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Sunday, February 8, 2015
New on the Blogroll: Saint Joseph's College Theology Blog; and Virginia Lieto
There are two new items on the blogroll:
"Months of Misery" and Job's Friends
My wife and a friend are making bread, about 15 feet from my desk. They're having a great time, and I'm trying to not get distracted while writing this post. The results may be interesting. Or confusing. I'll let you decide which.
Thanks to some very powerful prescriptions, my ADD-inattentive and major depression isn't nearly as hard to handle as it was: which reminds me of this morning's first reading.
When the book of Job was written, about two dozen centuries back, Edomites had a reputation for being wise. Edom means "red" in Hebrew; it'sa name, more like a nickname, given to Esau.
Edomites claimed Esau as their ancestor — he's the chap who sold his birthright; under oath, yet; for a bowl of lentil stew. That doesn't justify what Jacob did later, tricking their father into giving him the first-born son's blessing.
Quite a few folks mentioned in the Bible aren't good role models. Instead of getting upset about it, I take that as reassurance that God can and does work with folks who are sincerely imperfect.
Esau felt like killing Jacob after that, understandably, so Jacob hid out with Laban. Esau caught up with Jacob later, "accompanied by four hundred men."
By the time Jacob stopped talking, Esau had agreed to meet Jacob later, in Seir. Jacob headed for Shechem, with a stopover in Succoth, and that's another topic. Topics.
Since I like the occasional rip-roaring tales of adventure and conflict, I'd probably read Sacred Scripture even if it wasn't strongly encouraged. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 133)
The Esau-Jacob-birthright subplot is in Genesis 25:30-34, 27:1-46, 33:1-20, by the way. Rachel, one of Laban's daugters, became Jacob's wife. That part of the story picks up around Genesis 29:5.
Rachel is Joseph's mother: that's the Joseph who got sold as a slave and wound up running Egypt, and that's yet another topic. (Genesis 30:25, and 41:40-41, for starters)
Descendants of Joseph, understandably, think very highly of Joseph son of Rachel. In my culture, a great many Catholic boys have Joseph as either their personal or middle name: honoring Joseph, foster-father of our Lord — and that's yet again another topic.
That doesn't have much to do with Job 7:1-4, 6-7: which is from Job's response to Edomite wisdom.
Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuh, and Zophar from Naamath, show up a few chapters earlier: Job 2:11.
They have Edomite names: and like I said, Edomites had a reputation for wisdom back in Job's day. Much of what they say makes sense, including one of my favorite bits from the Bible —
Eliphaz started the first round of 'help' back in Job 4, Job's response starts in Job 6, and that gets me back to today's first reading. Finally.
He'd been doing everything right, when Sabeans stole his oxen and killed Job's herdsmen. Then Chaldeans did the same with his camels and handlers, a freak storm killed his sons and daughters, and Job got a severe case of boils.
Small wonder that his wife told him to "curse God and die:" after which those four friends arrived "to give him sympathy and comfort." (Job 2:9, 11)
Sitting in ashes and scraping himself with a potsherd may have been his way of mourning his losses, or expressing sorrow. It occurs to me, though, that Job may have been employing a home cure, using Kshara, a Ayurvedic medicine.
That doesn't make Job a Hindu, any more than my household's learning Soo Bahk Do makes us Buddhists: and that's still another topic.
Compared to Job, my life's been a bowl of cherries. "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" still gets recorded occasionally, and that's — what else? — another topic.
I was able to walk during most of my childhood; my mother had a stroke when I was 12, but it didn't kill her. Four of our six kids survived birth, and so did my wife the last time around.
Sure, it hurt to walk, or stand, or sit, or lie down: but it hurt in different ways, so I didn't get bored. Besides, I learned to sleep in the least-painful position, so that wasn't a problem.
Our surviving kids are fine; and my major depressive disorder and ADD-inattentive, or maybe Asperger's, got diagnosed a few years back.
It's nice, not struggling to make my brain work: but a potpourri of neurological glitches didn't keep me from learning skills for jobs ranging from delivery guy to radio disk jockey and advertising copywriter.
On happily-rare occasions, I've felt like killing myself. The first time was in my teens. I decided I could out-endure the current crises. (December 14, 2014)
Turns out, I was right. It helps that I'm stubborn as a mule. Stubbornness isn't a virtue, fortitude is, and I've said that before.
Not everybody makes the same choice, though. Robin Williams apparently couldn't take it any more last year. (August 17, 2014)
Don't bother waiting for a rant about the evils of suicide, and how only bad or weak people do it. Suicide is a bad idea, we're not supposed to do it — but "we should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives." (Catechism, 2280-2283)
Besides, I might have decided differently, a very close friend killed herself, and I take Matthew 7:1-5 very seriously. (February 1, 2015; December 14, 2014)
Not everybody who has depression commits suicide. Vincent van Gogh almost certainly did, and Joseph Conrad tried to, but he apparently died of a heart attack.
Mark Twain died of a heart attack too, an assassin killed Abraham Lincoln, and J. Robert Oppenheimer's throat cancer probably helped start his terminal coma.
Major depressive disorder isn't lethal, by itself, probably. Folks with this disorder have shorter lives, on average, partly because we're much more likely than most to kill ourselves. We're also more likely to drop dead from heart disease and assorted other illnesses.
Feeling hopeless or irritable most of the time doesn't help us concentrate. Neither does the very real lack of enough neurotransmitters — serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine — we use for thinking. Not everybody with depression winds up homeless: but many do.
Nerves in the peripheral nervous system handle signals to the diaphragm, heart, and other vital systems.
These nerves use dopamine, one of the neurotransmitters that's in short supply with major depression. I'd be surprised if low neurotransmitter levels in our organs' control circuits didn't eventually kill us.
While I'm typing this, my brain runs through about 20% of the oxygen and energy I'm using. That's a huge fraction of the body's energy.
I could worry about humanity facing extinction because our brains are 'too big,' but that doesn't make sense. (October 31, 2014)
God gave us brains: and expects us to use them. (Genesis 1:26, 2:7; Catechism, 355, 1730, 1778, 2292-2295)
God is large and in charge. I rely on the Almighty for my life, health: and continued existence. (Psalms 115:3; Proverbs 19:21; Catechism, 268, 301)
But "life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God...." I'm supposed to take care of my health, within reason. (Catechism, 2288)
That includes taking prescribed medications that keep my brain running smoothly: smoother, at any rate.
Could God miraculously sort out my glitchy neurochemistry, replace my appendix, and pull my hairline back to my forehead? Sure: like Job said to God, "...no purpose of yours can be hindered." (Job 42:2)
Do I think that'll happen? Not likely, and that's — another topic.
(Image from NASA, ESA, F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee; used w/o permission.)
(Part of the 30 Doradus Nebula, a turbulent star-birth region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way.)
More about my brain and getting a grip:
Thanks to some very powerful prescriptions, my ADD-inattentive and major depression isn't nearly as hard to handle as it was: which reminds me of this morning's first reading.
With Friends Like These - - -
When the book of Job was written, about two dozen centuries back, Edomites had a reputation for being wise. Edom means "red" in Hebrew; it'sa name, more like a nickname, given to Esau.Edomites claimed Esau as their ancestor — he's the chap who sold his birthright; under oath, yet; for a bowl of lentil stew. That doesn't justify what Jacob did later, tricking their father into giving him the first-born son's blessing.
Quite a few folks mentioned in the Bible aren't good role models. Instead of getting upset about it, I take that as reassurance that God can and does work with folks who are sincerely imperfect.
Esau felt like killing Jacob after that, understandably, so Jacob hid out with Laban. Esau caught up with Jacob later, "accompanied by four hundred men."
By the time Jacob stopped talking, Esau had agreed to meet Jacob later, in Seir. Jacob headed for Shechem, with a stopover in Succoth, and that's another topic. Topics.
Since I like the occasional rip-roaring tales of adventure and conflict, I'd probably read Sacred Scripture even if it wasn't strongly encouraged. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 133)
The Esau-Jacob-birthright subplot is in Genesis 25:30-34, 27:1-46, 33:1-20, by the way. Rachel, one of Laban's daugters, became Jacob's wife. That part of the story picks up around Genesis 29:5.
Rachel is Joseph's mother: that's the Joseph who got sold as a slave and wound up running Egypt, and that's yet another topic. (Genesis 30:25, and 41:40-41, for starters)
Descendants of Joseph, understandably, think very highly of Joseph son of Rachel. In my culture, a great many Catholic boys have Joseph as either their personal or middle name: honoring Joseph, foster-father of our Lord — and that's yet again another topic.
That doesn't have much to do with Job 7:1-4, 6-7: which is from Job's response to Edomite wisdom.
- - - Who Need Enemies?
Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuh, and Zophar from Naamath, show up a few chapters earlier: Job 2:11.They have Edomite names: and like I said, Edomites had a reputation for wisdom back in Job's day. Much of what they say makes sense, including one of my favorite bits from the Bible —
"2 But man himself begets mischief, as sparks fly upward.But — and I've said this before — cherry-picking favorite verses from the Bible isn't always a good idea. That's why the Almighty gets confused with an action movie hero on occasion. (April 27, 2014)
(Job 5:7)
Eliphaz started the first round of 'help' back in Job 4, Job's response starts in Job 6, and that gets me back to today's first reading. Finally.
"So I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been told off for me.Job is not having a good day.
"If in bed I say, 'When shall I arise?' then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
"Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again."
(Job 7:3-4, 7:6-7)
He'd been doing everything right, when Sabeans stole his oxen and killed Job's herdsmen. Then Chaldeans did the same with his camels and handlers, a freak storm killed his sons and daughters, and Job got a severe case of boils.
Small wonder that his wife told him to "curse God and die:" after which those four friends arrived "to give him sympathy and comfort." (Job 2:9, 11)
Sitting in ashes and scraping himself with a potsherd may have been his way of mourning his losses, or expressing sorrow. It occurs to me, though, that Job may have been employing a home cure, using Kshara, a Ayurvedic medicine.
That doesn't make Job a Hindu, any more than my household's learning Soo Bahk Do makes us Buddhists: and that's still another topic.
Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries: With Pits
Compared to Job, my life's been a bowl of cherries. "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" still gets recorded occasionally, and that's — what else? — another topic.I was able to walk during most of my childhood; my mother had a stroke when I was 12, but it didn't kill her. Four of our six kids survived birth, and so did my wife the last time around.
Sure, it hurt to walk, or stand, or sit, or lie down: but it hurt in different ways, so I didn't get bored. Besides, I learned to sleep in the least-painful position, so that wasn't a problem.
Our surviving kids are fine; and my major depressive disorder and ADD-inattentive, or maybe Asperger's, got diagnosed a few years back.
It's nice, not struggling to make my brain work: but a potpourri of neurological glitches didn't keep me from learning skills for jobs ranging from delivery guy to radio disk jockey and advertising copywriter.
Depression and Death
On happily-rare occasions, I've felt like killing myself. The first time was in my teens. I decided I could out-endure the current crises. (December 14, 2014)Turns out, I was right. It helps that I'm stubborn as a mule. Stubbornness isn't a virtue, fortitude is, and I've said that before.
Not everybody makes the same choice, though. Robin Williams apparently couldn't take it any more last year. (August 17, 2014)
Don't bother waiting for a rant about the evils of suicide, and how only bad or weak people do it. Suicide is a bad idea, we're not supposed to do it — but "we should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives." (Catechism, 2280-2283)
Besides, I might have decided differently, a very close friend killed herself, and I take Matthew 7:1-5 very seriously. (February 1, 2015; December 14, 2014)
Not everybody who has depression commits suicide. Vincent van Gogh almost certainly did, and Joseph Conrad tried to, but he apparently died of a heart attack.
Mark Twain died of a heart attack too, an assassin killed Abraham Lincoln, and J. Robert Oppenheimer's throat cancer probably helped start his terminal coma.
Major depressive disorder isn't lethal, by itself, probably. Folks with this disorder have shorter lives, on average, partly because we're much more likely than most to kill ourselves. We're also more likely to drop dead from heart disease and assorted other illnesses.
Feeling hopeless or irritable most of the time doesn't help us concentrate. Neither does the very real lack of enough neurotransmitters — serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine — we use for thinking. Not everybody with depression winds up homeless: but many do.Nerves in the peripheral nervous system handle signals to the diaphragm, heart, and other vital systems.
These nerves use dopamine, one of the neurotransmitters that's in short supply with major depression. I'd be surprised if low neurotransmitter levels in our organs' control circuits didn't eventually kill us.
Praise the Lord and Pass the Prescriptions
While I'm typing this, my brain runs through about 20% of the oxygen and energy I'm using. That's a huge fraction of the body's energy.I could worry about humanity facing extinction because our brains are 'too big,' but that doesn't make sense. (October 31, 2014)
God gave us brains: and expects us to use them. (Genesis 1:26, 2:7; Catechism, 355, 1730, 1778, 2292-2295)
God is large and in charge. I rely on the Almighty for my life, health: and continued existence. (Psalms 115:3; Proverbs 19:21; Catechism, 268, 301)
But "life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God...." I'm supposed to take care of my health, within reason. (Catechism, 2288)
That includes taking prescribed medications that keep my brain running smoothly: smoother, at any rate.
Could God miraculously sort out my glitchy neurochemistry, replace my appendix, and pull my hairline back to my forehead? Sure: like Job said to God, "...no purpose of yours can be hindered." (Job 42:2)
Do I think that'll happen? Not likely, and that's — another topic.
(Image from NASA, ESA, F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee; used w/o permission.)
(Part of the 30 Doradus Nebula, a turbulent star-birth region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way.)
More about my brain and getting a grip:
- "Suicide, Sin, and Dealing with Depression"
(December 14, 2014) - "Joy and Standing Orders"
(October 5, 2014)
Particularly - "Robin Williams, Suicide, and Hope"
(August 17, 2014)
Particularly - "Fasting, Penance: and Infinite Depths of Joy"
(June 3, 2012)
Particularly - "Why did God Do That to Me? "
(February 12, 2011)
Particularly
Friday, February 6, 2015
Baby Chickens, Numbers: and Studying an Old Skull
Other scientists are studying part of a skull that's from one of the earliest of today's sort of human to leave Africa.
Thinking and Throwing
Back in my 'good old days,' when color television was new, I'd read about eagles having better distance vision than we do, cheetahs being faster than we are, and birds: well, birds flew, and we can't. Not without help, anyway.I don't remember any science textbook coming right out and saying it: but I got the impression that we didn't have much on the ball. Not when it comes to physical abilities.
Sure, we're smart, and we have opposable thumbs: but we're not as fast as ostriches or strong as mules. Some of us are just as stubborn: and that's another topic.
Having a big brain helps: but it's not just about size. Our neural wiring is — different — and I'll get back to that.
Turns out, we're very good at throwing things: and have been for about 2,000,000 years. (July 5, 2013)
"...Greater Admiration...."
I've said this before: a lot. Science and religion, faith and reason, get along fine: or should.
As for the size and age of the universe: we've know that this creation is big and old for a very long time. (Psalms102:26-28; Wisdom 11:22-25)
I'm not upset that God's creation is so much bigger and older than folks thought, when Psalms and Wisdom were written. Even if I was: there's not much point in complaining about it. Besides, scientific discoveries are invitations "...to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator..." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 283)
(Image from NASA, used w/o permission.)
(Wisdom 7:17)
1. Biased Chicks and Phineas Gage
(From Dr Rosa Rugani, University of Padova; via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("Baby chickens have left-right number bias like humans, say researchers...."
Frame from video provided by Dr Rosa Rugani, University of Padova (BBC News))
"Chicks place low numbers on the left"
Jonathan Webb, BBC News (January 29, 2014)
"Scientists in Italy have found that baby chickens associate low and high numbers with left and right, respectively - just like humans.
"In a series of experiments, 60 newborn chicks were shown patterns of shapes representing different numbers, before choosing a direction.
"Humans are known to use a 'mental number line' to think about quantities but this innate left-right association has not been seen in animals before...."
We've learned quite a bit about how the human brain works since Phineas Gage got in the way of a high-velocity tamping rod on September 13, 1848.His improbable survival got called "the American Crowbar Case:" but the iron tamping rod was a pointed cylinder, three feet seven inches long. It looked like a javelin.
The accident destroyed Phineas Gage's left frontal_lobe. We're still working out exactly what that part of the brain is for: it's apparently where we do a lot of our thinking.
Phineas Gage recovered to the point where he was hired as a stagecoach driver, and lived nearly 12 years after the accident. The facts of his case, including real changes in his behavior, weren't nearly as exciting as the stories written about him.
Getting back to chicks, numbers, and brains:
"...Dr Rossa Rugani, who led the experiments at the University of Padova, said it was impossible to know exactly what drove the chicks' choices - but the results were clear.
" 'All we can judge is behavioural responses. Therefore, we don't actually know if it is a real 'number line' but it strongly resembles what is observed in the human number line,' she told BBC News...."
(Jonathan Webb, BBC News)
Left, Right, and Brains
(From Popular Science (November 1874) and Outline of the human nervous system, Wikimedia, used w/o permission.)
Oysters, dragonflies, wombats, and humans, are wired pretty much the same way. The left and right sides of our nervous system are mirror-images of each other, almost; and there's generally a big bundle of nerves at the end with a mouth and the major sense organs.
That could be a result of convergent evolution: things looking alike, because they're used the same way.
On the other hand, some similarities probably happen because the critters had a common ancestor. Spotted gar, mice — and humans — use the same genetic code for growing fins, paws, and hands: because upwards of 300,000,000 years back we had a common ancestor. (December 26, 2014)
Like I've said before, life's molecular machinery is very modular. (November 22, 2013)
That's why scientists could patch code from bacteria into tobacco plants and potatoes: letting the plants produce their own pesticides. That sounds spooky, but horizontal gene transfer happens naturally: and most likely has been for billions of years. And yes — bacteria have been around that long.
I was going somewhere with this. Let me think. Spotted Gar. Oysters. Wombats. Right.
Maybe complex nervous systems have left and right sides, and a brain at one end, because that's an optimal design.
But when birds and humans both seem to process numbers the same way — that could easily be because a common ancestor had a hardwired 'number line.' That's what Dr. Rosa Rugani says. Or we could be looking at a whacking great coincidence.
Not everybody has the left-small/right-large number line. Adults who read and write Arabic, for example, put large numbers on the left. (BBC News)
On the other hand, most folks pay slightly more attention to stuff on our left, and start counting from the left side. Since we're not chickens, we can learn whatever counting and organization systems our cultures use: No surprises there.
'It happened earlier than we thought' seems to be a recurring theme in science. Fuxianhuia brains, for example, are organized the same way — basically — as today's arthropods: and that's another topic. (July 25, 2014)
2. Pioneers: 55,000 Years Ago
(From BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("The individual lived close to the time when modern human migrants interbred with Neanderthals"
(BBC News))
"Skull clue to exodus from Africa"Although it's technically accurate, and I can't think of an appropriate alternative, I still don't like the term "interbreeding" in this context. Maybe it's because of the "he doesn't have family, he's Irish," remark made by one of my ancestors about another. (December 12, 2014; October 31, 2014)
Paul Rincon, BBC News (January 28, 2014)
"An ancient skull discovered in Israel could shed light on the migration of modern humans out of Africa some 60,000 years ago.
"This migration led to the colonisation of the entire planet by our species, as well as the extinction of other human groups such as the Neanderthals.
"The skull from Manot Cave dates to 55,000 years ago and may be the closest we've got to finding one of the earliest migrants from Africa....
"...[London Natural History Museum human origins research leader, Chris] Stringer, who was not involved with the study, added: 'Its discovery raises hopes of more complete specimens from this critical region and time period.'
"The find is also of interest because this individual lived at around the time when modern humans are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals.
"All non-Africans possess a small amount of Neanderthal ancestry, pointing to an interbreeding event just after modern humans left their homeland but before they diversified into different populations.'..."
The good news is that anthropologists and paleontologists seem to be getting over the notion that one must look 'Anglo-Teutonic' to be intelligent, and are piecing together an increasingly-detailed picture of humanity's family tree.
I'm "non-African," as the article put it: so some of my ancestors are Neanderthals. Although we're still calling Neanderthals and other folks who'd have a hard time blending into a crowd these days other "species" — I won't be surprised if a few years from now that changes.
My guess, looking at the genetic heritage we share with Neanderthals, Denisovans, and others, I'm guessing that we're all one species — and living in an era where ethnic differences are remarkably minimal. (December 12, 2014)
"Gracile:" Comparatively
"Gracile" — maybe this is obvious, nor maybe not — means "gracefully slender." Maybe it's hard to think of folks like Khadzhimurat Akkayev and Ewa Mizdal as "gracefully slender," but on average we're nowhere near as sturdily-built as my Neanderthal forebears." 'The skull is very gracile - there is nothing that makes it any different from a modern skull,' Prof Israel Hershkovitz, from Tel Aviv University, told the Nature podcast.
" 'But it also has traits that are found in older specimens.'
"He added: 'This is the first evidence that shows indeed there was a large wave of migrants out of East Africa, crossing the Sahara and the Nubian desert and inhabiting the eastern Mediterranean region 55,000 years ago. So it is really a key skull in understanding modern human evolution.'
"Physical features of the skull, such as a distinctive 'bun-shaped' region at the back, resemble those found in the earliest modern humans from Europe.
"This 'implies that the Manot people were probably the forefathers of many of the early, Upper Palaeolithic populations of Europe', Prof Hershkovitz said.
"Chris Stringer, research Leader in human origins at London's Natural History Museum, commented: 'Manot might represent some of the elusive first migrants in the hypothesised out-of-Africa event about 60,000 years ago, a population whose descendants ultimately spread right across Asia, and also into Europe.'..."
(Paul Rincon, BBC News)
Folks who look like the current model have been around for about 200,000 years, but we apparently didn't leave our African homeland until — as scientists quoted in the BBC article said — 60,000 years back, more or less.
That's the earliest that we know of so far, anyway.
That's when we met folks whose ancestors had left earlier: lots earlier, in some cases. They didn't look like us, quite: but I gather that they had at least one uniquely human trait, the SRGAP2 gene. And that brings me back to our brains.
Uniquely Human Genes
SLIT-ROBO Rho GTPase-activating protein 2 (srGAP2) (the formin-binding protein 2 (FNBP2)) is a protein that's encoded by the the SRGAP2 gene. (There will not be a test on these words.)
Scientists are still working out exactly what dendritic spines do: it looks like they're involved in connecting neurons to each other, transmitting and recording data, and maybe analyzing signals between neurons.
We're very much in the 'might, could be, or maybe not' stage of sorting out how our brains are wired, and what the components do. Considering that it's only 166 years, seven months, and a few odd days, since Phineas Gage's accident — I think we're doing pretty well.
More:
- Human evolution
Wikipedia - SRGAP2
Wikipedia - What Does it Mean to be Human?
Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program
- "Precision-Grip Thumbs and and A 'New' Archosaur"
(January 30, 2015)
Particularly - "Found: Genes for Fins, Paws, and Hands"
(December 26, 2014)
Particularly - "Homo Erectus Engraving, Long-Lost Relatives"
(December 12, 2014)
Particularly - "Dinosaur Arms, and Ust'-Ishim Man's DNA"
(October 31, 2014)
Particularly - "Coping With Change for Millions of Years; Chatty Chimps"
(July 11, 2014)
Particularly
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