by Tyler Cowen
on December 26, 2009 at 1:27 pm
in Web/Tech |
1. The high IQs of dyslexics.
2. What determines how well you keep resolutions?
3. Which are the most remote places on earth? A map.
4. Non-reversing mirrors.
5. Markets in everything: chemotherapy cooking classes.
6. Was Jesus wealthy?
Was Jesus poor?
Was the Pope Catholic?
Sorry the last post makes clear that I don’t know how to spell “frankincense,” and simply cut and pasted the correct spelling without deleting the old :-).
If people need more glucose for mentally challenging tasks, is taking the chocolate cake rather than the fruit salad a failure of will power, or sensible self-maintenance?
I understand that the intent of the remoteness map was to show which inhabited regions are farthest from markets. Technically I do not live in an inhabited region, and markets generally don’t function in a traditional sense here. Still, I feel a bit left out, as my entire (rather remote) continent is missing.
Under the radar, Obama pushes for Patriot Act renewal
An Atlantic article on the same topic:
Trying to use the New Testament to justify the message that “money is the secret to happiness” is like (I couldn’t think of something ridiculous enough to do this justice).
Parsing Scripture to conclude that Jesus was wealthy reminds me of the joke about the man who read the verse about Judas hanging himself and then flipped to the verse that said “Go thou and do likewise.” The alleged senior pastor in the article doesn’t even know his own Bible. He is confused with tradition, as the Bible mentions nothing of a donkey being the transportation for Mary and Joseph, although it does mention their use of birds for sacrifice – the substitute for Jewish families too poor to own the four-legged variety.
But while prosperity gospels have gotten out of hand, I don’t think they do too much harm if people follow through on using their prosperity to bless the less fortunate. At least, I think that’s less harmful than a lot of government aid…..
“If people need more glucose for mentally challenging tasks, is taking the chocolate cake rather than the fruit salad a failure of will power, or sensible self-maintenance?”
It will set them up for failure since dumping that much sugar in your blood all at once will cause a sugar crash within a couple hours and you’ll be too out of it to exercise willpower.
The best way to get glucose for your brain is to eat enough protein. Your liver converts the glucogenic amino acids in protein into glucose through a process called gluconeogensis. Unlike getting glucose from a high-carb food, though, your insulin levels won’t skyrocket, and eating protein and fat-rich foods stimulates the release of glucagon, which counteracts the harmful effects of insulin. You can’t develop insulin resistance from eating meat, but you can from eating cake.
So feed your brain with meat, eggs, cheese, and a serving of not-so-saccharine fruit on the side. You’re not giving up that much either, since cheese and fruit together are pretty rich.
cf the perfectly-named Point Nemo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Nemo#Oceanic_Pole_of_Inaccessibility
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