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Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

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Re: Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

#191

Post by matheusmoreira »

butwhywhyoh wrote: post #61
elil17 wrote: post #49

I’m thankful for yeast. It’s so, so convenient that we have a non-pathogenic bacteria which will eat pretty much any simple sugar, can be found on the surfaces of most fruits, and is essentially effortless to cultivate, which also does a bunch of useful things like leaven bread and make a bunch of delicious short chain fatty acids (both in bread and on their own, like in marmite) and make alcohol (although that one m…

I'm thankful for oxygen because we can breathe it! And it can be found pretty much everywhere in the atmosphere of planet Earth. And I'm thankful for all the other elements that I'm composed of. They can even be used to do other miraculous things. Wonderful!

I'm thankful for mitochondria which allows us to use the oxygen to perform aerobic respiration, enabling more complex forms of life. It seems they were once bacteria which were somehow absorbed by eukaryote cells and turned into an organelle, an hydro-eletro-chemical power plant. Thanks bacteria!

Re: Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

#192

Post by pkdpic »

wintermutestwin wrote: post #94

I'll take this space to mention two simple life changing gratitude practices that I have habitualized: 1. Every morning, before I allow myself to look at email/news/etc, I think of three things that I am grateful for. 2. Every night at bedtime, my partner and I tell each other three things we are grateful for about each other and one thing that we are grateful for about ourselves. I find that bookending my days with…

I love this and Im going to try this with my partner. Thank you for sharing it :^)

Re: Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

#193

Post by matheusmoreira »

dgb23 wrote: post #72
pfdietz wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeast are not bacteria. They are eukaryotes.

I‘m thankful for nerds who make corrections so I can learn some interesting fact.

I'm thankful for wikipedia which has probably taught me more biology than my professors ever did. So many detailed articles, and it's actually fun to read them because they contain so many details that never seem to get mentioned in school. The abundance of links lead to a fun exploration of the subject and a massive respect for nature and its designs.

Re: Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

#194

Post by bumby »

HWR_14 wrote: post #140
elil17 wrote: post #49

I’m thankful for yeast. It’s so, so convenient that we have a non-pathogenic bacteria which will eat pretty much any simple sugar, can be found on the surfaces of most fruits, and is essentially effortless to cultivate, which also does a bunch of useful things like leaven bread and make a bunch of delicious short chain fatty acids (both in bread and on their own, like in marmite) and make alcohol (although that one m…

Alcohol let our ancestors survive. Weakly alcoholic beer was far healthier than water because its production likely killed germs in the water.

Edward Slingerland Haha written about a hypothesis that beer was the major reason for inventing agriculture. I don’t know how well received that theory is, but it was an interesting and unique take

Re: Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

#195

Post by dan_mctree »

victorcharlie wrote: post #86
dgb23 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I‘m thankful for nerds who make corrections so I can learn some interesting fact.

Actually, yeasts are unicellular fungus. I believe that fungus are the most important life-form in this planet by far . Pretty cool, huh? :)

>I believe that fungus are the most important life-form in this planet by far.

Would love to hear more about this!

Re: Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

#196

Post by igorkraw »

pkdpic wrote: post #176

Im thankful to have a job and a roof over my head and a little bit of savings. Not having to really worry about money still blows my mind now and then. Looking across the street every day in California and seeing the homelessness crisis in full swing is an ever present reminder of what this economy and this society can do to you if you slip up for even a second and / or have even a minor run of bad luck. Working in s…

If you can and aren't already, maybe consider organising with less privileged workers for things like striking in unison. Or getting politically active to grow economy and society so it will be kinder and allow a slip up.

One of the many reasons I would never move to the US is that in Europe I don't feel like a minor slip up or bad luck will send me into financial ruin. I'll need surgery on my shoulder soon and hopefully it should be fully covered by my health insurance, no added charges. It's an example that comes up again and again and I'm sure people in your position worry less about it, but it's something I keep seeing play a role with my acquaintances and online

Re: Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

#197

Post by throwamon »

krisrm wrote: post #35

Realized after reading this that it's American Thanksgiving today. Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends. I'm thankful for a lovely forum where we can read and share articles like this one.

On Thanksgiving I'm especially thankful I'm not a Native American living a few centuries or decades or even seconds ago.

Re: Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

#198

Post by [deleted] »

LiquidPolymer wrote: post #187
pkdpic wrote: post #176

Im thankful to have a job and a roof over my head and a little bit of savings. Not having to really worry about money still blows my mind now and then. Looking across the street every day in California and seeing the homelessness crisis in full swing is an ever present reminder of what this economy and this society can do to you if you slip up for even a second and / or have even a minor run of bad luck. Working in s…

This strikes home for me. I come from an extended family of laborers and addicts. All of us had the same future: miserable work, low wages, multiple bankruptcies, and early death. I’m 57. I’ve worked as a photographer for 32 years, made a great living and traveled the world. I’ve collaborated with incredible people, and seen (and documented) amazing things. I live in a beautiful house (I paid it off years ago) in a g…

[deleted]

Re: Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

#199

Post by chronogram »

elil17 wrote: post #49

I’m thankful for yeast. It’s so, so convenient that we have a non-pathogenic bacteria which will eat pretty much any simple sugar, can be found on the surfaces of most fruits, and is essentially effortless to cultivate, which also does a bunch of useful things like leaven bread and make a bunch of delicious short chain fatty acids (both in bread and on their own, like in marmite) and make alcohol (although that one m…

> alcohol (although that one maybe does more harm than good)!

Alcohol in the medical field is critical in doing good. A lot of harm has been prevented by alcohol.

Re: Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful

#200

Post by sm4rk0 »

tejohnso wrote: post #123
arduinomancer wrote: post #106

#5 is actually pretty amazing if you think about it If zero-calorie sweeteners didn't exist I feel like we would view discovering one as a holy grail/miracle drug I bet a ton of obesity has been prevented just due to diet soda Imagine if the same thing existed for carbs

I wonder why #5 singles out aspartame though.

That's really weird. I'm not thankful for aspartame or other sweeteners, and even less thankful for corrupt food agencies approving them. Refined sugars aren't healthy, but aspartame isn't a solution. In my household, a kilogram of sugar lasts for months if not a year. Yes, we do buy food with added sugar, but always avoid artificial sweeteners, except when they are unavoidable in drugs or food supplements. I'm 192cm 75kg in early 40s and just occasionally ride a bike or take a walk.

#5 is like: I'm thankful that you can smoke a cigarette and not die immediatelly of it.

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