Terry Lloyd's Blog, page 18

Important Questions.

Have you ever wondered, like me as a little boy, why things are as they are? Why am I here? I don't mean the biological process, but moreover is there a deeper reason that has intention? As the years pass by, I come to the conclusion that although those questions are interesting, how important would it be if there was an authority that knew the answer to everything? One individual resource that had all the answers, including all those big philosophical dilemmas and scientific queries, such as how matter can be created and destroyed. The next point that has been significant for my own internal thinking, is how I live my life, does not rely on having absolute correct knowledge of everything.

I occasionally pose the question, what if a supposed superior, knowing authority does not reveal a comprehensive set of answers to all questions, but claims authority to dictate social behaviour. The rules would be objective but if structured, not possible to be changed. That would mean if the results are unjust, unfair consequences could occur.

In everyday life, certain situations and examples might force moral actions to be taken. In hindsight, sometimes they may not have been the best decisions but each time there is an opportunity to learn and improve a moral compass. Having an open mind gives a better choice of possible action, with the intention for a better consequence.

So my understanding of good morality is that it is not always fixed and depends on the outcome, in any particular situation. With this in mind, so many societies and individuals resolutely pursue their belief of what morality is, by referring to an objective set of edicts and not applying any personal judgement or reasoning.

One last point that I think evokes an important question, should an authority that claims definitive knowledge but does not reveal any explanation as for why, be entitled to dictate social behaviour. If it does, then what about freedom of choice? Bearing in mind, limits of social equality, where does one find that happy balance of collective social justice and individual sense of conscience?

Helpful Advice.

One of the problems, when suggesting and implementing good advice, is the pros and cons involved. Take the example of getting enough fresh air and sunlight. At one time nobody would have hesitated to agree that reasonable exposure to sunlight was a healthy, good idea. Unfortunately that was before the scientifically proven facts could encourage people to cover themselves with sun cream as a barrier against some of the possibility of harm that could be sustained from different skin types, conditions and sunlight. As long as people approach getting enough fresh air alongside being skin aware, then staying out in the sunshine for certain activities can be a sensible way to advise good health.

Science has shown that sunlight on skin produces vitamin D3 and cholesterol sulphate. Each of these are crucial for maintaining good health. Did you know that every red blood cell is covered by a layer of cholesterol sulphate? Why is this important? Well, it is this layer of cholesterol sulphate that has negative ions and stops blood cells from coagulating and adhering to the side of blood vessels. It also importantly facilitates the flow of blood through the capillaries.

While I am talking about stopping blood from clotting, another natural player is the action of nitric oxide, which is a gas that can be stimulated by the flow of blood through arteries. Helpfully, people can influence their own levels of this gas as there are a series of exercise movements that will stimulate the production of nitric oxide. There are simultaneously foods that are available and rich in positive types of nitrate that the body can convert into nitric oxide.

When it comes to the immune system, in my opinion vitamin D3 is number one for preventing the cells from foreign invasion of their DNA. Advice on supplements depends vastly according to an individual’s needs and that can vary due to age, health or specific aim requirements. Basically, supplements can help to balance the body’s many components so as to achieve a healthy optimum. If you add a little shot of a lacking ingredient to a recipe, then it can result in a fantastic product. Similarly carefully chosen and quality made supplements can work to stimulate or support your own bodily system. If you introduce the right mix of supplement vitamins to your diet, it can boost and enhance your functionality.

Small but significant DIY techniques for the body can actually positively influence the mind. Controlled breathing, for example, is key to reducing stress. A good deep breath in through the nose, held in for a few seconds and subsequently followed by a longer breath out, does wonders for the nervous system. As a technique, this is a relatively easy and widely applicable, one to use.

Promoting any advice is about give and take, and ensuring that people understand not everything is exactly the same for everybody. I think that it is true, when giving helpful advice, not one answer fits all. There are facts though, that can enlighten and educate. There should always be an emphasis on the helpful part of helpful advice and reasonable association of the scenario to the advisory information. If this is taken into consideration, then all sorts of motivation and inspirational success could come from a handy little helpful hint or two.

Extraordinary Development.

If you want to grasp the variety of domains and the astounding process of adapting to change of environment, then the evolution of whales is a good position with which to start. Fifty million years ago, the predecessor of the whale had legs and lived on land. It was a far more modest size, approximately about the size of a wolf and its name became known as Pakicetus attocki. The remains of this species have been found in Pakistan. It is from fossils that there is a progressive record of distinct animal forms, culminating in the modern seafaring whale, of today. How can paleontologists be sure that the fossils belong to the whale species? All whales can be recognised by a tiny ear bone that is unique to whales.

The Blue Whale is the largest living mammal and it is possible it has reached the limits of its growth. This might be because there is a limit to the time it takes to close its mouth, therefore limiting the amount of possible, potential food to eat.

In the sand of the African desert, fossils of whales have been found that have legs and even modern whales have remnants of hind legs. A major historical change in the temperature in prehistoric times could have saved the whales from becoming extinct. At that time there was a goliath of the deep in the form of a gigantic shark called the Megalodon which would have had no trouble in gobbling up whales. However sharks are cold blooded predators and can become lethargic at times when the temperature decreases. Whales are warm blooded and are able to migrate thousands of miles to colder areas.

Life is fragile and yet full of extraordinary development, its continuing survival may depend on many environmental pressures as well as other important, influencing factors. Some species of life can stay the same consistently for millions of years, whereas a section of that same species could evolve in another direction. One sure thing is life needs the potential for change and it is natural selection that guides its course. Natural creation and survival, can be in themselves hugely significant theoretic and practical aides, for extraordinary scientific development and enlightenment.

Wonders of Nature.

The wonders of nature are endless. However one of my greatest joys took place when introduced to the world of the amphibian frog. The incident began with a glass fish tank although in nature it would have been a pond. The glass tank was empty, except for some large stones that protruded out of the water and a mass of frogs spawn, the gelatin coated frog eggs that had been fertilised. I found this discovery as a little boy to be absolutely amazing!

Over a few days the tadpoles started to emerge and struggled to release themselves from the protective eggs. Their heads and tails were recognisable but then as I eagerly watched and noted, gills also began to appear. It looked to me like a tiny fish with a heart. In a little further time, a pair of hind legs and lungs metamorphosed into existence and helped the animal prepare for a life of breathing air. I did not know it at that precise moment but that same animal’s tail was about to shrink and be used for nourishment, as it absorbed back into the body.

Some green water vegetation was added to the tank for the purpose of food. The small froglets needed an area out of the water, so they did not drown. Once an adult female frog, the process of creating life would continue, as a new deposit of frogs spawn is laid by the female. Then the male frog, at the time that the female is laying eggs, fertilises them with its sperm and this is achieved as an external and separate physical action.

Upon thinking about how the form of life changes from one environment to another, there is quite a lot of contrast. Take human babies for example, maintained and nourished in the mother’s womb, which is full of liquid. It is possible to see the tiny fetus energetically swimming and the backbone flexing. It will take nine months before the baby is ready for its first gulp of air. Tiny unnoticed processes are affecting the development of the baby, such as losing a rudimentary tail and a covering of hair. Even the total number of bones in an early, infant stage is three hundred compared with that of two hundred and six in an adult. When it comes to lanugo which is the first fine covering of hair on the baby in the womb, this often disappears at birth. You would think the gender of the baby was a one time affair. Although the sex chromosomes are preselected, there are further surges of sex hormones before a final result can be deciphered.

A major dramatic change of life form is the caterpillar to the butterfly. Did you know the predecessor to the butterfly is the moth? Part of the exceptional wonder of nature is the visible connection of life forms but in totally different environments, transformations that occur during their life spans and in some cases bridge even living in water to breathing air.

Greek Philosophers.

An interesting acronym is SPA and it is formed from the names of three notable Greek philosophers. I find their view of how knowledge can be acquired, extremely thought provoking. The first of these is Socrates who founded a question searching method to explore the soundness of people's belief. Unfortunately his life was brought to an untimely end, when forced after a trial by his peers, to drink a poison of Hemlock. He was falsely accused of corrupting the young students that he was teaching. He lived in four hundred and sixty nine BC. One of his noted observations was the first step to knowledge is to realise how little one knows.

However one of the students of Socrates was Plato, who wrote extensively about him and formed a teaching establishment called the Academy. One of his ideas was a belief in forms and is called Platonism. He also wrote a book called The Republic that outlined the structure of a perfect, just governing authority. He felt that leaders of society should be philosophers and only the educated should have the right of voting.

The third philosopher is Aristotle. He was a student of Plato and he formed a teaching establishment called the Lyceum near Athens. He wrote extensively on a wide variety of subjects. At that time, he thought the Earth to be the centre of celestial objects and that the terrestrial sphere was structured in the form of earth, air, fire, and water. His major historical achievement was to be the teacher of Alexander the Great who although young in age was able to conquer most of the world.

The main point I have learnt from these early philosophers, is to question with logic, even
strong beliefs that are only supported by dogma. Simultaneously, it can occasionally be dangerous to raise questions that challenge other people's highly valued beliefs. An example that is amply highlighted by Plato's story of a group of people contained in a cave, their view of life was only shadows but one of the gathering went into the outside world and on returning reported how the real world was in fact. This news was not received in a good way.

Finally, an important objective to think about is that knowledge can be increased by being open to test and utilise as a modifier or to change ideas, particularly as new concepts have been discovered. Knowledge can be fast and fluid, adaptable and susceptible to innovation. It is truly astonishing and marvellous to think, have the capacity for thought and to be able to enhance further thinking.

Hidden Cities.

I find ancient history to be fascinating, especially when it comes to ancient civilisations. Often associated with historical civilisations, is an idea that there has already been advanced technology and innovations that for various reasons have been lost to our current knowledge.

There have been many underwater sunken cities whereby a vast number of statues and artefacts have been discovered, such as Port Royal Jamaica. It is in this location, where on the seventh of June in sixteen ninety two in the morning after a massive earthquake, in a flash three quarters of the city sank beneath the sea. After the disruption, some of the buildings survived and were still standing vertically. Part of the sudden sinking of the city might be because the foundations of the construction were on sand and not a more solid framework.

Another mind boggling underwater city whereby remains have been found, is off the coast of Cuba. Unfortunately up to now it has only been explored from the surface of the sea by ship, as it is too deep for direct exploration. Using sona-like equipment, outlines of significant buildings and structures have been found. It has pyramids larger than those in Egypt.

The real jewel of exploration is covered by the sands of the Sahara desert, which is massive. It is hard to be precise over how many civilisations could have flourished and perished due to drastic geological change. If like me, maybe you have asked, why would anybody choose to build cities in the desert? Scientific discoveries have indicated that as recently as only five thousand years ago, the Sahara was a luscious green paradise. Populations tend to settle and build next to rivers and lakes. Not only were there rivers, but also there is good evidence that waters from the Red Sea travelled across the top of Africa into the Atlantic. Every forty thousand years or so there is a cycle of change with the tilt of the earth. That maybe is the reason that a luscious green paradise, could in as little as one hundred years, transform into a hot dry desert.

Next I would like to draw attention to Guatemala in South America, where a great number of ancient structures have been discovered. Using lasers, these hidden buildings have come to light in the dense jungle. The amazing fact is, the same area had been surveyed on foot without discovering anything, despite knowledge that some of the structures were extremely large.

I think that it is an exciting time, modern technology can help to uncover many more hidden cities and as facts about their civilisations can be discovered, a better picture of our past can be enjoyed.

Power of Creation.

One day, as a little boy at about the age of eight, I thought I was able to perpetuate new life. It was with my father that I embarked upon this most exciting venture.

At eight years old, how did I create life? This interesting phenomenon can be easily repeated simply by taking a few rudimentary actions. The first steps of creating life started in my kitchen when my father took an empty glass jam jar and instructed me to collect handfuls of dry grass, banana skin and orange peel. Fair enough, as an ingredient list it was not going to win me any culinary competitions but in the scientific lab of a kitchen, it was an epic set of basic requirements.

Once I had collated all of the ingredients I was told to stuff it into the jam jar. My father then filled the jam jar with fairly warm water and instructed me when the water had cooled to take the jam jar and place it in a shaded spot in the garden. It would take several days in the summer time to inspect the jam jar. Finally on one inspection the contents had turned a dark brown and after more highly anticipated days, it smelled awful but it had happened.

The jam jar was home for countless tiny creatures that were swimming in the water, moving about in staccato jerks. At that time, I knew the creatures were called daphnia but it was not until much later, I discovered another name for them was water fleas. They are in fact tiny transparent crustaceans.

As a little boy I had thought the discovery of such a process was huge. I was an absolute scientific genius and I knew how to fuel the power of creation. A short while after my somewhat short experience of marvellousness, it was with disappointment that I realised what was happening. I was simply creating a suitable environment for the fleas to squat in and they must already have existed somewhere else in the surrounding area.

Then the thought came to me. Why should Earth have life? Is it because there is a suitable environment for it to flourish?

I had deliberately created a home for daphnia but what I had done occurs naturally everywhere in the countryside, in springs and ponds.

The next thought I had was why is there not life on every planet? Obviously life needs a suitable environment to begin and sustain it. However on Earth life is fragile and over a long time has suffered drastic reduction and change of form and direction.

So I had not discovered the secret of creating new life but had glimpsed the wonders of nature. A brief introduction that included a fascination for multiple varieties of natural life and the splendour of all its many forms.

Formation of Things.

I love contemplating about how things are thought about, especially when I see well worn arguments that seem to ignore obvious flaws in their premise. Take the concept of everything that exists or existed is due to a previous action. This suggestion is potentially fine until some people claim there must be a self-perpetuated action to start with or from which to begin. Then, there are the details that are needed to enhance or formulate that accepted idea, for argument's sake, when and where did that self-perpetuated action take place? It could be ten, one hundred or more actions before a specific event. It might be far more constructive to simply state that actions have consequences, however to have a predetermined goal, it would need an agent.

Often people will try to set out properties necessary for an agent that would have intention. However they ignore actions that have no intention but are pivotal to change. What are these pivotal actions without intention? The very substance of all material has come about after unrelated actions, such as huge stars exploding releasing more dense material for the eventual formation of more stars or planets and maybe life. I should point out that making a copy of the universe in theory does not in actual fact do anything to explain why the universe creation is continuous. It only shows how a copy might be made but that does nothing to explain how the original came about.

Frequently the idea for all things to exist is prefaced by the word cause. For me, this is a flaw in the premise because it implies an intention. However things can happen without any intention. One may ask which came first, actions with intention or those without? I like to use the universe and life to illustrate my understanding of events. The universe is in a perpetual mode of creating new stars and planets without any specific goal. At the same time on Earth life conforms to evolutionary change, with in my opinion no specific creature, as its ideal. This is possibly because all creatures are undergoing evolutionary change and are part of the process of evolution.

There is one more idea that fascinates me when thinking about the formation of things. On Earth we are surrounded by objects that have come from intentional actions. This may give an unbalanced view of creation. It is necessary to be aware that actions without intention play a crucial part of how things are. Such as how the Moon came to be and is affecting the tides and slowing down the spin of the Earth. Not only that, the seasonal variation on earth is caused by the offset angle of the Earth. This too could have been caused by the initial collision of an object from space. Oxygen breathing life has flourished due to the actions of Cyanobacteria that produce Oxygen as a waste product. Single celled life evolved into multi-celled organisms I would argue, not because of intention but the result of surviving.

It is so tempting to look at things that exist as if they have always been the way they are. However it only takes a little bit of investigating to realise nothing is fixed or permanent. Six billion years ago our Solar System did not exist and six billion years into the future the solar system will be unrecognisable.

Life and Death.

Have you ever wondered like me, why life is structured in such a way that continuously there is conflict between creatures? Sometimes one is prey and also at the same time a predator to other life. There can be mutual cooperation but then again the not so nice scenario of being host to parasites.

I would like to highlight a moment of life and death involving a young boy and a pest. Outside in the garden of his house there was a corrugated garden shed that housed numerous cardboard boxes that contained old newspapers. He was alarmed to see many of the newspapers were shredded and amongst the confetti, numerous tiny black droppings.

It was with a sad heart he suddenly saw the reason for the droppings, a small pink heavily pregnant mouse was not aware of his presence. He knew that a single pregnant mouse would be an infestation of mice all over the place. He looked at the corner of the shed and saw the garden rake and a spade. He picked up the spade and saw there was just enough room to turn the spade on its side and raise it above his head. He paused, dreading what he would have to do.

He thought it would only be one moment and it would be all over. He closed his eyes and with all his might swung the shovel down. With a loud clunk it connected with the concrete floor. The boy looked with amazement as there was nothing there except for a sliver of chipped concrete.

It was strange, the boy felt a feeling of relief and did not pursue the mouse. He had experienced enough of big game hunting and closed the garage door. He decided instead to clear the shed of the boxes of newspapers.

A few years later he was filling a bucket with water to fill the birdbath in the back garden, when something appeared on the top of the water. It was a small white ball. The youth put his hand under the object but when he lifted his hand up, the ball had fallen back into the water. Again the youth was able to flip the object out of the bucket onto some stones. After a short time legs appeared from nowhere and the tiny white object was able to scurry off into the garden.

Even today the thought of killing anything is repulsive to that same person and he regularly uses a humane insect catcher to remove trespassers from the house. It could be thought of as both meaningful and motivating that a one chance earlier encounter with wildlife enlightened him to the subject of survival.

Healthy Metabolism.

Life has its ups and downs, especially when it comes to keeping well. I have been thinking about this subject and I think part of everyday life could hold the key to progressive, silent undermining of the healthy metabolic state.

There are certain factors that can influence metabolism and are very much under our own control and glorious food actually might be harming or supporting quality of health.

You might not know that even in a naturally occurring sense, a significant number of people could have insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone which instructs cells to accept glucose that is produced from digesting food and is an energy source. Over time the cells of the body start not to accept the glucose in the bloodstream easily. Too much glucose is dangerous, so the body stores it as body fat and this can occur especially around the tummy area. In time, insulin resistance could develop into diabetes two. However for well over a hundred years a form of treatment or potential avoidance of this problem has been known. It concentrates on a lifestyle change that drastically reduces sugar and carbs and encourages regular intensive safe exercise, plus of course adequate rest and sleep.

The point is if people are not aware there is an option for combating insulin resistance, then they will not have a chance to reverse the deterioration in their metabolic health. Before doing anything involving health I would consult a medical professional that is familiar with the treatment I have mentioned.

If this useful knowledge has been known for well over a hundred years, you may wonder why the treatment is not well advertised. That answer could be down to the fact that many naturally inspired treatment plans are not prioritised or at the forefront of medical practices.

The thing about metabolic health is that it is only when things start to go wrong that attention is drawn to the possibility of an insulin resistance problem. It is important to know about and understand the main functions and requirements of the body to better implement the ways of improving and maintaining your own healthy metabolism.