Agendas and Telephony

Mobile Communications

Communications in Nepal are, like so many other things, are frustrating to say the least. I use two phones on different networks to increase the chance of a successful connection. Even so, the success rate for getting through to the person dialed, I should estimate is no better than once in 6 attempts. There is a long list of reasons for this, ranging from no network, to number not in use (when it is). All amount to the same thing however. ‘Mafgon Hola’ is the most frequent phrase heard from the phone network. Its Nepali for ‘no chance mate, try again later’, or something like that.

Coverage for mobiles is improving all the time. I am amazed at the remoteness of some places where a full signal is available. On a recent ride out of the valley, into unspoiled farmland, my phone was chirping away in my bum-bag. It sounded so out of place in that nature wonderland with the sound of birds, children playing and farm-hands who can talk to each other across the valley floor almost without raising their voices. The natural peace of this place shattered by my ‘Men in Black’ theme tune ring tone!! Haha

 Today is Saturday, which means holiday. The internet connection in the college library is not available today. There is sometimes a wifi connection available on the roof of my apartment block, but the signal strength varies considerably. I have no idea where this connection comes from, that’s the wonder of modern wireless technology, but its free, so I log on when I can.

Not so many years ago, before the explosion in mobile phone usage, we were quite happy not to hear from family or friends for weeks on end, when away from home. Communication was through public phone boxes or over-land mail. Now we have come to rely on mobile phones, and expect a signal everywhere we go. Coming from Singapore, we take for granted the ability to speak anywhere, anytime and even download large data files through our hand phones in a few seconds (only my friend Les’s iPhone wouldn’t download pics from my website! I managed on my cheap Nokia Les, $100 from Lucky Plaza! Would you like me to get you one?)

They say, ‘you never know what you had until its gone’. Now I am continually frustrated by the unreliability of telecom connections. If the connection is available at all (and there are many reason why it might not be), it takes an age to download even the smallest data packages. Text email messages are slow to deliver, some get there in the end, but I know many never reach me. The photo of you and your dog on the East Coast at the weekend, or anything larger than 23k, forget it! Internet banking……………………hahahahahahaha. You stand more chance of getting an invitation for dinner with Osama next week.

Thus, I am learning the art of patience, and to deal with frustration without getting thoroughly pissed off.
It is said the Nepalis are very good at waiting, and they are very good at making others wait too! These are cultural characteristics that cannot be circumvented. One must learn to wait. It helps to be able to squat sitting on your heels. It helps to take tea and maybe a samosa. It helps not to have much of an agenda, and it helps if you can satisfy yourself that whatever you wanted to do today, can in fact be done tomorrow.

Learning to accept dysfunction makes us much more appreciative when things do work well. I really appreciate the battery on my laptop, but having become so laid back, it would be really nice if I had electricity long enough to boil water for a coffee to stimulate myself more!! I might have to resort to the Roxy instead.

Malnutrition in a Time of Abundance: Ahead of our Evolution

Patan Durbar Square

I am sitting in a well known tourist café overlooking Patan Durbar Square; one of the three ancient cities now collectively known as Kathmandu. Four Stupas were erected at the corners of Patan as early as 250 B.C., and many other temples and religious buildings have been added since then. Patan contains some of the finest wood and stone carving in Nepal and much of it is still well preserved. The moment one steps into the Durbar Square, its architectural style is an instant overwhelming mark of an era long gone.

Patan is on the list of just about every tourist visiting Kathmandu. They congregate around the little wooden booth to pay their entrance fee, while the freelance guides hover close by in the hope of picking up a group, and a day’s earnings. Each nationality is abundantly obvious to the waiting guides, who always manage to greet them in the right language. Primarily their clues are fashion, and size. It is the latter of these features that got me thinking.

 

When observing western foreigners passing through Nepal, it is a fact that the majority are significantly overweight, pale and puffy faced, uncoordinated, have very poor muscle tone and generally look rather unhealthy. Despite having plenty of disposable income to eat well, they present themselves as perfect examples of having sedentary lifestyles and malnourishment in times of abundance. Abundance and quality in food are exclusive states. This reality is all the more stark in a place like Nepal where most eat the bare minimum but perform hard manual work daily. For men here, a good well toned physique is the norm.


From my observation post, I consider an idea proposed by an anthropologist (whose name I forget) some years ago. His idea predicted the human race will, or has already, divide into two distinct factions. One may even consider these divisions to be distinct species.  There will be the well educated city dwellers and the less well educated rural folk; the haves and have nots, if you were to consider it from a materialist view point. A less popular part of this idea proposes the split maybe predominantly white skinned Caucasoid intellectuals on one hand, and Negroids on the other.

The longer we live the city life, the further from our evolutionary roots we are drawn. Societies develop far quicker than we evolve biologically, and our animal instincts still influence us powerfully at a deep subconscious and biological level. These instincts remain mostly hidden, emerging only at times of strong emotional stimulation.  On a day-to-day basis suppression of our instincts directs us on paths which conflict with our biological templates. The change from pure hunters to farmers and later, city living humans, has occurred only in the last few thousand years. In evolutionary terms this is next to nothing. Biologically, we are still cavemen and first farmers.

So instead of concerning ourselves with finding food and maintaining our places within the ‘pride’, we find ourselves doing unnatural trivial meaningless things, just to keep our hugely underutilized brains distracted from the roles they still think about biologically. These preordained thoughts, what we call ‘instincts’, are ‘hard-wired’ into every facet of brain function. We might choose to override these instincts, but in doing so we create emotional conflicts, or thought processes which go against the grain or natural flow. Our unrestrained desires are suppressed in favour of what is considered more fitting for modern society. For example, the instinct to forcibly resist an intruder in your house or even your personal space is still very strong at an emotional level We tend to suppress these instincts as reason tells us it would be frowned upon by today’s society.

We humans like to consider ourselves intelligent rational beings, who have everything under control, but this could not be further from the truth; our brains work almost exclusively on emotions. If we looked at every response at the subconscious level, they are all about protection or fear of something.

Our brains are capable of so much more than they are used for. Much of their effort is spent dealing with the emotional conflicts created by not living in tune with the true function they have evolved to perform. Clearly we cannot go back to a pure hunter existence, but that means we must learn to tolerate some of the problems we see in modern societies until we have evolved biologically to deal with them better. Evolution is a slow process, so we must learn well to tolerate. Learning requires practice also, not just understanding. The genome project completed a few years ago was trying to identify the function of the codes contained within our DNA.  But at this time, still 50% of our entire DNA reserve is labeled ‘Junk DNA’ because as yet no function is attributed to it. But in nature there is no redundancy. Everything has a purpose. So the question is, ‘what is 50% of our DNA used for’?

We are the products of our minds, and from an evolutionary standpoint those minds are still in the times of hunters or hunter-gatherers. Arguments we see today between politicians for example, are a bit like alpha males fighting for the dominant position; prospective alphas attempting to show their strength and power. But there is a difference between this and a true fight for dominance. In a true fight there is a clear winner and a loser. The loser is ousted from the pack, or even killed, the winner conclusively stamping authority for all to see. Now, with reason and discussion, there are only degrees of compromise, and therefore no true conclusion to any encounter. This again contradicts our evolutionary template. There is no winner, and thus no true perception of authority, and there is no loser, thus ‘losers’ are able to succeed in society, watering down its overall strength, and ‘polluting’ its cause.

This suppression of true evolutionary expression creates deep rooted emotional conflicts within us. Different societies keep these conflicts under wraps in different ways, but each manifest as the emotional ‘ticks’ we see in all city dwellers today.  Our ‘packs’ have no true dominant character anymore, but instead are run by many weak ‘beta’ characters. Beta characters by their very nature don’t like conflict, they tend to avoid confrontation and settle for compromise rather than conclusive actions. 

Thus overall in human society there is a general lack of true ‘genetic’ satiation or satisfaction. There is only ‘conscious’ satisfaction, i.e. what we kid ourselves is satisfying, what we kid ourselves is important, meaningful or a measure of success. More often than not however, our perception of success is measured against our beliefs about the opinions of others, but these beliefs are very often wrong.




So not only do we live in a world where true satisfaction is rare, we also live under the misapprehension of the way we are perceived by others.

For every step forwards we make technologically, we take one step further away from our genetic template. As technology progresses much faster than evolution, this gap inevitably will widen at an ever increasing pace, hastening us towards the differentiation of our species, perhaps.

Back in Patan Durbar Square, the fat western tourists in their super duper XXXXL tea shirts, with their bellies overhanging their waist bands, baggy shorts concealing chubby sun-burned thighs, and pristine white trainers feigning association with some sort of physical exercise over and above carrying their own bulk, pay their entrance fees, blissfully unaware they are the forerunners for a new species. If we are in assent with the idea of survival of the fittest, then this new species is unlikely to make it. But technology and modern society allows us to flaunt those laws. The ‘fattest’ can now win dominance because it’s no longer just about strength and aggression; these two characteristics in themselves being the products of health and vitality. Now unhealthy members of society can win through, if measured by material wealth. Stick them back in the jungle, and of course the result would be a very quick return to the laws of nature that have held true for millions of years.

The muscled physiques of their guides, who are wondering why foreigners generally look so unhealthy, are probably also unaware there is a splinter group of their species forming, and they are being left in the ‘old world’.

Maybe there will be a third group; those who appreciate we cannot flaunt nature’s laws for long, but we can work with them for continuation of the species.

The Crab and the Frog; Perspective on your World

The view from Atalin back towards Kathmandu Valley

Today I cycled up to Khadkagaon searching for a route to meet up with another track that follows the mountain contours from Atalin. Both of these villages look north from very steep land about 400m above the Kathmandu Valley. Much of this land is too steep to work and is still densely wooded. The map I use has insufficient detail to ever be certain of my true location, thus route finding is often a problem. I found myself in Atalin only because of a wrong turn on a ride a few days ago. It was a hard climb, but there are wonderful views back across the valley from here. The track however became smaller and smaller until I was riding no more than a goat trail, and clearly going the wrong way. Faced with the choice of diving off into the jungle or retracing my route back to a known point, I opted for the latter.

When I say villages, they are in fact more like a collection of a few small farm dwellings scattered around the hillside. Despite being only a one hour ride from the outskirts of the city, we are at least a hundred years behind in lifestyle. Houses are simple mud/stone constructions, most now have tile or tin roofs, but the older ones still are thatched. There are buffalo, goats, sheep and chickens in the yard, and maize cobs, wheat and bright red chilies spread out on canvases drying in the sun. Ladies scrub away at pots & pans or washing in the stream, or use shallow bowls next to the village water spout. Sometimes these are free running, other times there is a hand pump. The men helpfully sit and watch; no doubt they have their uses!

A white face on a bright red bicycle in these parts is a source of much interest, if only I could understand the locals sing-song Nepali. I can hear the difference in their intonation compared with the city folk, but have no clue what they are saying. One can only smile and try to make a conversation from their expressions and mannerisms. From young children to old grannies, they are without exception friendly and welcoming.

Some seem genuinely surprised that I manage to ride up some of these inclines, others make noises that could easily be interpreted as ‘why would anyone want to cycle up here, must be a bit mad?’

Anyway, this day, I found my limit on a long particularly steep and slippery path, and for the first time I had to get off and walk!! The path was so slippery that even walking was tricky; I abandoned this quest and sat for a breather. So imagine, sitting on a clump of grass half way up a very steep hill that forms part of the Kathmandu Valley Rim, just 50m below virgin forest, looking down on the valley below, in a very rustic ‘earthy’ environment, and what should I see……………..a crab !

Honestly. I thought crabs lived by the sea! If someone had said, what’s the last thing you would expect to see here, a crab might have come to mind. I looked, and wondered. Nepal has no coast line. We are nowhere near the sea, not even if it had been carried by an eagle; we are still nowhere near the sea. There is no way this could get here unless it lives here, thus there must be such a thing as a freshwater crab, and there is. It turns out also, that the locals eat them, and surprise surprise, when poorly cooked can transmit a very serious parasitic infection, treatable with only one drug, which is currently not available in Nepal!

Our local corner shop is run by a little Newari man. He is about 5ft 1”, slim and neat and wears a baseball cap, always. In his shop one can buy beaten rice, soap, sweets, flour, water and small bottles of bad local whisky. Just as much of a surprise as finding a crab in the hills, I discovered our man teaches philosophy during the day. Sometimes I go and chat to him and we discuss such things as the process of making beaten rice, and Hindu Mythology.

He has a typical philosopher’s view of the world and life. “We come in to this world with nothing; we leave with nothing, so why get worried about material belongings when we’re here”, he questions? We talked about Osho; a Nepali meditation leader (now deceased), who has started many meditation centres in Nepal and has many words of wisdom to offer his followers. Osho lost all credibility with me when he published an article professing to ‘trash’ Darwin’s theories on evolution. The article was, by any educated man’s perspective, childish and ill informed; his reasoning coming from a Christian creationist perspective. I don’t spend much time worrying about what others choose to believe, but as we were talking about it, the evidence these days for evolution rather outweighs the evidence for creationism. Our shop keeping philosopher agreed and used the phrase, ‘It’s like the frog in the well’. To the frog, the world IS the well.

I often wonder what it must be like to be a tiny ground crawling insect or a beetle in a well, or even a crab in the forest; their worlds so restricted compared with our ‘fly to another continent in 5 hours’ world.

In some ways the people that live in these hills are like the frog in the well, but only by virtue of the fact that they have grown up in that world. They have to hand most of what they need to survive. They have water, animals, shelter and a place to grow their food. As a community they are as close to self sufficient as we can be. They remain in their well, but are able to leave it at will.

By comparison, the Osho’s of this world choose to move out of the well and encourage followers to open their minds to the world outside. Osho teaches following your heart and intended path in life, unrestricted by the opinions of others. By virtue of the fact that followers are there repeatedly however, seems to do the opposite of what he teachings. Another view on this situation is the followers are taught not to be ‘frogs’, by someone who is a ‘frog’. That is, still believing in the creationist idea when the evidence for evolution is overwhelming. Not wanting to recognise the world from any other perspective than from the inside their own well.

Followers blindly believe the teachings, and in doing so become ‘frogs’ themselves. One frog spawns another. Ensuring they remain ‘frogs’, obstinately dismissive of what lies outside.

Back in the hills, the crab is restricted in its worldliness by virtue of its size, but still is able to go where ever it can. Its horizons limited by biology. The crab is at home in its own world even if we find it contrary to our expectations. A frog only finds its way into a well be accident and spends the rest of its life trying to get out to answer the night time calls of potential partners in the nearby pond. It is unlikely to start a colony unless another willing mate should fall in too.

Our philosophizing shop keeper wonders why people can’t see they are frogs. Why they still blindly follow books written two thousand years ago, at a time when the world was a very different place. He then switches the subject back to the mountains, and how so many villagers still practice tantra mantra, natural healing and witchcraft.

Everyone’s view of the world is different, shaped by upbringing, culture, religion, environment and education. I always think of the ending to MIB II, when ‘J’ thinks he’s got a handle on everything, and ‘K’ opens the door that says ‘Don’t Open’, to find that their whole world is actually just a locker in bank of lockers, in another world full of weird alien monsters.

We have to stick our heads over the well wall, in order to see what’s outside before we can make any judgment on it.

I’m not sure I have the legs to try and connect these two routes. Maybe I will have to try not to get lost somewhere else instead.

The Place Where We Think From; Perspective in Healthcare

View from my new house in Dhadagaun. A Place to Think.

Compared with many in steady work I have a lot of spare time. My working day is from 8.30am - 4.00pm, but I work only three days per week. The other days are entirely in my hands to fill as the mood takes me. I can do something ‘meaningful’ as Saint-Exupéry's Little Prince learns adults are supposed to do, or I can do nothing. When we consider that though, it is in fact impossible to do nothing. Even if we sit and appear to do nothing, our minds are gently sifting and sorting events from previous days, or even years. With nothing pressing to worry about, our minds sort more effectively. We throw away concerns that are no longer really concerns, and process mental conflicts to a conclusion, instead of letting them buzz round and round in our heads ad infinitum, until they have ‘snowballed’ to abnormal and frightening proportions.

It doesn’t really matter what we do in our spare time, so long as it is done at our own pace. Doing things at our own pace allows mental processing time, albeit subconsciously. Going for a ride on our bike over rough ground requires much concentration, often to the exclusion of everything else, a bit like juggling. I challenge anyone to juggle three balls and think about their shopping list at the same time; it’s not possible. Such activities in themselves become a form of meditation or hypnosis. They are more productive than sleeping, because we have something all encompassing to occupy our conscious brain at the same time. In the early stages of sleep we tend to run through past events, and if those events were cause for anxiety, in the absence of other demanding stimuli like juggling to occupy our minds, we stay alert and never reach a state of ‘calm’. Sleep is therefore poor. It is hypothesized that sleep is more about mental processing than physical recovery, thus we can get away with only four hours of sleep daily, but only if it is quality sleep.

 
Whilst life is never without its stressors, some are more manageable than others. Long term spare time, as opposed to a two week holiday in the Med.; which doesn’t even give time to switch off from work properly before returning for more of the same, allows a real chance to take stock and consider the route to the next desire or goal. We might not know what the next goal is, but with desire we can take steps in the right direction, hoping the true goal will become clear on the way.

 
So, while doing ‘nothing’ recently, I found myself thinking about, thinking. I have been thinking about thinking for some time actually, but the process of sorting all those thoughts into order enough to write about has taken some time. The instigator for wanting to write this is primarily my bewilderment at why the medical profession in many areas still shuns Osteopathy. Distancing themselves from faith healers I can understand, but failing to make an effort to understand something that is 100% scientifically explainable is perplexing to say the least, especially in light of my current employment. 

 
Our thoughts are the result of a combination of the chemical interactions in our brains, and our minds. Scientists and philosophers alike have long tried to establish whether the mind and brain are one and the same, or distinct entities. As far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out. Personally at the moment I favour the separate entities idea. Clinicians favour the ‘same thing’ idea. The Dalai Lama goes for separate. Clinicians tend to be constrained by the thought that everything must be scientifically provable. But if everyone followed all the Dalai Lama’s ideas, which include celibacy, the species would become extinct. So maybe we need to find some middle ground here. The mind has elements that are more than just the sum of interactions between physical bodies (atoms/molecules etc). There is influence from ‘other worldly’ events too, and other unexplained observations. 

 
For example, the Earths tides are created because of the gravitational pull of our moon. Considering that the human body is approximately 65% water, how is it affected by the moon’s forces? We know it is, but quantifying it is not so simple. At the other end of the scale, each of our trillions of cells contains what scientists call ‘junk’ DNA; it comprises 50% of our entire DNA pool. Nature doesn’t create ‘junk’, so what purpose does this ‘redundant’ 50% have? 

 
I am not suggesting we suddenly pay heed to Russell Grant’s Astrology Column, that’s merely one person’s interpretation of potential extra terrestrial influences. This is more a case of considering what we know, or to be more precise, what we think we know, and considering the place from which we think the things we think.

 
We know what we know until we learn something new which supersedes that knowledge. Our new found knowledge re-positions our perspective on life. To quote a line from my favourite movie, Men In Black, “1500 years ago everybody KNEW the Earth was the centre of the universe, 500 years ago everybody KNEW the Earth was flat and 15 minutes ago you KNEW that people are alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll KNOW tomorrow.” That has to be one of the most poignant lines in any movie.

 
The theories of Hipparchus and Ptolemy stated the Earth was at the centre of our Solar system; with the planets, including the sun, revolving around the Earth. This theory stood firm for more than 1500 years until the early 1500s AD, when Copernicus trashed it, saying the Sun was at the centre, and everything else in our system revolved around that. For those 1500 years, everybody KNEW the Earth was the centre of the universe. To contradict this ‘fact’ was considered heretic as Galileo was to find this out the hard way, by standing against that extraordinarily resolute boys club known as the Catholic Church (CC Boys Club).

 
The number of years we live before learning such seminal facts is determined by our openness and opportunities to learn. In the time of Kepler and Copernicus, access to reliable science was more limited than it is today. Thus 1500yrs passed before people came around to a new way of thinking and seeing their world. New knowledge changes the way we view our world and those in it. For someone born in 100BC, whether the Earth revolved around the Sun or vice versa was of little consequence, but for today’s space travelers it’s rather fundamental.

 
Of course not all revelations concern such distant happenings. Early physicians believed our blood was an invariable medium throughout the species. Thus when Blundell performed the first blood transfusion in 1818, supported by the belief that his patient’s internal bleeding would be rectified by supplementing with an external source, his patient died. The reason was not known until Landsteiner’s discovery in 1901 of three distinct blood groups; A, B & C (now known as O); and that each group has a built-in spontaneous defense mechanism that is triggered when mixed with blood from certain other groups. The fourth group, AB, was discovered a year later in 1902. Now of course this fact is considered fundamental basic science. Everybody knows we cannot just inject blood from one person into another, without first knowing which blood group they possess, unless we want to play Russian Roulette with their lives.

 
Nearly 100 yrs passed before physicians stopped killing a high percentage of their patients with this transfusion technique. Now, there is much debate over the ethics of lethal injections in the name of euthanasia. Society’s acceptance of such practice ignores the fact that physicians of old did it in the name of science, supported by the uninformed belief they were helping, despite still mystified as to why many patients died. This is a very real, physical example of changing views based on understanding of the day.

 
Let’s look at a less tangible example of belief. Imagine a child being told by their mother, “If you suck your thumb it will get smaller and when you get older, you won't have one”. There is no validity in this comment; on the contrary, if you continually suck your thumb in your growing years, it is more likely it will get longer! But the child spends the rest of their growing years fearful of putting their hands near their mouth in case they should inadvertently suck a finger or thumb off! In adulthood they might have difficulty eating with their hands as a result of this imprinting or in fact doing anything that involves their hands near their faces. All based on a totally irrational story; blind belief without question. This is called classical conditioning and affects every one of us in many unseen ways. Sucking thumbs is actually an entirely normal practice. Research has shown thumbs are often sucked as a surrogate nipple. An action observed in children who have been shown little physical contact from their mothers in the weaning stages of development.

 
To admit a life was spent under the misapprehension of certain beliefs is difficult. The creationist versus evolutionary theories show just how obstinate some mindsets can be in favour of personal views despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Egos, loss of face or embarrassment are in many ways greater barriers than just being ‘blind’ or unaware of alternative thinking.

 
At other times however, discovery of a significant new fact may spur us on by confirming long held beliefs, encouraging us to continue on our path. 

 
With new understanding our mindsets might view things differently. Thus it must be a great asset to progress to keep an open mind at all times and judge events not solely on scientific findings, but on end results, i.e. what we see and feel. Gladwell explained in ‘Blink’, that our intuitive powers are extraordinarily accurate, simply because they are not just feelings. Intuitions are the result of our brain assimilating an enormous amount of information in a very short period; too much in fact for us to rationalize and express verbally.

 
I read recently another of Gladwell’s short stories called ‘John Rock’s Error’, about the controversy created by the development of the birth control pill, and how subsequent research has shown that our understanding of a normal menstrual cycle is in fact wrong. Rock’s view, was based not only on observations of women in unnatural situations (modern city living), it was also heavily influenced once again by the ‘CC Boys Club’.

 
Scientific opinion on ovarian cancer has changed in light of recent research. It was found the lower incidence of ovarian cancer in the Japanese compared with the Americans is in fact mostly a product of lifestyle and diet. Paradoxically it is irritatingly gratifying how many of today’s medical conundrums conclude unnatural or unhealthy lifestyle and diet to be the cause. In other words, depriving our bodies of essential fuel that allow them to function properly on the one hand, and poisoning them with our toxic environments on the other. 

 
Scientific theories are valid until they are disproved or superseded. But not everything has yet been explained scientifically. All we know is NOT all there is to know. The absence of scientific proof does not mean that which is unexplained is invalid, without credibility or does not work. Science has yet to explain many things; gradually with time and research it explains more and more, but this is only done within the framework that is our current knowledge of the arrangement of things in our universe. Tomorrow, in light of new knowledge, that perspective may change so drastically as to throw all we KNOW now into disarray.

 
Man has been on this planet in his current form for close to 200,000 years, judging by current archeological findings. Whilst he has always used plants as a source of therapeutic remedies, they cannot be classed as pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals have only really been in widespread use across the species for about 120 years. Morphine was first used as an anaesthetic in 1804, followed by cocaine in 1860 and phenol as antiseptic in 1865. This means approximately 199,880 years passed during which we survived well enough, without recourse to drugs, growing to today’s staggering world population of 6,862 million. That’s impressive by any animal’s standards. Clearly the physiology which drives us was working remarkably well. We may not understand it all, but indisputably it works.

 
I am sure even without a lot of expensive research, but just a little education, most people can appreciate a lifetime of burgers and chips is not going to be as healthy as one comprising locally grown, whole foods unadulterated with chemicals. Taking this a little further, if people really knew just what is happening to their food source these days, what the chicken they bought from the supermarket was actually fed on, and what exactly was sprayed onto the salads they think are so healthy, they would be shocked. They would also begin to realise just how far their current food source has strayed from the things our ancestors ate several generations back. (Recommended reading: Michael Pollan’s ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma)

 
Not only has the nutritional value of our foods declined significantly as a result of depleted mineral reserves in land used year after year, with no attempt to replace lost nutrients through the use of real natural organic fertilizers, i.e. manure, but the level of chemical toxicity we are subjected to has increased alarmingly. At a time when we need more good nutrition to help detoxify these unwanted chemicals, we are actually getting less than before. Many of the chemicals we come into contact with today our bodies have not evolved to process at all; cavemen didn’t have to use up valuable energy detoxifying mercury amalgams or polycarbonates! Needless to say, such things hang around in our systems interfering with normal physiology, leading to a wealth of acute and degenerative disorders. This concept doesn’t take a highly educated brain to appreciate. If for every gallon of petrol you put in your car, you also put a handful of powdered plastic, sooner or later the engine will stop.  Its interesting that car manufacturers put ever increasingly sophisticated filters on the fuel line, but we still drink fluorinated and chlorinated water straight from the tap!

 
It is estimated the average human body contains about 10 trillion cells, give or take a few. It is also estimated we befriend 100 trillion bacteria, mostly in our bowels. We really do live on a knife edge balance between staying human, and allowing this profusion of bacterial and fungal spores to take over. Just look how quickly a body starts to decay once dead. The bacteria and mycosis run amok almost immediately once human life has stopped. We live in a true symbiotic relationship; the bacteria manufacture key nutrients essential for human life and help keep the fungus at bay. But our bacteria have not evolved to deal with anti-biotics in our beef and chlorine in our water supply. Pharmaceuticals and increasingly clever technology look for ways to keep us from falling off the knife edge, and yet, the answer is actually very simple. 

 
Instead of spending billions of dollars on scientific research and lining the pockets of drug companies, who fundamentally want to keep us sick or they would go out of business (that sounds cynical maybe, but not when you know about some of the practices carried out in the third world concerning drug supplies), effort should be put back into proper natural farming methods as our early ancestors developed. Thus the overwhelming chronic degenerative conditions seen in the world these days would be significantly reduced. (Dean Ornish’s Spectrum, contains more scientific data on reversing chronic conditions with diet alone, than most can be bothered to wade through. The research is overwhelmingly conclusive).

 
Back to thinking, about thinking, the belief that nature knows best is still, amazingly, contested by some clinicians, and yet those beliefs arise in the face of a lack of real understanding or ignorance. Just like Blundell unwittingly killed off patients ignorant to Landsteiner’s critical discovery 100 years later.

 
Excluding surgical procedures, I wonder how long it will take clinicians to realize it’s better to encourage that which we know works, instead of providing things that interfere with the normal. I am frequently asked in clinic if the nutritional supplements I have recommended will ‘interfere’ with their medication. This thinking shows just how out of touch with nature we have become. It is not possible for something that is essential for health to ‘interfere’. Without it you would be dead, drugs or no drugs! Drugs are designed to interfere with normal physiology and in doing so prevent the end products thought to be causing the problem. To put it bluntly, that’s a pretty arse-about-face way of thinking. To interfere is to fight; to swim against the current. It’s ok while you can keep it up, but entropy always wins. The moment you stop swimming, or tire, the unrelenting current washes you downstream without the slightest concern.

 
Sadly, because so many people don’t allow themselves time to think these days, they always want an instant cure for their health issues, thus the use of drugs will prevail.

 
Ironically the place from which we think historically has relied on the acquisition of new knowledge, and yet when it comes to accepting a natural approach to health, we actually need to unlearn and look backwards to old knowledge that is fast being lost.

Kathmandu, August 2010