap cheap steaks. I also made some green beans....about half the can. I decided since i had been so lazy all day i owed it to myself to make a good dinner, and steak is my favorite. I added the green beans because it makes me feel better about my lack of healthy foods.
(800pm-300am) I started drinking and throughout this time i had some jag, DIET redbull, ron diaz superior, DIET coke and some flat keg beer. I also had some gas station nachos. When i got home i drank about 5 glasses of water and a protein shake.
Saturday
(900 am) 4 pieces of french toast with butter and sausage. I was at work and that was what was on the menu.
I skipped lunch because i didn't feel the best from the night before and i didn't like what was on the menu at work.
(500 pm) 2 tacos, the shells were flour tortillas that were fried in oil, and all i had inside them was the meat. I don't like anything else in them. This was what was on the menu at work so it is what i ate. I worked a 14 hour shift so the only things i was allowed to eat was what was on the menu.

I realize i didn't talk about my drinks very much but all i ever drank besides the one night was water.

Food Journal

Wednesday, March 3rd
Breakfast (7:00am)- black coffee (all coffee beans from small coffee shop back home in Nebraska)(always have coffee in the morning- I’m addicted), made at my apartment
(7:30)- scrambled eggs with peppers, made at my apartment before class (I’m the type of person that must have a cooked breakfast- no cereal!)
Lunch (12:00pm)- noodles + snow peas, water, black coffee #2 (Threw this together from stuff in the fridge, love noodles and snow peas so why not have them together?)
Dinner (6:00pm)- 1 piece of homemade pizza with sausage, black olives, red/green/yellow bell peppers, reduced fat mozzarella cheese (made with 2% milk) crust (Pillsbury), water, black coffee #3 (to stay awake for studying for my 2 tests the following day)

Thursday, March 4th
(5:30am)- black coffee to wake up to study for my 2 exams, made at my apartment
(7:30am)- scrambled eggs with peppers, made at my apartment (one of my favorites for breakfast and very simple)
(12:00pm)- left over pizza heated up in the toaster oven at my apartment (simple, just heated and ate, didn’t have time to make anything), water (love H2O!!!)
(6:00pm)-apple (it was in my bag, didn’t have time for dinner because I had to make it to my MCAT class right after my tests, ate on my way to class)
(9:30pm)- ½ cup Danon Light and Fit yogurt (after my class, usually don’t eat this late but I was really hungry from not having dinner)

Friday, March 5th
Breakfast (7:30)- scrambled eggs with peppers (easy, as always), black coffee (need it!), both at my apartment
(10:30)- ½ cup Danon Light and Fit yogurt after an interview, at my apartment (I love this yogurt, it is not bad for you, good snack)
Lunch (12:30pm)- ½ English muffin with pizza sauce, cheese, sausage (like a mini pizza!) toasted in toaster oven at my apartment (quick, easy, fairly nutritous, and semi-homemade)
(2:00pm)- black coffee #2 while studying at my apartment(to be awake during my exam)
Dinner (6:00)- Lean Cuisine at my apartment (quick and easy, no effort required, much needed after a crazy week :) )

Food Journal

March 3
Breakfast- raspberry yogurt with granola and cup of coffee. Quick and easy for an early morning before class.
Lunch- Salad with Gorgonzola dressing, jello, and chocolate milk. 11:30 at home, fast make before running out to go cross-country skiing.
Dinner- Quesadilla with broccoli, onions, and mushrooms. 7 pm, at home, trying to eat new things and begin cooking. Glass of red wine.
Snacks- after lunch Pretzels. After dinner animal crackers.

March 4
Breakfast- Quaker Squares cereal with glass of orange juice.
lunch- Pasta with veggies (red peppers, broccoli, zucchini) in alfredo sauce. 11:45 relaxing break between afternoon classes.
Dinner- Steak salad with a Two Hearted Ale. 8 at home after a long day of class. Easy to make, and an all time fav of mine.
Snack- Crackers with peanut butter & apples.

March 5
Breakfast- English muffin with egg over easy and cheddar cheese.
lunch- mac & cheese. 2 my personal weakness. I usually eat mac & cheese a few times a week, but have been trying to get more variety in my diet lately.
Dinner- Homemade pizza: pesto with mozzarella, artichokes, broccoli, and spinach
Snack- French Fries with cheese.

flog?

Monday
breakfast: cinnamon raisin bagel, quickly toasted at home and easily brought with on the bus even though you're not supposed to do that. also vitamins as always, I believe they are good for a person to take, and I somehow feel better after I do; and coffee, bought at Wise Owl cafe in Walter library because I ran out of time to make it myself this morning

lunch: braeburn apple and pb&j, brought from home as it's easy to stuff in my backpack, also inexpensive

snack: banana, I was gonna go grocery shopping but was starving and couldn't wait until dinner was made

dinner: garbanzo/pinto bean stew and ciabatta bread, on Mondays I have time to make a real, healthy dinner and enough of it for pretty much the entire week! also one-half Summit EPA, because we only had one beer left and I had to share

Tuesday
breakfast: same thing as Monday and for the same reason, although I had time to make my own coffee this morning

lunch: vegetarian mexican gumbo and a Coke at Qdoba, didn't have time to make lunch this morning because I wasted a lot of time cleaning up all the coffee I spilled (whoops) and the restaurant is right by our classroom

snack: peppermint tea from Lori's coffee shop, I was studying there and although I didn't want anything I thought it would be impolite to use their restaurant and not get a drink. Also the rest of my lunch which I had brought with me, I got really full during lunch but didn't want to waste delicious gumbo.

dinner: lentil and barley soup and the rest of the bread from last night, I had made it yesterday along with the bean stew and the directions said to let it sit overnight.

snack: cheese quesadilla made at home, munchies... also Rumple Minze, I find it really delicious?

Wednesday
breakfast: same as the previous day, changed it up by adding a banana because having the same thing three days in a row was getting old, but I never have time to make anything else

lunch: Yoplait strawberry yogurt and Braeburn apple, was going to tutor in St. Paul and those two things are easy to bring with and gives me a burst of energy

dinner: sharp cheddar cheese sandwich made at home, very easy to make and I didn't want to eat a lot because later...

supper: cranberry walnut salad from Stub & Herb's and one of their new cocktails, I WAS planning on going to the Downtime cafe with my brother for their amazing Wednesday night special (all you can stand pizza and LITs) but we had to go to S&H instead because it was so f-ing packed in Downtime that there was no where to put our pizza pan, major lamesauce

Food Journal

3/2/10

Breakfast: Cinnamon raisin bagel w/ strawberry cream cheese at 7:30am. Made at home and ate on my way to school. Quick to make and easy to eat while on the go.

Lunch: Salad w/ Italian dressing, chocolate pudding, granola bar, carrots, apple, water at 11:30am. Ate at school, a bag lunch from home. Easy things to throw in a lunch and require little effort.

Snack: Animal crackers at 2pm. Was left over in my lunch and easy to eat on the way home.

Dinner: Cinnamon raisin bagel w/ strawberry cream cheese at 7pm. Wanted something quick and easy because I was too lazy to cook and getting ready to leave.

Snack: Mini donuts and lemonade at 8:30pm. Was at the Xcel and could smell them so then I couldn't resist. $7.

3/3/10

Breakfast: Cinnamon raisin bagel w/ strawberry cream cheese and coffee at 6:30am. Made at home and ate on my way to work. Quick to make, easy to eat on the go and was running late. Always drink coffee at work because it is available and I am tired.

Lunch: Breakfast sandwich at work 12pm (croissant, egg, bacon, and cheese), carrots, turkey soup, and water. This is what was available and what I am able to make while I am at work... and its free!

Dinner: Oatmeal-to-go granola bar and white hot cocoa at 5:30pm. $4 for cocoa. Grabbed the granola bar on my way to study and drank cocoa while I was there. Didn't want to make myself dinner.

Snack: One girl scout cookie at 9pm because I couldn't resist when I was making my lunch.

3/4/10

Breakfast: cinnamon raisin bagel w/ strawberry cream cheese and coffee at 9am. Made the bagel at home and ate on my way to school, grabbed a coffee, $2, because I was tired.

Lunch: Iced tea and chicken soup from Bruegger's, $5, at 11am. Close to school and I wanted to grab something during my break...and I forgot to pack silverware in my bag lunch so I thought I would grab some while I was there. :) Also ate a salad w/ Italian dressing and chocolate pudding from my bag lunch because soup didn't fill me up. That was what I packed the night before because it was quick and easy to pack.

Blog Posting #5 (due Sunday 3/7, 11:59 P.M.): FOOD JOURNAL!

Next week, we begin our study of food. This week's blog post -- a "food journal" -- will set up our work and give us a place to start. Here's how to proceed:

Choose two to three days (preferably three), between now and Sunday, and during those days, keep track of everything you eat and drink (or, as Robin so colorfully put it, pretty much "everything you put in your mouth"!). You'll probably want to carry some kind of pad or notebook around with you, so you can record as you go.

Specifically, keep track of:

a) what you eat (ingredients? brands? how much? etc.);

b) when you eat it (at what times? how regularly? how does eating fit into the rhythm/arrythym of your work days? and your non-work days?);

c) where you eat it (at home? bag lunch in the office? fast food? local community-owned cafe? where you do spend your money, and how much?); and

4) why you eat it (simply, not metaphysically -- for example, "I ate at McDonald's because I had a class in 20 minutes and it was the only restaurant that was around/could serve me fast enough/I could afford.").

At the end of those two or three days, record your results here on the blog. Probably best to do it in chronological order, event by event, day by day.

Finally, comment on at least one other food journal (preferably more than one, if you have time!), analyzing your colleagues' food-lives and seeing what kind of insights you can draw. Use part one of The Omnivore's Dilemma (the reading assignment for next Tuesday) to guide you.

And of course, get in touch with your colleagues and/or Robin and/or me if you have any questions. Happy eating!

global warming causing irrational fear

I read today an article about a married couple from Argentina (Francisco Lotero, 56 and his wife Miriam Coletti, 22) that have committed suicide by shooting themselves. They also killed their two-year-old son by shooting him through the back, and attempted to kill their seven-month-old infant child (sex/gender unknown) but somehow that bullet did not hit any major organs and the infant was found alive three days later by the police.

The reason for this suicide and child murder? "The cops found a letter on the table alluding to the couple’s worry about global warming and their anger at the government’s lack of interest in the matter."

I understand why someone might be afraid that global warming was going to do in the human race, and angry that their government isn't stopping it -- propaganda is everywhere, and it's largely put out by states themselves. I can try to understand why the fear would cause someone to panic and end their life before the event they're fearing takes place. But how can someone decide that the best thing they can do for their children is to murder them, rather than letting them take a chance against global warming? Spite? Religion/life-after-death? Disillusionment with activism? ...No thought process whatsoever?

Therese, before she had stimata

I watched this video on Theresa and it said: Therese became partially paralyzed after falling of a stool. After falling another time she became completely blind. Four years later, Therese recovered from her blindness. Yep. Also, after she became a saint her paralysis went away. To top it off, she was diagnosed with appendicitis and when she went to get it operated she convulsed violently. All of a sudden she stopped convulsing and asked her family to take her to the church. After praying, Therese no longer had appendicitis.

The stigmata thing is definitely crazy, but, at least for me, it goes to this level of 'far out' that I can't always grasp. However, paralysis, blindness, and appendicitis is definitely within my grasping realm. Faking paralysis? Really? I guess she had to lay in bed to a point where she got bed soars that revealed exposed bone. WTF!!! When I heard that I was convinced that this was no longer acting. This girl is paralyzed--but maybe not like a spinal disruption paralysis but maybe like a Kill-Bill-I'm-coming-out-of-a-nine-year-comma paralysis, if you follow. Maybe it was just this mental block she got over. Same with the blind for four years--could be mental. Just a neural mess that took a while to fix. But it's the appendicitis that really gets me. She was diagnosed with it! It was in her body, not her brain!

What I wonder is did she naturally get appendicitis, then by an act of of God got better by herself? Or did her mind deliberately develop appendicitis knowing exactly how to fix it? Appendicitis is one of those muddy conditions that I don't think is very clear--especially in the early 1900's. Regardless of which, Therese has this incredible mind-body connection. It's like she's an alien or something. But perhaps, it's not a good mind-body connection, but a poor one. For example, maybe she didn't really cure her blindness, but rather her body messed up in making her blind in the first place and just picked up the slack later on. Who knows. I'm very 50-50 at this point. It makes me laugh when I realize that I'm completely bewildered and i haven't even mentioned stigmata yet!

Living on Air

This past Saturday I spent some of my time with friends watching a television show called “Bullshit”, hosted by comedians Penn and Teller. During each episode, Penn and Teller pick a topic – often a controversial one – and interview several proponents and a few opponents. I’ve seen episodes covering new age medicine, dolphin language, and cryptozoologly. The show isn’t trying to shed light on the topic, but rather blatantly make fun of it. This kind of entertainment is geared directly towards Cartesians; Penn and Teller fill the role of the voice of reason, and why certain beliefs can’t be right, given the lack of scientific evidence, historical examples, and simply, common sense. For my group of friends and me, this show entertains us, and plays on our “reasonable” way of thinking (and admittedly, cynicism). However, a more important issue is being presented beneath the jokes and absurdity of the show – how do some people actually believe the things they do? Why do some people so firmly belief in crystal healing and alien abduction, when the rest of us laugh because we have “reason” on our side? This is a direct Cartesian problem.

Take for instance my favorite crazy on the planet – Jasmuheen (for shock and awe, check out the 60 minutes interview). She is a self-proclaimed breatharian, and she claims she doesn’t drink any fluids or eat food. Instead, she lives solely off of air. That’s it. She says that any nutrients she needs she derives from breathing and mediation. What is scary about her practice – other than self inflicted starvation – is that she has millions of followers and has a sort of empire, calling herself the “Ambassador of Peace”. Three deaths have even been linked to her teachings. Jasmuheen claims that these people didn’t find the right “light” or divine force to live off of, and died of food deprivation because they weren’t following breatharianism with integrity.

As Cartesians, we know this isn’t right. The body needs food to sustain itself; this is an irrefutable fact. And yet, Jasmuheen and her followers firmly believe the opposite despite overwhelming evidence that living off of air isn’t possible. Jasmuheen herself participated in an experiment where she was taped 24/7 and given no food or water. She claimed she could survive like this for as long as possible. Three days in, the experiment was forced to stop because a doctor said Jasmuheen would die if she were to continue. However, she still preaches her message to willing ear. The mind boggling problem is why do some believe in the impossible, while others - like myself- know it can't? They have air, I have facts!

The only answer my Cartesian brain could reason up is faith. I use faith in evidence and science to rationalize my beliefs, and others believe in something beyond the physical and readily explainable. However, the reason why most of us laugh at Jasmuheen is because most of us believe in science. Common sense, then, can be defined as the most widely accepted belief or faith. Cartesianism, which relies on reason, also requires faith, just like Jasmuheen.

Can miracles happen?

We humans tend to classify everything...and I mean everything. If something doesn't have a clear explanation most people tend to get frustrated and keep trying to figure out an explanation. This is what Descartes would call cartesian. Descartes showed us that there has to be an explanation for everything and that everything can be classified into groups or a cartesian plan. Things that are said to be "miracles" such as bloody Theresa are nonsense to cartesians because everything has to have an explanation. They have trouble believing that a woman could be bleeding everywhere without any wounds and be able to survive without years of no food or water. This doesn't make any sense to cartesians, therefore they believe she is lying.
I myself am a very spiratual person and I believe that miracles can occur. I personally believe that there is something out there much bigger then us and some things don't need explanation. On the other hand I also love science and I love learning about how everything in life works, like our bodies, our minds, and all the things in our environment. These two things are quite contradictory but I feel I have a good balance of both in my life. In the case of Bloody Theresa, I found myself wondering what could be the cause of such bleeding but at the same time it didn't bother me that people were calling it a miracle. I feel that maybe this could be something spiritual that people will never be able to figure out with solid evidence. I personally wouldn't be bothered by the idea that this was a miracle but cartesians would say that there is no way she could be bleeding without a source and they constantly will try to find an explanation for this phenomenon. Although I am a spiritual person and don't always try to seek explanations I believe that Descartes made a huge contribution to science and helped make our world as technologically advanced as we are today.

Gendered Identities

I've decided to take on the "6 types of people" controversy. I think the point of this idea possesses good intentions; although, does it prove to effectively convey the point that our society is comprised of diversity, or does it actually work in doing the opposite. We, as a society, strive to categorize everything that exists. It almost seems as though comfort lies within the relative organization of people or identities into these strict discursive categories. But what about the people who can't physically, mentally, or socially fit within these specific categories? They must be extremely weird or even inhuman, right?

This is exactly what the activists of this "6 genders" notion is trying to disprove. They want everyone to acknowledge that there is too much diversity to fit perfectly within societies' "categories." They feel as though gender shouldn't be limited to 2 genders (black and white), but should incorporate transgenders as well (the grey area). This is where culture and science come together. Culture has "safely" limited gender into masculinity and femininity, but science has proven that there is some abiguity as far as being born with stricltly and only these 2 genitalia. Although their intentions are to diversify these strict categorizations and maybe even abolish them all together, is this the most effective way to go about it? When these other 4 genders are mentioned, the intention is to open the conforming minds of society to what actually exits, but is it actually doing justice or just encouraging more categorization?

Even though the intentions are to break away from such a black and white notion of the world, mentioning and acknowledging this differentiation almost encourages us as a society to categorize and correlate gender with ones' identity. Creating 4 more genders doesn't really facilitate that type of change necessary, but encourages more conforming categorization. This is similar to individuals who seek individualism. They strive to disconnect themselves with all things conforming or labeled as popular culture, but in doing this, they are actually conforming themselves to a culture specific notion of individualism.

There's no escape from culture; it's in everything we say and do, but can we find a happy medium between science and culture that will allow for everything to be seen in a grey area?

Striving for Explanations

Humans are very curious beings and are always looking for explanations and asking the question why. They need to try and find a reason for most instances in life. I am a very curious person and try to find logical explanations for everything. Humans are very Cartesian in the way they classify, name, and explain.

I found the bloody Theresa and Twinkle stories to be very interesting and a perfect example of people trying to find out the explanation of the bleeding. I do not think that these stories make sense, and I believe that in both of these instances Theresa and Twinkle are lying. The interesting thing is that in Twinkle's case, the doctors never saw the bleeding begin, they only saw her after the bleeding had started. So, how can anyone not question the validity of the bleeding? I understand that there cannot be answers and explanations for everything, but I feel that in these instances with Theresa and Twinkle, there are and it is not left up to faith. I believe that people can will their bodies to do things, like bleed, and this is maybe how these two stories began. A lot of what our bodies do is psychological and we can make them certain things if we think a certain way, whether we are aware of this or not. I think we should look into this a little more, because there is a better explanation I believe than just faith. There are more answers out there.

The Logical Lama

The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Buddhists and a political figure for the people of Tibet. To date there have been 14 different Dalai Lamas. When one Dalai Lama dies, the people at the very top of the Buddhist ranks must go searching for his reincarnation. The way they get hints is to wait at a sacred lake until they have visions or the lake gives them physically visible hints. They also watch which way the smoke from the cremated Dalai Lama blows and search in the general direction. Once the searchers think they have found the reincarnation of the old Dalai Lama they show him a mix of items that either were or weren't belongings of the previous Lama. If the suspected reincarnation is able to pick out only the belongings of the prior Lama then he is brought to a high council for inspection. Once the council says that they think that he is the reincarnated Dalai Lama he is sent to learn how to lead his people and it’s a done deal.

It seems amazing that this is how the leader of around 360,000,000 is chosen. It is a huge political and spiritual decision, with almost no Cartesian influence. It may seem more outrageous to me because I am a westerner who has been raised in a Cartesian state of mind. This practice of hunting down a male child from the villages of Tibet to become a spiritual and political figurehead due to which way the wind blows uses no Cartesian deduction logic at all. But who is to say that they are wrong in saying that a child already born is now the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama even though he doesn't know it.

Historically this practice has been done 14 times, and has apparently proven to find strong enough leaders to keep the faith in this practice. It seems like a nonsensical theory, but think of the power it gives the people who get to choose the next Dalai Lama. The search team gets to go out to a remote part of Tibet and choose a young man who is then taken, along with his family, to go get training from Buddhist monks for years. Basically the child can be taught whatever they want him to learn and they can shape his mind believe whatever they think. So the practice itself is not Cartesian but the process of choosing the Dalai Lamas reincarnation is.

This process of choosing the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama resembles the process that Mustapha Mond describes about how he was chosen to become the world leader in ‘A Brave New World’. The leaders of the new world were purely Cartesian thinkers who attempted to make the world as comforting as possible, whereas Buddhists live their lives out trying to transcend this world by reaching nirvana. It seems as if the Buddhists have a “brain in a vat” point of view, where the mind can be separated from the body. This belief that leaders can be chosen and molded, under the veil of silly science and reincarnation seems to be working for the Buddhists.

Since reincarnation is not logical, it cannot be doubted by logical reasoning. So while the people who can read “signs” go out to find the new Dalai Lama, they can choose someone who can be molded to their liking. What can be learned from the Buddhist practice of finding the new Dalai Lama is that it is very effective to give the people an un-Cartesian practice to mask a logical plot.

The Disconnect

After looking at photos or watching video of Therese Neumann, one has to ask herself: what is goin’ on here? Was this a miracle of God? Was it a hoax? Or did she make herself bleed, unconsciously using the old mind-over-matter trick (so to speak)?

I think that she probably willed this upon herself (knowingly or unknowingly.) After a sequence of events - such as losing her eyesight completely and then regaining it years later - she eventually escalated to the stigmata. If she thought her prayers were actually answered, and that that assent manifested outrightly in her being healed, I think she whole-heartedly would have believed in her own connection to the Divine.

Quite the Cartesian, I am, I am – and there are many more like me. By saying what I just said in the last paragraph, I am actively doubting a “miracle of God” and positing Science as the law of the land. It easy for me to do this, I suppose, as the church is not the institution one now seeks for legitimation. If I were scribing this on parchment sometime in the Middle Ages I think the story would be different.

But my quasi-scientific theory has a flaw in it too. It’s the same problem Descartes had trouble with after writing Methods – how do the mind and the body communicate? What is the mind? If the case of Therese Neumann, or a little boy wishing away warts, are indeed the results of the mind wanting something so strongly that it appears in physical reality, then how does this happen? There seems to be a disconnect between the mind (consciousness) and the body. That is, we can’t confidently explain the relationship. Not yet.

It does seem like science may one day be able to figure out the “substance” that is the mind, whether it’s unique neural pathways or what ever. To speculate, which is about all I can do for this matter, I’d say that when the day of determining the matter of the mind comes we’re in for a lot of hard reconciliation. I’m not sure I like obliterating the idea of the self into mathematical equations.

Miracles Happen

I was watching the Olympics today and I was reminded of the epic defeat of the Soviet hockey team in the 1980 Olympics. The "Miracle on Ice" is what Al Michaels the announcer for the game coined it. Now, obviously this is not an actual miracle, just hard work, good coaching, and luck, of course, that helped the 1980 USA Olympic Team to beat the Soviets, but it got me thinking. It got me thinking about Mother Theresa, and medical miracles.

As we see examples like Lance Armstrong overcome metastatic tumors to become one of the worlds most respected and famous athletes, I always wondered how he could be so lucky. How did he elude the grimy hands of death? Why him? As a man of science i wanted to understand how this miracle happened. Because I am a Cartesian, I cannot just accept the fact that it was a miracle. I am uncomfortable in not knowing what caused this miracle to happen. As a Cartesian, I want to classify and replicate the cause of this miracle. However, if I am a Cartesian, I am also supposed to separate the mind from the body...

As we discussed in class, and as I know from my personal experience, the mind and the body cannot be separated. I know that when I experience different emotions I carry myself differently. When I'm happy, I have a little "pep in my step", and when I'm upset, I look like I'm going to hurt you if you talk to me. From being an athlete, I also know that your mindset affects what your body does. If you feel confident or self-doubting, whether it be a full count with the bases loaded in the world series, or trying to score the winning goal in your state high school hockey playoffs, your mind controls what and how your body is going to perform.

I feel like I am not a pure Cartesian, but rather a mixture of ideas, and ideologies. Cartesian-ism may play a big role in the way that I think, but I cannot separate the mind from the body. And sometimes I think that things are better to be left alone sometimes. I like the saying "Shit happens", because I dont feel the need for everything to have an explaination at this moment in time. I feel that as the human race advances, we will be able to better understand how the world works. We may be obessed with categorizing, and organizing things, but having the unknown makes life interesting...

Bridging the gap

Fasting:

Fasting is voluntarily not eating food for varying lengths of time. Fasting is used as a medical therapy for many conditions. It is also a spiritual practice in many religions.

(from http://www.answers.com/topic/fasting)

I find the idea of fasting very interesting in its application to the Cartesian mind-body dualism we've been talking about in class. From my general understanding of fasting (in the spiritual, "self cleansing" way), the idea is almost against the mind-body dualism in the sense that the practicing faster wishes to bridge the Cartesian gap--the dualism, the separatism, if you will--between the entities of Body and Mind. Ultimately, from many spiritual and religious perspectives, fasting is supposed to be a supreme, deep bodily rest that allows reinvigoration and rejuvenation of the body, mind and soul. These things cannot be separated from one another and the absence of either mind or soul will consequently compromise the entire effort, causing the faster to fail or suffer through a miserable period of abstinence.

There is another kind of fasting that is "generally accepted" (http://www.answers.com/topic/fasting-research-and-general-acceptance), which is medical fasting, in which a patient would also abstain from food from anywhere between seven and twenty-one days (http://fasting.ygoy.com/medical-fasting/). The idea is that restricting foodstuffs from entering the digestive system would effectively allow the stomach and intestines to "rest" and focus on healing the body from toxins that lie dormant in impacted feces, kidneys, bladder, sinuses and skin. They even claim that is helps people with obesity and chronic illnesses such as cancer! What a miracle this fasting must be. Interestingly, though, when speaking of a medical fast, there is either equal weight placed upon the spiritual and health benefits, or the spiritual benefits are not even mentioned.

There are hordes of people and "experts" claiming this method to be the ultimate experience of improved well being and mental clarity. Without new toxins entering their bodies, people claim that they were blessed with clarity of thought, agility, and improved consciousness and healthier values (Tom Coghill, http://www.fasting.ws/juice-fasting/juice-fasting-water-fasting-detoxifcation/fasting-soul-searching)!

But...really? Does it really work (physiologically, that is?) Is the dualism really abolished in this practice, where mind and body meet on the common ground of need, want, or desire (i.e. willful starvation)? It's an interesting concept and one I'd really like to explore more. It's my own opinion that perhaps the health and spiritual benefits may only really be contained within the mind, just like the warts magically disappearing when painted red, or blood oozing from a Catholic mystic's eyes and hands. Is the mind really its own thing, its own elevated entity, or does it, in some way, control every aspect of the body, from healing to stigmas to warts? This is why I find the idea of fasting such an interesting one; to think that the mind could have such power to cause a person to a) willingly abstain from food, even as long as Jesus supposedly did (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXGj4DksFAY) or longer, and b) heal themselves through faith, will power, and the belief that abstaining from food (or as some would like to call it, starvation) could possibly cure any ailments, diseases and mind fog.

Ethically, we have to wonder about any doctor who would advise their patients to stop eating when they've been plagued by any sort of disease. How right would it sound? How right is this idea of starvation, and how accurate is it to say that starvation will cleanse the body the way so many claim it does? Scientifically, is there proof? Some say no (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4616603.stm). As a weight loss method, there is a split between yes and no (http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/features_julieshealthclub/2008/09/why-deprivation.html). Can we thus say that perhaps the successes and failures are based not in the body, but in the mental perseverance of those involved? I think so.

Growing up in America in the popular time of the nuclear family, there are many different family cultures and people that don't fit in that category and therefore are left out, so to say in the cartesian way of thinking which has us constantly naming, organizing, and putting order to everything. Generally things that don't fit in a subject areas are looked upon as outcasts that don't belong. Struggling a long looking for acceptance and rarely finding it. In America where all things are supposed to be treated equally this doesn't seem the case.
In "Sexing the Body" by Anne Fausto-Sterling the idea of sexuality and gender come to play. She discusses how there are more than two genders, and that we should be socially accepting of all of them. For years people have suffered with their identity because they don't fit in the black and white of our world. This is not fair nor is it okay, we all are human and deserve to have a place in which we belong. Like Alfred Kinsey who categorized men and women on a scale of zero to six rather female then male gives hope for the future. Fausto-Sterling opens the door for opinionated and close minded people to open their eyes and see that there is a large gray area and it is easier to see more clearly if we aren't so concerned about the categories of everything. Seeing clearly and being more accepting of others will make life easier for all. Not only do we need to be more open minded and understanding of people with different sexual orientations and genders but with everything that we judge and categorize as well.

Our Need to Classify

Cartesians lay things out, name things, and categorize everything. There is not one thing that I have come across in my life that didn’t have a name. We as human beings are the masters of classifying. Think about how many millions, probably billions, of people who have jobs doing just that, sorting, classifying, and constructing categories. When things do not fit into our laid out plan (Cartesian plan) we get uncomfortable and feel we need to find a place for it. Our entire world is laid out with a Cartesian mindset.

In Anne Fausto-Sterling’s book “Sexing the Body”, she lays out the categories of male vs. female. She also gives the defined criteria for those who fit into these two categories and the criteria for those who do not. She also informs us of 3 other “sexes” that have been constructed in order to categorize those who do not fit into the 2 socially accepted categories.

Fausto-Sterling argues that individuals born with an undetermined sex should be able to live that way. She believes that doctors should not be able to decide which sex the child “embodies more of”. I would say that Fausto-Sterling is “anti-Cartesian”. She does not think it is necessary to have 2 genders, 2 sexes, and 1 socially accepted sexual orientation. She thinks that there can be all and everything in between and this should be socially accepted. One should not have to check male or female on almost any survey, test, or ballot they fill out.

Having a socially accepted Cartesian way of thinking can sometimes hurt our society, especially when it damages one’s character. This is especially evident in the homosexual community. There are so many people in this world that do not agree with the socially accepted way of living. There have been reports of murders with the motive being the victim’s sexual orientation. If we did not classify this, we would not have this war of the “right vs. wrong“. Getting past the socially accepted genders, sexes, and sexual orientations is something that we as a society need to focus on. Things are not always going to fit into our “categories” and we must accept that.

The Evolution of Human Reason

Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy was a groundbreaking work, beginning with a dispensation of all knowledge attained to that point in his life, and beginning anew, attempting to find through human reason certain basic truths about the world. What I found most interesting about his method is the idea of accessibility. No longer was one forced to subscribe to a system of beliefs in which the chief players held superior knowledge of the worldview, keeping it within their inner circle. What was once necessary to take on blind faith was now empowered to all with even a basic mental capacity. More importantly, all those with a basic capacity for reasoning can see that Descartes' theories find a common point of concurrence for mankind to agree upon. The previous paradigm does not account for this, creating points of contention. Thus, those of a different sect of faith (e.g. Catholic vs. Protestant vs. Atheist vs. Muslim vs. Buddhist, etc.) could never agree on certain tenets of their faith that do not apply to the others.
One can see this shift of balance to the human reasoning in most aspects of modern human life, especially in the establishment of the "scientific method" as a means to "truth". Charles Darwin's observations aboard the HMS Beagle and at the Galapagos islands point to a need to explain through natural means, rather than automatically assigning the transmutation species to God's will. He demonstrates a Cartesian preference for order, neatly assorting various bird species according to their similar physical characteristics, then uses deductive reasoning to conclude that, over time, certain finches had developed longer, narrower beaks as food became scarcer, allowing the finch to dig for insects in holes in fallen trees and so forth. One must take notice of the similarities to Darwin's categorical assignments and those of the professor and her mud and tree maps in the African forests and grasslands.
Are we to discard Descartes ideas, then, just because we get stuck in a specific mindset? Not necessarily. Although it may cause us to be unable to truly think "outside the box", it also gives man/womankind a base of commonality, from which we can begin a useful dialogue that can be understood on a specific set of terms that do not need to be indoctrinated or taught to us; we are born with our human skills of reason.

Descartes and the Legal System?

In order for myself to fully understand the tremendous repercussions of Descartes writings on western thought I always try and find examples where functions of society and daily life were transformed in a realm that I have experience with. While thinking about the way that I know the world and how I exercise my individual reason I was reminded of when I was called to my civil contribution of jury duty. I wasn't excited to go to the government center every morning but thought it could be interesting to witness our legal system in the works. Being thoroughly convinced I wouldn't get called to any trial, let alone selected by the attorneys to have a seat on the jury, both of course happened. I presented myself accurately and was most likely chosen on the basis that I was an educated college student with experience growing up in the twin cities and therefore I was most likely liberal with my judgments. After two and a half weeks of trial and a full day spent of sequestered deliberation, myself and twelve others participated in the act of charging a person with murder without intention.

Everyone has judgments about the way they see and know the world that have been effectively established by our individual use of reason, however who's to say what's right if anything? The defendant was a black middle aged male that had been battling an addiction to crack-cocaine. I made the assumption that this was probably not the first encounter he had with the courts, which after the case was over, I learned the wrong assumption. My reason failed me. During investigations the police collecting the information and evidence used during trial were using their subjective intuition and reason to gather 'objective' information. Rather than using objective methods I noticed extremely faulty ways of finding, or not finding, evidence that seemed biased by on individual prejudices often associated with drugs and race. It was unclear what happened in the situation but what was clear was the investigation that held the weight of a human's future was conducted in a poor manner. Now, do you charge someone with this because you THINK they PROBABLY did it? A lot of it is speculation, which you are not allowed to use in the jury deliberation process. This act of speculation would not be available without Descartes. My reason led me to use all of the presented evidence and nothing else such as my understandings of what happened, or could have happened, basic intuition, feelings, experience, ideas about the world. A police officer is using all of these things when conducting the investigation that ultimately creates facts. So. Who gets to choose what's right? Why couldn't a jury collectively think outside of evidence? What happens if the police officer leading the investigating happens to hold an extreme opinion that effects his objectiveness, would he still create true facts?

The democratic practice of the legal system in and of itself would not be available without Descartes' belief in reason. During the middle ages, someone accused of murder would automatically be tortured or killed in return--no questions asked. Now the idea of a group of humans deciding a verdict that is the absolute truth seems to be something that is so readily accepted that it is rarely called into question, similar to how Scholastic philosophy was the functioning idea before Descartes. How can we use reason to critique or even think differently about dominating functions of human existence when we are living inside of that very existence?

Bloody Theresa

When i look at bloody Theresa i say that there is no possible way she is actually bleeding that much in those spots without wounds. Without proof i would never even come close to believing that it was actually happening. This isn't because i don't believe in god or miracles but because i do, but i also call Theresa a big liar. I don't see how anyone can look at this and blindly accept it, and i don't think many people do.
The question i am now asking myself is how would i go bout thinking this if I was before Descartes. If Descartes supposedly changed the way the world thinks today, does that mean that i would blindly accept that Theresa bleeds for no reason? I would like to think i would still think critically about stuff like that but who can be sure. I can't see myself accepting anything and everything as truth but the world was different before Descartes.
Bloody Theresa is just one example, I find it very hard to accept almost anything without first having a lot of proof. Is Descartes the one to thank for all my skepticism? It's also hard for me to believe that Descartes almost alone had that much impact to change the way humans think today.

Descartes' lasting template

You could say that the musings scribed to paper by Descartes in the 17th century created a new and (atleast in that moment) superior theory of achieving genuine truth. His picturesque description of the origin of knowledge and what is knowable (tree of knowledge with roots, a trunk, and branches producing fruit available to be plucked by rational observers and actors) imprinted a technique in establishing a means and method in attaining what can be known, or experienced, about the exterior world. It is best to argue that his writings and ideas expressed throughout his meditations established (most likely with the help of other individuals, organizations, and systems that offered him legitimacy and support) the modern truth-finding methodology. The only realizations and idealization experienced within an individual must filter through a process of logical reduction based on our intellectual faculty of doubt, so that anything remaining after this process of doubting is not-doubtable , or indubitable. A thought or concept that resists all penetration of doubt can therefore be recognized as true, or real. This methodology established the sciences we're all so familiar with and brought us into "modern" postures of thinking. With it, modern and indubitable ways of organizing human individual and group activity also emerged (Schools of economics, rightly guided systems of political organization, etc).

Therefore, theories belonging to any branch of knowledge promulgated in our age stem from this inevitable template of methodology. When forming an active opinion around a matter or issue that begs elaborations or investigation belonging to our system of discourse, our process for discovering/ inventing the answer will adapt and absorb the technique of examination momentously outlined by our father of modernity, Rene Descartes.

With this in mind, people such as Pinker and witnesses or observers of bloody Theresa can understand and analyze phenomena through a similar vein of understanding what lies within reality. These two cases are good examples because at first glance they seem to represent two differing systems of intellectual understanding. Empirical realism vs. faith-based miracles. However, Descartes offers his followers (i.e. everyone) a rational explanation for both perspectives. Remember that Descartes obligated a full meditation to the existence of God, and he did so using the same language of logic that he utilizes in highlighting the benefits of empirical analysis and the importance of doubt. The fruit of knowledge that we can taste from the tree is made possible first and foremost from the roots; but where is the origin of the roots?

Blog Posting #4 (Due Sunday 2/21 11:59 PM)

This week we get to write about all the things many of us wanted to talk about for hours—maybe over beer: the faith-science wars; Christian Texas Patriots; bleeding mystics (and cute teenagers); indubitable 'selves,' reason (and faith), hypnotized away warts, and the entire mind-body split.

What we've been calling the 'Cartesian Moment' (Descartes' successfully elevating REASON to the center of all knowledge, and banishing the BODY and all its attributes) changed everything. Anne Fausto-Sterling starts her deeply political work on science, sex, bodies and lives by calling the 'Cartesian' split (a 'dualism') into question on many grounds.

We claimed that we were all 'Cartesians' even if we'd never read a word of his or even heard his name.

Fair enough. So now what?

Well, for starters, let's try to make 'common sense' of the idea that we're sort of trapped by the ways we see the world, and have trouble imagining things any other way. The idea that the world is 'framed' by certain 'paradigms' or 'world views'—ours being pretty 'Cartesian.'

Explain how Descartes 'inhabits' Steven Pinker (or Louis Menand), or the National Geographic producers, or Dr. George Buchanan, or people loving Blessed Teresa (or some of us thinking 'she faked it'), or sexologists who think there are 'six types of people' (…body, 11), or the guys writing the DSM, or the Founding Fathers, or, or, or. Find a good example to read closely—ours are fine; so are yours if you've got one. Whatever works.

Then suggest how this all plays out—theoretically, scientifically, ethically, historically, whatever. Work with our readings. How are we bamboozled and how might we get un-bamboozled? Alternatively: how does our 'reason,' rightly used, steer us right? How do we need to think in order to see more clearly? If you want a model, it's Anne Faust Sterling; her book is a passionate polemic about why seeing sex and gender wrongly (or confusedly) has made life harder for all of us.

foucault vs chomsky

ah the internet. debate is from 1971, 'Human Nature: Justice vs. Power'

part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WveI_vgmPz8
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0SaqrxgJvw

Brainwaves

I read the article "Brainwaves" that was on the Star Tribune Website but was published in the New York Times on February 4th 2010. I thought this was a very interesting article. It talked about the ethical dilemma of "pulling the plug" on someone who is in a vegetative state. It says that now physicians are rethinking the diagnosis of someone who is supposedly in a vegetative state because there have been more and more stories of people who's brain activity has come back and were able to respond to things again. Even though these cases are rare it is causing a lot of problems for physicians because families don't want to let their family members go because of their hope that they might come back to them. I feel that this is a very sticky issue. I think Doctor's should have a very precise method of determining whether someone is brain dead and if they will stay brain dead. I also had a problem with a comment that someone left on the article concerning the cost of keeping someone who is in a vegetative state in the hospital. This person said that "these are some expensive vegetables (that you can't eat). I thought this was a very disturbing comment. This is a human life we are talking about. I feel that money should not matter when we are talking about someone's loved one. I feel the family should have the choice of whether or not to keep them alive and cost should not be an that big of an issue.

Dear Benedict Carey,
I thought that the article "Brainwaves" that you wrote in the New York Times on February 4th 2010 was a very interesting article and has brought up a very controversial issue in today's society. Although I feel that doctor's should work on a better diagnostic technique for determining someone to be in a complete vegetative state, I feel the new diagnostic technique that is currently being worked on that was mentioned in your article is confusing and will cause potential problems for families and give them false hope that their family member may come out of this vegetative state. I feel physicians should work on a very precise way to diagnose someone who is in a vegetative state that will determine whether they will ever be able to come out of it or not. Even though I feel the decision to pull the plug should be up to the family they should be given a clear understanding of whether their loved one is clinically brain dead or if there is a potential for them to come out of their state. Thank you for writing about this issue. There is a lot more that should be done concerning these patients.
Sincerely,
Ashley Hintz

Bipolar Disorder and Law Enforcement

The article that I proceeded to take an interest in is an article from mental-heath-today.com. The name of the article is Bipolar Disorder and Law Enforcement. This article attempts to coorelate bipolar disorder and law enforcement. It's purpose is to differentiate bipolar disorder from antisocial personality disorder (a criminal mind), and how these two disorders get mistaken for eachother. The article states that bipolar and antisocial personality disorder can project similar actions or behaviors, but they are completely different in that bipolar disorder is a mental disorder can be treated; whereas antisocial personality disorder is more complex and almost impossible to treat. These disorders both produce aggressiveness, rage, anger, and violence which usually leads to criminal activity that's eventually reprimanded through law enforcement. The problem is that most of these "criminals" actually have bipolar disorder and should really be treated through a mental evaluation, behavioral modification, or through a controlled dose of medication as oppose to jail, where individuals with antisocial personality disorder should reside. For example, -The US Department of Justice reported in 1999 that 16% of all inmates in state and federal jails have a severe mental illness. 283,000 people with serious mental illnessess were in jail or prison - more that four times the number in state mental hospitals. The average daily number of patients in state and county psychiatric hospitals has steadily dropped from 592,853 in 1950 to 71,619 in 1994.

I believe that there is a lot of truth within this article and that these issues need to seriously be addressed. It seems as though too many individuals with mental disorders are being convicted of these crimes, but the steps to correctly evaluate and treat these individuals are being completely overlooked. These individuals are being sentenced and held in jail, when in reality, they need to be mentally evaluated and HELPED! These individuals have mental disorders that will only become worse in a criminal habitus. They deserve the opportunity to obtain professional help to actually solve the problems as opposed to encouraging and facilitating the existing problem. If we could implement programs that could differentiate these mental disorders, I believe that many of these notorious "criminals" could be helped and even prevented.