beforewisdom

Does anyone think that the internet makes what Robert is complaining about worse? About a year ago I got sickened from the same kind of thing. Then I realized that I was mostly exposed to it through a local email list for AR activists. I realized that most of the people on that list who bashed either never showed up at in-the-street volunteer events or they would keep their views to themselves whenever showing up in person. I unsubscribed from that list and just kept going to volunteer events. I felt much better and the bashing seems to have disappeared. It seems to *mostly* exist on the internet.

I just finished the book "The Mature Mind". The review that inspired me to read the book is so good I will not go on about it too much. Very few people look forward towards getting older. Reading this book can give you a better outlook towards your future. It summarizes research that shows that if you can avoid disease you can expect to enjoy positive developments from positive physical changes in your brain as you age. The book also talks about research that shows that human beings may have stages of development after maturing into adults, exciting, positive stages that you will not see until midlife and senior citizenship. The book doesn't paint a rose tinted picture of growing older, but it takes away many false gray tinted perspectives on it and clues you in on many positive things you can expect to enjoy in your old age if you handle things right. ------------------ This book review is from: http://mentalhelp.net/books/books.php?type=de&id=3505 The Mature Mind The Positive Power of the Aging Brain by Gene D. Cohen Basic Books, 2005 Review by David M. Wolf, M.A. on Feb 20th 2007 Volume: 11, Number: 8 In this readable, concise report of his own and relevant research into the aging brain, Dr. Cohen delivers a real basis for hope. We’re not just getting older; we’re getting better. Maybe. And here’s the point: we can mature and get better if we do the right things and participate in the right things. This book fully describes what activities, changes, or interventions are useful and beneficial. Cohen uses scientific studies and case examples to make the facts plain. Everyone over forty should read this book, because its findings will directly influence career moves and lifestyle choices. Cognition, creativity, intelligence, and, especially, memory (or its impairment) are of vital concern to most people as they age. The Mature Mind inquires into the brain’s changes as we age and relates these to how the human mind manages in the face of the brain’s changes. Our job as educated people is to learn what is happening and make the adjustments and commitments that lead toward a vigorous maturity. The brain, Cohen reports, is not just losing neurons and getting old; the brain is also developing, growing new neural networks and cells, and becoming more balanced between its two hemispheres. The worst “rubbish” from the past, according to Cohen, is in the false phrase, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” The essence of successful maturity is to continue learning, growing, challenging the brain and the whole human being as it ages. Doing this with wisdom, creativity, social support and attention to everyone’s need for a sense of control and mastery is the right approach to successful aging. Cohen’s axiom for what drives and sustains us throughout life he names “Inner Push.” As he uses this insight, it appears synonymous with the philosopher Spinoza’s idea of the “fiery Conatus”, and also, quite like Henri Bergson’s more poetic idea of the elan vital. Inner Push is there while we breathe, and it’s up to us to shape its energies. We do this in the second half of life according to Four Phases, says Cohen: Midlife Reevaluation (ages 40-65), Liberation phase (50s through 70s), Summing Up (late 60s through 70s-80s), and Encore phase, until the end of life. The Mature Mind is largely a characterization and description of these phases, plus some helpful essays on creativity in old age and lists of resources. Cohen also spends some ink debunking “midlife crisis”, which he says is a myth. The “power” and “potential” of older minds is rooted in a human brain that not only ages, but also, develops over time. We may individually be surprised by age, but the biological brain is not: the program includes adaptive responses in which the brain can adjust and rewire itself. This physiological change can be far greater than people ordinarily suppose if the aging adult remains active mentally, accepts challenges individually and socially, and gets some regular exercise. In other words, the hopeful result depends in large part on how much the brain is stimulated with learning and activity of the kind that promotes vitality. Depend on TV, let your friends die off, become isolated and alone, retire, become or remain inactive physically: these are the old habits that lead to degeneration and death. However, exercise, social engagement, creative (even artistic) expression, phased retirement or part-time work, volunteering, learning new things over which one develops a feeling of growing mastery–these kinds of changes lead to surprisingly vital older people who live better and longer than their unlucky peers. Cohen has some startling findings in his data that supports his views. One in particular is that aging brains contain expansive bundles of neurons not available to the young, bundles that reflect a lifetime of experience. At the same time these brain assets become more balanced between both hemispheres, doing with the whole brain what the young cannot yet do or can do only with Left or Right hemispheres singly. Older people have a “developmental intelligence” which better balances physical and emotional maturity. Development is wrongly seen as just for kids. The maturing brain is more capable of what Cohen calls “relativistic thinking” (not black and white), “dualistic thinking” (resolving opposites), and “systematic thinking” (big picture). These capabilities give the mature mind truly “advanced” status. It can take a lifetime to develop the basis for these advances, and they have enormous individual and social implications. So, this book is more than a useful guide to saving one’s own aging brain. It is also a review laying a basis for social, even political changes, reflecting the untapped potential of our aging American population. © 2007 David M. Wolf,

Hi Robert; One of the reasons I am on this board is that it is dramatically pissing contest free compared to other veg*n fora I've tried. You are a positive person who is about doing things and pulling people together. I have to disagree with the thrust of part of your post in terms of "whatever happened to....". I think things have always been this way in the movement.....and......in every other movement that is off the beaten path of the mainstream. Such things will attract the most wonderful people out there, but they will also attract people with all sorts of issues.

1. Brown Rice Protein Powder 2. Whole Flax seeds which I grind each morning, mix with ginger and water before I bang it back after breakfast. 3. Sublinual B-12 lozenges. 4. Vitamin D2 tablets 5. Calicum citrate and magnesium tablets 6. B Complex & Zinc tablets for when I feel a cold coming on 7. Emergen-C packets for when I feel a cold coming on. 8. Iodine powder 9. Water4Life EPA-DHA capsules

While I was adding my post to the most personally influential books thread I remembered a book by Peter Singer called Ethics Into Action. It is a biography of Henry Spira who Peter Singer calls the first modern animal rights activist. Spira was very focused on action over debate and very focused on working with people. By the end of his life he had a very impressive record of success due to his rules of activism. He probably had more success than any other contemporary AR/AW/AP activist. This really cool article lays out those rules. Based on what I have seen of Robert so far I think he will find a kindered spirit. I think many activists could become far more effective by truly being open to these rules: http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/1998----02.htm

My contribution to this thread went with the last server crash, so here it goes again: 1. Green Eggs And Ham by Dr. seuss. As a toddler my sister indulged me be reading it to me OVER AND OVER again to the point where I memorized it. I played a trick on my parents by pretending to know how to read. I got so much attention for that I kept practicing and actually did learn how to read by learning to associate the sounds I memorized with the words in the book. This gave me a tremendous head start on reading, which influenced me in so many ways. 2. Orphan's Of The Sky by Robert Heinlein. Turned me into a reader and a sci-fi fan as a child, both of which had tremendous influence on my life. 3. Diet For A Small Planet by France Moor-Lappe I picked up a book on raw foodism when I was 14, did it for a year, my weight dropped to 145 lbs ( Im 5 11 ) and I got sick. My family GP who had a lot of hippy daughters told me about this book. A girl-friend I had in highschool loaned me her copy. It helped me stay vegetarian and my diet has been legume and grain focused ever since. 4. Diet For A New American by John Robbins Turned Me Vegan 5. What The Buddha Taught by Walpoa Rahula 6. Old Path, White Clouds by Thict Naht Hanh 7. The First And Last Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti 8. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse 9. A Peoples History Of The United States by Dr. Howard Zinn. 10 How To Get Control Of Your Time And Your Life by Alan Lakein 11. Feeling Good by Dr. David Burns. 12. A Guide To Rational Living by Dr. Albert Ellis 13. Ethics Into Action ( bio of Henry Spira ) by Peter Singer. Henry Spira was one of the first modern animal rights activists. His views about activism have greatly influenced mine.

Oh yah and Jeff Novick: http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/rob/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8667&highlight=jeff+novick

Somebody new. I've gone to several veg festivals regularly for the last several years. I've seen the same speakers over and over again. I might make an exception for Howard Lyman. He is in your area and he is the real deal. He knows what reality is, he is still optimistic and he is inspiring.

The people in King Corn had very short hair, you don't need a lot to get years worth of data. If somebody shaves their head, then they can't enter a contest on a never-done-juice competition.

I know he is an actor and a vegan, that is about it.

I'd go with frozen before canned. Canned produce comes packed in all sorts of crap. Read the ingredients, you will see what I mean. Frozen fruit is more likely to be just fruit.

Chiropractors don't have any diagnostic tools. If you like to get your back manipulated find yourself a good osteopath. Like chiropractors they can manipulate your spine. They are also medical doctors ( MDs ). If you are concerned about your back and neck, and you should be, I would make an appointment with a sports medicine doctor for a check up. In everyday parlance a "sports medicine doctor" would be an orthopedic surgeon. Surgeons tend to be blind to anything that they can't fix by cutting. To find someone who truly knows and truly looks at sports & orthopedic issues 1. Look for one that has a physical therapy clinic on the premises 2. One that treats AND whose clinic REHABS local college, highschool atheletes. 3. One who is very hesitant to do surgery, even if you insist If all of these prove difficult to find go to a GP and ask to be referred to physiatrist ( physical therapist with extra training ) or a plain old physical therapist for an evaluation. Physical therapists are very good at making a clinical diagnosis and in prescribing exercises you can do to help yourself.

With adequate testing, a change in laws, and a removal of the stigma related to drug use. I think hair analysis can tell what you put into your body for the past several years. I just saw that documentary King Corn. That is how the two film makers started off. They got a hair analysis done and were told they were basically made out of corn, which shocked them because they hardly ever ate corn directly......just indirectly through meat and processed foods.

If you take in too few calories from the rest of your food past a certain extent your body will use the protein you take in as fuel. Your body's first choice in fuel is carbohydrate. It burns the easiest, it burns the cleanest.

And he eats kale instead of spinach because you can absorb more calicum and instead of dating a chick called Olive Oil he dates a woman named Canola because it has omega 3s?

One of the theories behind the glycemic index is that eating very low glycemic foods with higher glycemic foods will bring the index of the overall meal down. Best to eat as much food as you can with the bulk ( fiber & water together naturlly ) intact. That will give you a steady stream of energy so you will not need a quick pick me up.

Back in the day, they would be called "Popeye Forearms". I'm sure those old cartoons must be on DVD somewhere. Seems like a good thing to watch in bed on a cold February Sunday morning

Can you get us 3-4 lines what it is about?

I've seen that cartoon before, I think it is one of my favorites. I agree with DV if she means that is what it looks like when people in very poor shape ( vegan or non-vegan ) talk about other people's diets or fitness regimes. I think it also illustrates Robert's point about people also assigning false positives to vegans( vegans and non-vegans do this ). If you go vegan, eat well and train well you will look like the family on the left. Probably not if you just go vegan, don't exercise, and eat poorly. I started another thread called "Why Americans Are So Fat", it is a youtube video of a Peter Jennings piece on obesity. Many of the culprit foods were vegetarian and vegan. Just eschewing animal products is not nearly enough to make you look like the people on the left side of the cartoon, particularly if you are starting off looking like the people on the right side.

Compared to many web board vegans Pamela is refreshingly stable, non-vindictive, non-combative, non-petty, acts like a grownup and has a normal ego.

It isn't like we get a say in it either. The corporations and government just make it happen. It never goes on a ballot. The government will not ask first and they will not listen unless a HUGE number of their constituents contact them and even then there is a good chance they will not listen.

Hi Zack, that was me, no offense meant. It is all in the tone, which unfortunately gets lost in a near pure text environment.

I've met veganpotter mich4animals pamela robert seasiren

I've noticed that. On smaller people muscle tissue has a lot less joint room to "fill up" before having to move in another direction and "bulge out". There are some tall female body builders, but since most women are about 5 5 most of them are too.

Given that you are not eating any of those groups of food you are getting ahead of yourself wondering which members of those groups are best to eat. At each meal try to eat legumes, whole grains, fresh vegetables and have some fresh fruit for dessert. Get a healthy cookbook with good recipes, pick a recipe for each of those 4 groups, make it, put it in tupper wear, serve yourself up one of each at meal time and heat it up. I recommend this book as it uses very little oil. The recipes are healthy AND taste good AND will keep you slim. The recipes are all vegan and Dr. Barnard of the PCRM even used all of the recipes in one of his books http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Free-Easy-Great-Meals-Minutes/dp/1570670412