Science in Antiquity: Part 10

 

Many modern people have a very limited view of history. They can only see or think about five or ten years into the past. They see history as boring and they think of the ancients as ignorant and backward. This was actually not true. What the ancients lacked was the modern accumulation of facts. An ancient Israelite would have been very puzzled and culture-shocked to have been dumped into the modern world, but he or she could have eventually learned to drive a car or to cook on a stove or to use a cellphone.

The ancients were just as intelligent as we are but the accumulation of scientific facts had not yet reached a critical point. Human knowledge took centuries to double, fact by fact. As knowledge accumulated, the rate of accumulation began to speed up. Every answer exposes a new question. Buckminster Fuller spoke of the Knowledge Doubling Curve which was relatively flat for centuries, then began a slow climb, and then went into an explosive upward thrust.

By the end of the 19^th Century, knowledge was doubling once per century. By about 1945, the rate of doubling was about every 25 years. By 1982, the rate was about every 12-13 months. By 2020, the doubling was occurring about every 12 hours. With at least 50,000,000,000 devices now operating and with the rise of artificial intelligence, the rate may now be in minutes.

 

Ca 1500 BC/BCE: 1. Chinese mathematicians work on permutations and probability theory.

            2. Hindu writers mention ants being attracted to a patient’s urine as a symptom of diabetes.

Ca 1550 BC: 1. In Myanmar/Burma, copper is made into bronze.

            2. An Egyptian physician, Hesy-Ra, mentions frequent urination as a symptom of diabetes.

Ca 1750 BC/BCE:  Babylon: square and cube roots, linear and quadratic equations, Pythagorean Theorem.

Ca 1800 BC/BCE: 1. Bronze is in use in China.

            2. The Berlin Papyrus 6619, found in Egypt, describes algebra.

Ca 1890 BC/BCE: The Moscow Mathematical Papyrus, found in Egypt, speaks of applied mathematics: ship construction, beer concentrations, worker efficiency, Pythagorean triples, etc.

Ezekiel 4:9 Cereals

This is not a joke.  There is a breakfast cereal named Ezekiel 4:9.   It is produced in the State of California (USA) by the Food for Life Baking Company.

The cereal is multigrain (wheat, barley, millet, lentils, soybeans, and spelt).  I bought a box of the Ezekiel Almond Cereal to test it.  If you eat this cereal, expect that it will have little inherent taste and will be highly crunchy.  The fiber count is 6 grams per a ½ cup (57 grams) serving.  This is 24% of the recommended daily human fiber intake.  Total fats are 3 grams.  Cholesterol is 0 grams , so this may be an option for those who need to restrict their lipid intake.  The sodium and potassium levels are 190 and 220 milligrams respectively.  The sugars are less than 1 gram but this is counterbalanced by the 38 grams of total carbohydrates.

I personally found the cereal to be mostly inedible by itself but, with added bran flakes and cut fresh strawberries, I could eat it.  It would not be one of my favorites.

The included grains were used mainly to feed cattle; they were used to make bread by people who were extremely poor or during a time of famine.  The Israelites considered it to be a humiliating defilement to be forced to mix these grains together and eat them.

A sarcastic response.  Be warned that it contains vulgarities.

http://www.nobeliefs.com/washingtonnews/EzekielBread.htm

Is Obesity a Sin?, Part 2

In no particular order:

1.     Anything which more than momentarily distracts you from God should be stripped from your life.

2.     Your body is the Temple of God and be maintained with reverence, just as you would maintain your church sanctuary.

3.     If the first thing you think when you wake up each morning is food, you may have a problem.

4.     Food is often not the real problem.  Often food is the “medicine” used to dull the pain of some other issue.  The pain is only temporarily relieved and more food is needed.

5.     If you think something is a sin and still willfully engage in the activity, it is a sin for you.

6.     Increased weight can predispose a person to Type 2 Diabetes, stroke, heart attacks, sleep apnea, blindness, and neuropathies in the extremities leading to amputations.

Links with various viewpoints:

http://calorielab.com/news/2006/08/29/lard-have-mercy-the-christian-obesity-epidemic/

http://www.christianpost.com/news/firm-faith-fat-body-study-finds-high-rate-of-obesity-among-religious-49568/

http://www.christianity.com/christian%20living/features/11622588/ 

 

http://conservapedia.com/Overcoming_obesity_with_the_aid_of_Christian_faith

http://www.religiontoday.com/news/food-for-thought-on-america-s-obesity-problem.html

http://www.cherylcope.com/obesity-in-the-church

http://www.fatandproud.com/ 

Book Comment: The New Bible Cure for Diabetes

The New Bible Cure for Diabetes (2009), by Dr. Don Colbert, has seen at least four printings (1979, 1980, 1982, and 2009). The book is written from a scientific perspective with Bible verses interspersed for encouragement and advice.

Dr. Colbert explains exactly what diabetes is and describes its symptoms and long term complications. There is a detailed explanation of the glycemic index and a discussion of the physiology of fats and fibers. The doctor details a four-pronged attack on the disease; physical activity, weight loss, nutrients and supplements, and spiritual and emotional strength. He presents a step-by-step plan for battling the disease.

Dr. Colbert has written numerous Bible Cure books, each about a different illness: cancer, back pain, allergies, memory loss, irritable bowel syndrome, skin disorders, headaches, and others.