On Mon, 3 May 1999 14:08:13 -0700, Scott Maxwell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>> In early 1920:ths Robert Faherty made a documentary film about the great
>> Inuit hunter Nanook. The film was very popular and Nanook got world
>> famous. A few years later he died from starvation.
>> I doubt any h/g is fasting by will, but sometimes they have to "fast"
>> for too long a time. That is starving, not fasting. Fasting is what
>> You do when You have a choice.
>
>True.  And if we assume that periodic starvation was part of h/g life, then
>it may follow that we should occasionally fast to simulate this.  That is
>assuming, of course, that there are hidden benefits (cleansing) associated
>with this starvation period.

Okay people.

Yes, it seems pretty clear that human beings do things that their bodies have
not adapted to, such as eating grains - or putting smog in the air.

However, to then say that everything is beneficial that a) is instinctive,
and/or b) ancient man chose to do, and/or c) happened to occur in the life of
ancient man, are all pretty silly when examined closely.

a) Salmon instinctively spawn and then go to die.   This is great for the
species, not so hot for the individual.   If, as claimed in another post, it is
instinctive to be promiscuous, this may be fine for propagation of the species,
but is not so great for the individual after her husband blows you away with a
shotgun.   Natural selection does not care what happens to you after the age of
propagation - 30? 40? - and so instincts will not help us do what is best for
our long term survival and health.

b) What ancient man chose to do consciously was determined by his world view,
which included such things as the world being flat, and his world, which was
very low tech and largely uninhabited.   Thus our choices cannot be the same,
and to simply imitate the "noble savage" doesn't work these days

c) This one, referenced above in the context that "periods of fasting naturally
occurred in the lives of ancient man", is the silliest one yet.    Periods of
having one's arm chewed off by predators also happened to occur - is this the
next health regime? :-)  Periods of diseases, bleeding to death, and being
crushed by rocks also happened naturally to occur, but I don't think they form a
part of an expanded Paleo Diet ! :-)


--
Cheers,

Ken                         <*>
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