Monday, April 14, 2014
Week 14 Cognition: Bringing Forth A World
My favorite article this week was about cuddling and the release of Oxytocin. I loved this article because I think it's easy to forget how healing the simple act of touch can be. I know, from personal experience, that being touched and surrounded by love helps tremendously to heal. Something that Western medicine might be missing is using the sense of touch more as a means of healing. I think the more studies that come out, the more Western doctors will start paying attention. Although, I think most of us already know that love and touch can really help to bring about not only more of "the feel good feeling" but also can allow us to reach a parasympathetic state easier and faster. Yay for touch!
Monday, April 7, 2014
Week 13 Biodiversity
Well, I think it's safe to say that we (humans) act as if we have multiple planets to live on. Our class seems to be well aware of how much waste, pollution, and destruction we are causing, yet none of us know what to do about it. The damage being done to the planet is on such a large scale that it can feel hopeless at times. And even when we think we might be doing good for the world by living a particular lifestyle, we never really know. We don't know the consequences to certain actions we take and we don't know if the way we are living is actually offending or hurting another living thing. Sometimes it's hard for me to see the point in even talking about it when there seems to be no solution. Oy. But I do believe that we can offer some help by helping to heal other human beings. I think the healthier we become on a personal level, the easier it is to make other positive changes in our lives. And the easier it is to do good onto others and the planet. Sick people are currently running the world, and I think that healing on a personal level can actually be very beneficial, indirectly, for even the planet itself.
I enjoyed this weeks discussions, and I'm happy I got exposed to the article put out by Coca-cola. I tend to stay pretty far away from articles on current events because of the extreme opinions of both the article itself, and the bias of how current events get chosen to get written about, so having the chance to read articles in class can be helpful. I have always known Coca-Cola was evil, but this article confirmed it, with its condescending tone towards the people of the world and its cover up lies about wanting to help the world left a sour taste in my mouth. I also found the other articles interesting and I like that our class is bigger now. It's good to hear some new voices.
I think Hillary and Namonia had great points concerning the article titled "Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity In Socio-Ecological Production Landscape". They both brought up the points that this way of living ie, naturally off the land, pre-industrial, has been around forever and now western people are trying to compartmentalize it into a western way of looking at it, when in fact, it's been here since humans have. By the way, I like the definition of compartmentalize and feel it really hits the nail on the head... "Compartmentalization is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance, or the mental discomfort and anxiety caused by a person's having conflicting values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc. within themselves."
It's only now, that westerner's are beginning to take the indigenous way of living seriously. But what makes it so frustrating is that they're trying to group it into parts, and act as if it's somehow a new western theory. GO HUMBLE YOURSELF PEOPLE! Sheesh. Also, you can't put this way of living into groups, it's a holistic way of living. Some people will never get it, I suppose.
I enjoyed this weeks discussions, and I'm happy I got exposed to the article put out by Coca-cola. I tend to stay pretty far away from articles on current events because of the extreme opinions of both the article itself, and the bias of how current events get chosen to get written about, so having the chance to read articles in class can be helpful. I have always known Coca-Cola was evil, but this article confirmed it, with its condescending tone towards the people of the world and its cover up lies about wanting to help the world left a sour taste in my mouth. I also found the other articles interesting and I like that our class is bigger now. It's good to hear some new voices.
I think Hillary and Namonia had great points concerning the article titled "Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity In Socio-Ecological Production Landscape". They both brought up the points that this way of living ie, naturally off the land, pre-industrial, has been around forever and now western people are trying to compartmentalize it into a western way of looking at it, when in fact, it's been here since humans have. By the way, I like the definition of compartmentalize and feel it really hits the nail on the head... "Compartmentalization is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance, or the mental discomfort and anxiety caused by a person's having conflicting values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc. within themselves."
It's only now, that westerner's are beginning to take the indigenous way of living seriously. But what makes it so frustrating is that they're trying to group it into parts, and act as if it's somehow a new western theory. GO HUMBLE YOURSELF PEOPLE! Sheesh. Also, you can't put this way of living into groups, it's a holistic way of living. Some people will never get it, I suppose.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Week 12 Cell Biology and Radioactivity
I enjoyed some of the discussions we had in class last week. Particularly the conversations based around Fukushima. It's very interesting how America chooses to portray the issues around the radioactive spill versus what happened to the people of Japan. Would we be focusing on even the radioactivity if we knew it wasn't going to hit "our" waters? I don't think so. This issue is focused on in the oddest ways. Yes, we all want to eat fish that healthy and from clean waters, but is this really the big issue here? What about the effects of our planet in general? I liked the comments from Sarah and Ayo too, in the way that we've chosen to ignore the direct effects this earthquake and tsunami had on the people.
Learning about cells can be very interesting because of the fact that they are micro looks into the world in general. All the parts up of a cell make up one living unit that's capable of reproduction, signaling, making proteins, excreting, etc. It's interesting to think that in a few hundred years we may find out there are even smaller examples of living units, and on the same note, finding out there are even bigger units (ie bigger than the universe). We always think we get to the bottom of our findings, but there's gotta be even smaller and larger examples. I'm currently learning about our own micro orbits that go on within our bodies and how that mirrors the universe we live in. The cell anatomy and physiology also relate to this. Just smaller versions of our world.
Learning about cells can be very interesting because of the fact that they are micro looks into the world in general. All the parts up of a cell make up one living unit that's capable of reproduction, signaling, making proteins, excreting, etc. It's interesting to think that in a few hundred years we may find out there are even smaller examples of living units, and on the same note, finding out there are even bigger units (ie bigger than the universe). We always think we get to the bottom of our findings, but there's gotta be even smaller and larger examples. I'm currently learning about our own micro orbits that go on within our bodies and how that mirrors the universe we live in. The cell anatomy and physiology also relate to this. Just smaller versions of our world.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Week 9: A Question of Balance
I liked the article "pH Balance: Acids and Alkalis And Anti-Oxidants" because it encouraged its reader to stay away from processed foods (high acid content/low pH) and to eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. I don't think you can go wrong with something like that. I think it can be dangerous to recommend people eat the sugary fruits though. A lot of people in this country are dealing with massive amounts of yeast and dampness in the body and eating sweet fruit could encourage more yeast growth.
I'm not sure I believe all the reasoning behind pH balancing. I do see the validity but like the article also touched on, different parts of our body have different pHs, so testing out our acid and alkaline numbers could be very inaccurate and we could read into the results wrong. Also, pH levels are effected so easily. I could go down in pH drastically because of one cup of coffee, but one cup of coffee isn't going to kill me. This could really freak someone out if they tested their pH right after drinking a soda or a coffee.
This evening I was impressed with Gazania and her presentation. I liked how a personal story encouraged her to share with us the importance of natural deoderant. I have now been wearing my homemade deoderent everyday and I love it. Thanks Gazania!
I'm not sure I believe all the reasoning behind pH balancing. I do see the validity but like the article also touched on, different parts of our body have different pHs, so testing out our acid and alkaline numbers could be very inaccurate and we could read into the results wrong. Also, pH levels are effected so easily. I could go down in pH drastically because of one cup of coffee, but one cup of coffee isn't going to kill me. This could really freak someone out if they tested their pH right after drinking a soda or a coffee.
This evening I was impressed with Gazania and her presentation. I liked how a personal story encouraged her to share with us the importance of natural deoderant. I have now been wearing my homemade deoderent everyday and I love it. Thanks Gazania!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
The Chemistry of Marijuana in Medicine
I have so much more that I want to talk about on this subject. I didn't know I was so scared of public speaking until I sat back down after my presentation and realized I forgot to mention almost half my findings and points.
Finding clear studies without an agenda is always hard, but I think it is especially difficult in the case of marijuana as a medicine. Along with marijuana being a part of medicine since at least 3000 BC, like we see in the Chinese Ideogram, I wanted to discuss how easily it can be looked at as something criminalized purely because of historical and current racism and classism. The Westerner's (Colonialist) were not the first one's to discover marijuana, nor did they catch on to its medicinal qualities until at least 1,000 years after the rest of the world had. Not to be frank, but Westerners, and especially those in power ie Colonialist thinkers, tend to be some jealous haters. It's pretty much as easy as that.
I think this is still currently our issue in not being able to talk about marijuana's medicinal qualities in a factual matter. It is still criminalized, except for now it's the pharmaceutical industry that can't figure out a proper way to make it into patent form, so they continue to keep the general public in the dark about its facts. Keeping many people in ignorance and then criminalizing many more. Capitalism at its finest.
I also wanted to touch on the point of lung health and smoking. I've heard a lot of people say different things about smoking marijuana. I think it's very important that we discuss with our patients the effects of smoking weed on the lungs, especially if they are having troubles with the particular area. Claiming that weed is "medicine" and then not facing the direct negative effects can be dangerous. Marijuana can cause many people problems with the lungs including chronic bronchitis, aveolar problems, less oxygen exchange, air flow obstruction, emphasema and even cancer.
This is where juicing can come into play, and if they are looking for a high a long with the healing direct them more towards tinctures. The heat and chemical reaction of marijuana on the lungs can be as detrimental as a cigarette in some ways.
As I discussed in class, cannabis can help people with an overactive immune system but it hinders those with a low amount of white blood cells by supressing T cell function and cell mediated immunity. It's been known to not only ease but also heal such things as Epilepsy, Huntington's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Tourette's Syndrome, Sleep Apnea, GI Disorders, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Glaucoma.
Cannabis also helps with nausea, appetite, anxiety, and body pains because the THC and CBD's activate the CB1 and CB2 receptors inside the Central Nervous System.
Components of Cannabis
Tetrahydrocannabinol
Cannabidiol-type
CBD
Cannabigerol-type
CBG
Finding clear studies without an agenda is always hard, but I think it is especially difficult in the case of marijuana as a medicine. Along with marijuana being a part of medicine since at least 3000 BC, like we see in the Chinese Ideogram, I wanted to discuss how easily it can be looked at as something criminalized purely because of historical and current racism and classism. The Westerner's (Colonialist) were not the first one's to discover marijuana, nor did they catch on to its medicinal qualities until at least 1,000 years after the rest of the world had. Not to be frank, but Westerners, and especially those in power ie Colonialist thinkers, tend to be some jealous haters. It's pretty much as easy as that.
I think this is still currently our issue in not being able to talk about marijuana's medicinal qualities in a factual matter. It is still criminalized, except for now it's the pharmaceutical industry that can't figure out a proper way to make it into patent form, so they continue to keep the general public in the dark about its facts. Keeping many people in ignorance and then criminalizing many more. Capitalism at its finest.
I also wanted to touch on the point of lung health and smoking. I've heard a lot of people say different things about smoking marijuana. I think it's very important that we discuss with our patients the effects of smoking weed on the lungs, especially if they are having troubles with the particular area. Claiming that weed is "medicine" and then not facing the direct negative effects can be dangerous. Marijuana can cause many people problems with the lungs including chronic bronchitis, aveolar problems, less oxygen exchange, air flow obstruction, emphasema and even cancer.
This is where juicing can come into play, and if they are looking for a high a long with the healing direct them more towards tinctures. The heat and chemical reaction of marijuana on the lungs can be as detrimental as a cigarette in some ways.
As I discussed in class, cannabis can help people with an overactive immune system but it hinders those with a low amount of white blood cells by supressing T cell function and cell mediated immunity. It's been known to not only ease but also heal such things as Epilepsy, Huntington's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Tourette's Syndrome, Sleep Apnea, GI Disorders, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Glaucoma.
Cannabis also helps with nausea, appetite, anxiety, and body pains because the THC and CBD's activate the CB1 and CB2 receptors inside the Central Nervous System.
Components of Cannabis
Tetrahydrocannabinol
Cannabidiol-type
CBD
Cannabigerol-type
CBG
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Week 8: The Chemistry of Household Products
Ummm, after looking under my kitchen sink I realize that I need to start treating a lot of my cleaning supplies like I do my food by making better choices that lean more towards products in their natural state and products that do less harm to the world, and my own body. I do use baking soda, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide (and lemons, which aren't under the sink) where I can, but I don't think I do enough.
Along with these three items there is Windex, Method Kitchen Cleaner, Bleach, Method dish soap, wood polish, and Finish cleaner for the dishwasher.
WINDEX: NH3 ammonia plus detergents, dyes and fragrances
Method Kitchen Cleaner: Corn and coconut derived biodegradable surfactants, corn based cleaning salt, soda ash, potassium hydrtae, fragrance oil, color, and purified water.
Bleach: NaClO sodium hypochlorite
Method Dish Soap: water, sodium lauryl sulfate, lauramine oxide, Decyl glusoside, lauryl glucoside, glycerin, alcohol, sodium chloride, citrid acid, methylisothiazolinone, fragrance, polymeric yellow, polymeric red
Vinegar: C2H4O2 acetic acid, ethanoic acid
Baking soda: NaHcO3 sodium bicarbonate
The other two cleaners don't have ingredients listed.
I am going to start researching the best ways to clean with natural products cause I do think it is best to avoid any product that is mass produced. The thing is, I'm a sucker for a good cleaning product...
The Mediterranean Diet
These two articles talked about the fact that if you eat whole foods, including vegetables, fruits, legumes, meat, fish and grains can lead to healthier, longer life. They called this style of eating "the Mediterranean Diet" although from what they said in these articles, they really just mean a diet full of whole foods and nothing processed.
They also talk about the "low fat" diet and how although it can lower cholesterol, it does not lower the chances of dying or suffering from myocardial infarction or coronary heart disease.
Along with these three items there is Windex, Method Kitchen Cleaner, Bleach, Method dish soap, wood polish, and Finish cleaner for the dishwasher.
WINDEX: NH3 ammonia plus detergents, dyes and fragrances
Method Kitchen Cleaner: Corn and coconut derived biodegradable surfactants, corn based cleaning salt, soda ash, potassium hydrtae, fragrance oil, color, and purified water.
Bleach: NaClO sodium hypochlorite
Method Dish Soap: water, sodium lauryl sulfate, lauramine oxide, Decyl glusoside, lauryl glucoside, glycerin, alcohol, sodium chloride, citrid acid, methylisothiazolinone, fragrance, polymeric yellow, polymeric red
Vinegar: C2H4O2 acetic acid, ethanoic acid
Baking soda: NaHcO3 sodium bicarbonate
The other two cleaners don't have ingredients listed.
I am going to start researching the best ways to clean with natural products cause I do think it is best to avoid any product that is mass produced. The thing is, I'm a sucker for a good cleaning product...
The Mediterranean Diet
These two articles talked about the fact that if you eat whole foods, including vegetables, fruits, legumes, meat, fish and grains can lead to healthier, longer life. They called this style of eating "the Mediterranean Diet" although from what they said in these articles, they really just mean a diet full of whole foods and nothing processed.
They also talk about the "low fat" diet and how although it can lower cholesterol, it does not lower the chances of dying or suffering from myocardial infarction or coronary heart disease.
Week Seven Electorchemistry and Alchemy
Semiconductor of the Week
A semiconductor is a material that can conduct electricity, but less than a conductor. Semiconductors have unique physical properties that are a mix of a conductor like aluminum and an insulator like glass. This week I am choosing Germanium because it one of the most common elemental semiconductors.
Germanium is a chemical element with symbol Ge and an atomic number of 32. It is a lustrous, hard, grayish-white. Purified germanium is a semiconductor with an appearance most similar to elemental silicon. Like silicon, germanium naturally reacts and forms complexes with oxygen in nature. Unlike silicon, it is too reactive to be found naturally on Earth in the free (native) state.
Semiconductors are mainly classified into two categories: Intrinsic and Extrinsic. An intrinsic semiconductor material is chemically very pure and possesses poor conductivity. Where as an extrinsic semiconductor is an improved intrinsic semiconductor with a small amount of impurities added by a process, known as doping, which alters the electrical properties of the semiconductor and improves its conductivity. Introducing impurities into the semiconductor materials (doping process) can control their conductivity.
Science Toys
I can't find the link for this question so this section is TO BE CONTINUED
Alchemy
I think alchemy is a beautiful practice of science, magic, and art combined. Unlike the very single minded, Western way of looking at Science, Alchemy has a way of viewing the world and its elements as a sort of magical and spiritual study. I think this is very important and it's something we are missing today in modern science. I don't understand why in the past 100 years or so, there's been such huge debates about such things as Darwin Vs. God. Why can't it be both? Why can't we incorporate the pure magic of life into our sciences and not have it be so black and white? What many Westerners can't seem to understand or respect is the history of this planet and it's people; That people have been surviving and discovering and learning long before the Colonialists came along. I think humbling one's self and opening your eyes to the magic we witness every day in this life could really help to balance the sciences that lead the world today. Science and magic should have never been separated in the first place.
A semiconductor is a material that can conduct electricity, but less than a conductor. Semiconductors have unique physical properties that are a mix of a conductor like aluminum and an insulator like glass. This week I am choosing Germanium because it one of the most common elemental semiconductors.
Germanium is a chemical element with symbol Ge and an atomic number of 32. It is a lustrous, hard, grayish-white. Purified germanium is a semiconductor with an appearance most similar to elemental silicon. Like silicon, germanium naturally reacts and forms complexes with oxygen in nature. Unlike silicon, it is too reactive to be found naturally on Earth in the free (native) state.
Semiconductors are mainly classified into two categories: Intrinsic and Extrinsic. An intrinsic semiconductor material is chemically very pure and possesses poor conductivity. Where as an extrinsic semiconductor is an improved intrinsic semiconductor with a small amount of impurities added by a process, known as doping, which alters the electrical properties of the semiconductor and improves its conductivity. Introducing impurities into the semiconductor materials (doping process) can control their conductivity.
Science Toys
I can't find the link for this question so this section is TO BE CONTINUED
Alchemy
I think alchemy is a beautiful practice of science, magic, and art combined. Unlike the very single minded, Western way of looking at Science, Alchemy has a way of viewing the world and its elements as a sort of magical and spiritual study. I think this is very important and it's something we are missing today in modern science. I don't understand why in the past 100 years or so, there's been such huge debates about such things as Darwin Vs. God. Why can't it be both? Why can't we incorporate the pure magic of life into our sciences and not have it be so black and white? What many Westerners can't seem to understand or respect is the history of this planet and it's people; That people have been surviving and discovering and learning long before the Colonialists came along. I think humbling one's self and opening your eyes to the magic we witness every day in this life could really help to balance the sciences that lead the world today. Science and magic should have never been separated in the first place.
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