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I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

theguardian.com

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Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#681

Post by edeion »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #583
zadler wrote: post #562

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still, it’s hard to justify a grouse signaling a coming death by sitting on top of a house. That is magic to us at this point and such a tale would usually be met with skepticism. The things about the weather I don’t have much of a problem with.

Seems perfectly possible to me a bird could sense the difference between a vibrant, active person and a person close to death.

Seems even more possible to me that a grandmother can use something that's fascinating a kid to tell them about bad things looming. That's somehow enchanting the situation.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#682

Post by jll29 »

daniellarusso wrote: post #479
lukeck wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One difference between the current and previous generations is just how much information is recorded by and about us. There will be a lot more evidence of the existence and experiences of people alive today than people of a century ago. Whether people will care to look is a different matter.

One large-scale EMP incident, and that is no longer the case. We have alot more data now, but I am not sure how durable it all is. I have quite a few DVDs and hard drives that no longer work.

CDs/DVDs typically oxidize after 15 years.

Print the book version on vellum, and you'll preserve it for a few thousand years (or ANSI paper with the infinity sign, which supposedly lasts for at least 750 years).

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#683

Post by BearOso »

tailspin2019 wrote: post #663
kebman wrote: post #399

Ah, the simple life... My grandfather would take me along and we'd go to the neighbour to fetch eggs. He had a plastic bucket that he put them in with some old newspapers scraps in the bottom. I heard that before the war they didn't even need money. He'd simply bring a bucket of milk, and he'd get a bucket of eggs in return. But it was of course a lot simpler to bring money. It was far cheaper than in the store too.…

This highly enjoyable comment reminds me of the pleasure of reading Walden (by Henry David Thoreau)

Except Walden was either satire or hypocrisy. Thoreau was rich through inheritance. Emerson lent him the cabin and land. It was only a 20-minute walk from his mother’s house, where he went for dinner every night.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#684

Post by diehunde »

jonnycomputer wrote: post #594
diehunde wrote: post #180

Trying to eat something different everyday is an American obsession that I'll never understand. It's just so stressful and inconvenient. I grew up in a small town where eating the same for dinner everyday was extremely common. Tea or coffee and bread. The only variable would be what you put in your bread. Some days it would be butter, some days it would jam. Some days it would be honey, some days it would be avocado.

An American obsession? I think that is a gross over-generalization. I am American, by birth, and am happy eating mostly the same thing day after day. My spouse is from Poland, and she is not satisfied by that approach to food. Not by a long shot.

I haven't yet met an American that won't give me a weird look when I say I eat the same for dinner every day, tea and bread.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#685

Post by chrisco255 »

hzay wrote: post #285
chrisco255 wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I’ve heard that humans had a long period of time after we became sedentary and started relying on agriculture that the average height decreased significantly, and it was only in recent centuries that it has gotten back to normal due to more varied nutrition. So even if you can technically survive on a very limited diet, it can still have negative effects. It's not the variety of the diet but the quality of the food…

> It's fine, however, to eat nothing but meat and many societies did this for hundreds of thousands of years. Other than those who live in the arctic, which societies did this? You have sources? Thanks!

https://israelheadlinenews.com/for-2-million-years-humans-at...

Also the Maasai tribe in Africa: https://www.wired.com/2012/09/milk-meat-and-blood-how-diet-d...

The Sami in Scandinavia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1mi_people

So really all societies did this until the advent of agriculture ~10K years ago. And even then, the agricultural revolution was not evenly distributed and hunting or fishing as a primary source of nutrition was common even just 150 years ago.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#686

Post by chrisco255 »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #541
pnt12 wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's false. Hunter gatherer communities (no societies back there) lived by what they could find - either hunt animals or look for fruits, plants and mushrooms. Then there was a shift towards agricultural societies, where people relied on their plantations and domesticated cattle. I don't think the cattle meat would be enough for most of their meals, probably the most of them would be bread and soup. This is j…

Even ancient hunter gatherers probably ate a diet of more (wild) plant than meat. Catching animals is hard work, with the technology of the time. But in general, I think we know a lot less about the lives of people so long ago than many people (including academics) like to think. Research methods are often based on either assuming modern people's lifestyles are "just like" ancient people, or big leaps from extremely…

No, of course they didn't. They lived in the Ice Age. Edible veggies and nutrients were extremely sparse and hard to come by for 1M years. Also wild plants prior to cultivation were not these big beautiful tomatoes, apples, bananas, and cucumbers we see in the grocery stores today. Those plants were selectively bred for thousands of years to produce what you see today.

Grass-eating bison, aurochs, horses, goats, sheep, etc were our primary source of nutrition in the ice age, not to mention mammoths (as well as fish).

And this is evidenced by ancient cave paintings tens of thousands of years old depicting hunts as well as the bone remnants in the caves and homes of ancient humans.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#688

Post by aeternum »

74d-fe6-2c6 wrote: post #363
aeternum wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A man living in the same place all his life has no basis for comparison. I would be more convinced that your great-grandfather's village is something special since he experienced elsewhere yet still returned.

This is exactly the way of thinking lying at the base of unhappiness. Thinking you have to see everything to make a choice. Spoiler alert: with that attitude you'll never make a choice and always search.

I prefer the mathematical option: spend about 1/3 of your total available time exploring and then 2/3rds at the place that made you happiest.

Statistically it's pretty much the best you can do.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#689

Post by xvedejas »

falsaberN1 wrote: post #643
mellavora wrote: post #612

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't that be: “What do you mean, an African or European Swallow?"

I know you are referencing something, but in this case it's a very legit question, Eurasian magpies are corvidae (and remarkably clever ones at that), while the ones found in America or Australia aren't. Now if I could find who decided to name them the same...

American magpies are indeed corvidae, unlike the Australian ones.
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