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1 - The theory of alcohol
It is a common assumption, that the consumption of alcohol affect the abilty of the mind in a negative direction. In the short term, this is without doubt true; most people have had the experience of getting seriously drunk, leaving only the most basic brainfunctions alive - such as oinking, drooling and crawling on all four. Luckily, this condition is only temporary, and normally goes away after a good night of sleep. Sadly, more and more scientists claim, that prolonged alcohol use irretrievably damages the abilities of the mind. These erroneous claim are luckily easy to refute:
Consider the following: Pro prima: The human brain is a network of cells, through which information passes. This neural network works under the same conditions as, for instance, a computer network, and can as such not funtion much faster than the slowest connection. A cimputer network, comprised largely of super conductors and fiber optic cables can not perform well, if somewhere along the line, there is a slow analogue telephone connection, slowing traffic down. Likewise within neurology: The brain can not function much faster than the slowest brain cells.
If we then consider pro secundo, that when organisms are subjected to harmful stimuli, such as alcohol (which admittedly is a toxic), it will always be the weakest organisms that succumb first. The end result of prolonged alcohol consumption will therefore be the slow but sure eradication of the brains' slowest and least viable cells. The logical conclusion to that is that the brain will start functioning faster and more efficiently, and that the consumption of alcohol actually heightens intelligence. Quod erat demonstrandum. Gaudeamus igitur!
2 - The theory of grain growing.
The first and largest revolution in early human society happened in the stone age, when the hunter-gatherer nomads developed into agrarian civilizations. No-one, as yet, have been able to come up with a satisfactory explanation as to why this happened - especially because hunters normally have an easy unhindered life compared to agriculturalists. Hunters only have to work 5 hours per day to forage, whereas farmers normally have to toil from sun-up till sun-down to feed their family.
It is therefore hard to imagine, that the transition from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists happened voluntarily - the hunters of the time were not likely to have thought: "If we start working our asses off, growing this grain stuff, patiently wait while it matures, harvest it, separate the seed from the chaff, grind the seeds to flour, make a dough from flour, yeast and water, and bake the dough to bread, then....yeah well it will hardly be any easier than killing a deer in the woods, but it will be an interesting change at least..." No, they are not very likely to have thought that at all, are they...
You have to wonder why they suddenly started working themselves to death as farmers instead of just getting the food that was right on their doorstep, so to speak. It was hardly because they developed a taste for white bread, as opposed to wild boar or feshly caught cod or blue berries.
We probably have to think simpler than that. Bread is not the only thing you can make out of grain. Grain can also be used to brew beer! And that is probably the main reason why the hunter-gatherers of the stone age settled down as farmers - to be able to brew and drink copious amounts of beer. The early hunter-gatherers may have randomly discovered the art of beer brewing, and thought: "This stuff tastes good. Let's have some more of that." They then proceeded to totally reorganize their entire community, with the aim of growing grain for beer brewing. The bread making came later, when they discovered that if you live entirely on beer, you very quickly become malnourished.
CHEERS
Asmodean
It is a common assumption, that the consumption of alcohol affect the abilty of the mind in a negative direction. In the short term, this is without doubt true; most people have had the experience of getting seriously drunk, leaving only the most basic brainfunctions alive - such as oinking, drooling and crawling on all four. Luckily, this condition is only temporary, and normally goes away after a good night of sleep. Sadly, more and more scientists claim, that prolonged alcohol use irretrievably damages the abilities of the mind. These erroneous claim are luckily easy to refute:
Consider the following: Pro prima: The human brain is a network of cells, through which information passes. This neural network works under the same conditions as, for instance, a computer network, and can as such not funtion much faster than the slowest connection. A cimputer network, comprised largely of super conductors and fiber optic cables can not perform well, if somewhere along the line, there is a slow analogue telephone connection, slowing traffic down. Likewise within neurology: The brain can not function much faster than the slowest brain cells.
If we then consider pro secundo, that when organisms are subjected to harmful stimuli, such as alcohol (which admittedly is a toxic), it will always be the weakest organisms that succumb first. The end result of prolonged alcohol consumption will therefore be the slow but sure eradication of the brains' slowest and least viable cells. The logical conclusion to that is that the brain will start functioning faster and more efficiently, and that the consumption of alcohol actually heightens intelligence. Quod erat demonstrandum. Gaudeamus igitur!
2 - The theory of grain growing.
The first and largest revolution in early human society happened in the stone age, when the hunter-gatherer nomads developed into agrarian civilizations. No-one, as yet, have been able to come up with a satisfactory explanation as to why this happened - especially because hunters normally have an easy unhindered life compared to agriculturalists. Hunters only have to work 5 hours per day to forage, whereas farmers normally have to toil from sun-up till sun-down to feed their family.
It is therefore hard to imagine, that the transition from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists happened voluntarily - the hunters of the time were not likely to have thought: "If we start working our asses off, growing this grain stuff, patiently wait while it matures, harvest it, separate the seed from the chaff, grind the seeds to flour, make a dough from flour, yeast and water, and bake the dough to bread, then....yeah well it will hardly be any easier than killing a deer in the woods, but it will be an interesting change at least..." No, they are not very likely to have thought that at all, are they...
You have to wonder why they suddenly started working themselves to death as farmers instead of just getting the food that was right on their doorstep, so to speak. It was hardly because they developed a taste for white bread, as opposed to wild boar or feshly caught cod or blue berries.
We probably have to think simpler than that. Bread is not the only thing you can make out of grain. Grain can also be used to brew beer! And that is probably the main reason why the hunter-gatherers of the stone age settled down as farmers - to be able to brew and drink copious amounts of beer. The early hunter-gatherers may have randomly discovered the art of beer brewing, and thought: "This stuff tastes good. Let's have some more of that." They then proceeded to totally reorganize their entire community, with the aim of growing grain for beer brewing. The bread making came later, when they discovered that if you live entirely on beer, you very quickly become malnourished.
CHEERS
Asmodean
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