They were smarter

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Date Line June 15, 2007

They were smarter! There was a real difference between the people of the Levant and those of other regions!

It was in their diet! It was caused by their diet! And that is what the Genesis story of the Bible is telling us! The authors of that we call scripture were relating their own creation story, not the story of humanity.

OK! We know that! At least all those who don’t have their Right-wing heads up their bigoted asses know that. It is why there were other people for the children to marry.

Adam and Eve were, in fact, the first farmers. The idea of Eve coming from Adam has a perverse logic to it; but not one to explore here and now. It is sufficient to infer Adam was the one who began to tend the crops, and eve is the first one to have eaten from a tree believed to be poisonous.

If we think about it, the logic is still with us. Hemlock! How many plants fall into the same family as deadly hemlock? How many do we eat? How many plants have parts we can, and parts we cannot, eat: Rhubarb pie anyone? Care for a tomato?

Eve displayed great wisdom, powers of logic, reason, understanding. She saw that the fruit could be eaten.

OK! We can challenge that the fruit of the tree was an apple, and thus that it was an apple tree. But let us use the apple and snake as an analogy. Lets us reflect upon the logic attributed to Eve and the snake:
a) Worms live in, and eat, apples;
b) worms resemble snakes;
c) so the apple does not kill the worm, or, as the story says, does not kill the snake;
d) if snakes eat things humans can eat, it follows that what a snake can eat a human can eat.

Naturally, there are exceptions to the logic. But those are usually accompanied by natural signals; smell, an initial bitter taste; or a gag response as it passes into the throat.

Humans do work at poisoning themselves; but they most first work against the natural response mechanism which declare the substance bad for them. Think smoking which introduces carcinogens into the mouth, respiratory system, and, yes, stomach..

But I am getting distracted. The point is that the intake of fruits, the think high in vitamin B and C, the thing high in choline which cause DNA methylation (covered in epigenetic studies mention in a previous article) during formation of memory regions of the brain.

The Tree of Knowledge! Of course! Our ancestors, or the ancestors of those who can trace their roots directly back to the Levant and Anatolian region associated with the development of farming, knew that those who ate certain plants had better memories.

Basically, the Anatolian farmers had discovered that diet, via women, which is to say when a woman was pregnant, increased intelligence.

Women became, via diet and the challenge to the idea that a class of plant would kill, the source of knowledge. Hence, in all related religions, in all religious beliefs which evolved from the core Anatolian group, Wisdom and Knowledge are Goddesses (women).

Tree of Life? We obtain medicines from plants. This has always been known and practiced. (Use 'always' loosely.)

Quinine, which fights malaria, came from tree bark, as does aspirin, which is used in anti-clogging applications ; both serve serious medical purposes. Every now and then we hear news of new plant discoveries in the war on disease. Why not a Tree of Life?

Tree of Life? Literal? Figurative? Real, surely without question, when placed in the context of the battle against disease.

But what if there is a gene which controls aging; and what if there is a plant which could be eaten during pregnancy and turn off the negative aspect of the aging process?

Insane? Such a reaction is an interesting display of ignorance.

The life expectancy of a fruit fly was genetically extended 35 percent, using transposable genetic elements called “jumping genes.” For humans, this would mean a life span of 160 years could become reality. Using stem cells, and overcoming the problem of cancer cells utilizing the same mechanism, there would be no need for death at all.

Of course, humans have gone from a life expectancy of a few decades to ones that make the biblical 120 years reasonable. Herodotus claimed the Egyptians claimed 120 years against the Greek 80; but Christians claim only three score and ten. How can this be?

The answer is in the food we eat, the lives we live, the human contact we promote. All of which argue, people of the Levant were smarter.
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