Of Our Thoughts, Cats, Cobras and Chopsticks

We think because we can. We all do. But what about the other living organisms? Elephants, lions, wolves, hyenas; they must, don't they?  Closest relatives to us - gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, what about them?

Cats.  They spend a lot of time napping and often when they're awake, they can be seen motionless staring at something, or are they pondering? Here is one of their favorites.  More like a ponderous daydream for a cat.

"A German shepherd, a Doberman and a cat die and go to heaven.  They are greeted by God, who asks each of them what they believe in.  The German shepherd goes first. 'Discipline, training and loyalty to my master', he says.  Good, you may sit on my right.  Now, Doberman, what do you believe in?' The Doberman answers, 'Love, care and protect my master'. 'Excellent', says God. 'You may sit on my left.  Now, cat, it's your turn. What do you believe in?'

The cat replies, 'I believe you are sitting in my seat'."

        --- This was submitted by Merry Pruitt of Columbus, OH (to a nationally syndicated magazine) 

A regular cobra pondered this.  It is wondering why a close relative - a spitting cobra - would resort to spitting its venom when it is prone to spray  wildly, especially on a breezy day.  Why not just sink its fangs and deliver the venom like all self-respecting cobras do?  But  the regular cobra's greatest peeve is why a rattle snake would make such a racket if it has every intention to strike. 

California condors had been waiting for sometime, having spent countless hours looking for carrion or for some other creature to die.  One thought loudly for everyone at the condo to hear, "I can't stand all this waiting. I think I will have to kill something." {Wait, a condo refers to a group of condors in general; for California, it should be a scarcity of California condors; the proper grouping of them.  By the way, a group of crows are called a murder of crows. I wonder what those poor black birds think about that}

So, yes, our animal friends do think and they ponder.

But we are the best thinkers.  We could be the worst too but we will skip those in this musing.

Whoever thought of spoons and forks deserves a lot of credit.  What could be better than that?  I mean, that's about as close as we can get to what directly affects the very idea of existence.  If we must eat to live, to continue to exist, we might as well come up with the best apparatus for consuming food.

"Now, wait, wait, just a minute!", I just heard a loud protest from almost two billion people. Oh, yes, indeed, how can we ignore them and the chopstick?

From China of about 1.4 billion folks, to Vietnam to Thailand to Japan and several other countries in between, the protest can be hugely in favor of the chopstick.

Of course, there are still places where eating with one's fingers are acceptable norms either out of necessity or as dictated by traditional culture.  And, while spoon and fork etiquette is commonplace, there was a time when chopstick etiquette was strictly prescribed and adhered to both in China and Japan.

The evolution of human thought can be traced along many paths in our development except for one inexplicable phenomenon set by the use of eating utensils.  You see, spoons and forks typically require the use of both hands, although one hand may do so by simply using either spoon or fork; on the other hand (no pun intended), chopsticks that come in pairs require using one and only one hand. But the latter requires the dexterity of a violinist's one hand (the one that is on the fingerboard).  Handling or gripping the chopsticks have their own peculiar differences now classified by convention.  Counterclockwise from the top left, they are known as the (1) Vulcan; (2) Chicken claws; (3) Dangling stick; (4) Scissorhands 

 

Chopsticks therefore allow eating with one hand.  But what about when soup is on the menu? A European might ask.  The direct mouth to bowl, or bowl to mouth is not only allowed, it is highly recommended.  A steaming bowl stimulates three senses at once - the sense of smell from a steaming aroma, taste and the warmth or heat of a bowl of soup that enhances the slurping experience. Slurping is by the way not frowned upon for it is an indicator of approval because bad tasting food will not garner that kind of enthusiasm, a cultural truism in parts of the world.

As an homage to Chopsticks, a few years back I actually did a woodworking project by making my own with a stand. 

I use it sparingly but practiced a lot to where I can pick up a single green pea with ease.  Chopsticks make a good exercise for dexterity and hand eye coordination.

Now, we must not forget that eating utensils must have come only after we started cooking our food. We owe it all to the first moment when our ancestors first discovered to make fire at will. Kudos among our first ancestors for thinking about cooking the first ever food.  Would you know it was by accident?  At least according to a story I concocted seven years ago (12/07/2016, "Of Mice and Lo Mein", my apologies to John Steinbeck).

"..So when Grog and his tribe were dining mainly on raw meat, leaves and berries, their average IQs for millions of years remained at barely above cave temperature until one day Grog came upon an aurochs (believed the ancestor of the modern cattle) that was struck by lightning.  It was still smoldering where a nearby bush was still burning. Grog stumbled upon the very first barbecue and warmth from fire, soon followed by an exponential growth in brain size and power (better nutrition?).  The rest is history.  I wasn’t there when it happened but an idle mind is awash with speculative imagination unfettered by evidence or fossil fragments".

A hundred thousand years or so later homo sapiens came up with the first eating utensils to deal with hot food items.

I had meant for this musing to have the title as in the first sentence above, "We Think Because We can", and make it a philosophical discussion.  But after the cat in heaven story, things fell apart that caused the original train of thought to go off the tracks - totally derailed!). But, hey, I got you to think about a thing or two, didn't I?  So, if indeed this made you think then it is because you can.

It is Always the Littlest of Things

Next time you are waiting in line at the grocery's checkout station make a note of the cashier's name tag (they almost always have it) and when it's your turn, greet him or her by their name, "Hi Alice", "Hi Todd".  9 out of 10, you will notice a change in their facial expression or they'll respond with a sudden happier look on their faces.  If they have a unique name, like Luzanda, or one spelled a little differently, as in Carlee or Kirbe (with an 'e" instead of a 'y' in a typical Carly or Kirby), let them know you noticed admiringly at the uniqueness.  Whether they started at their station just minutes ago or are in their fifth hour, chances are your greeting made a difference.

Often, it is the littlest thing in the world that often matters.  

I just learned that from someone years ago.  "You see",  someone told me, "there is no sweeter word in any language than a person's name, when he or she hears it said in a friendly, happy tone with a dose of sincere feeling attached to it".  In fact, hearing their name said by someone they don't know, a customer, who took the effort to greet them that way goes a long way to picking their spirits up.  That alone makes them realize you cared enough to greet them and say their name in a gleeful way.  And, you know what, it didn't cost you anything.  It was just one little thing.

Often, it is the littlest thing in the world that often matters.  

But, we should be mindful too about the trapdoor that little things can do. Do you know that 99% of the time a huge argument - to the point of yelling, cardiac inducing screams - almost always start  from one little thing?  Do you recall arguing over something that was merely about a subplot, not the main plot mind you, of a movie, or  how to load a dishwasher, or arguing over one purchased piece of merchandise hardly worth the price of one casual discussion, or even how to get to a place that both looked forward to go for a good meal?

Five years ago I wrote, "Anatomy of the Argument", a portion of it I quote below:

What perpetuates an argument lies in the eternal view that winning is paramount when, in fact, nobody really wins. The ecstasy of victory only lasts for a moment, a battle won is not worth the agony of regret. Below is a popular quote whose authorship or endorsement is no longer acknowledged by either man or woman. But it's truth remains.

"A woman has the last word in any argument.

Anything a man says after that is the beginning of another argument."

Please simulate dead silence for a moment because I share the only antidote known by man.

Thus, all I have to say now is "Yes Dear".

I recommend reading the  quick and short musing at:

https://abreloth.blogspot.com/2018/03/anatomy-of-argument.html

It's the littlest of things indeed that really matter.  No matter how huge you think your world is, or how we perceive our infinitely huge universe is, it is the little thing where everything begins.  Wealth begins and ends with a penny, every year starts and ends with a second. When we discovered that the atom was the smallest particle of matter, where atom is from Greek, "atomos" which means indivisible, we found it was made up of a nucleus and electrons around it.  Today, we know there are even smaller subatomic components that even electrons are made of.  Now, we know there are quarks, six of them with names like charm and strange, and recent theories say subatomic strings whose loop can only be imagined in eleven dimensions are even imaginarily smaller still.  Weirder still is that fundamental matter may exhibit wave-like properties.  All minutely little things.

Little things like taking the trash out  with no prior prompting from your wife or even emptying the clothes dryer or dishwasher is enough to melt a wife's tired heart after a long day's housekeeping.  This little thing speaks loudly to the husband's unspoken appreciation of his wife's often thankless job of keeping the household in order.  Did it cost a lot? No, it was nothing.

Likewise, one little thing a wife may do is remind him what it was that made her say yes in the first place.  Husbands are more sensitive to ego boosts and it costs little for a wife to, even if only once in a while, reinforce that coat of armor or polish it to shine if only for a bit at a time.  One little dose that cost so little.

Don't we know that a cup of water will put out a fire quickly and effectively when it starts but not after it is now the proverbial conflagration to each one's regret?  As always that big fire of an argument started as mere spark from nothing.  Don't we remember a time one peaceful afternoon or one quiet evening ruined by one silly argument?  Think back to every argument that spread like one wildfire between  two people that could have been prevented if in the beginning one of two took one step backward to say, "I'm sorry, we don't need to argue about this.  I'm here to listen to your side if you're willing to listen to mine as well".  Do you know that that is the one time a soft, almost monotone of a few words will be louder than a thunder clap, only perceptible through the heart?  It didn't cost much energy either.

But like everything, there is a flip side even for one little droplet or one leaky faucet.

One droplet may cause one little dripple. A hundred of it may fill a glass but trillions upon trillions of it may cause a flood. One leaky faucet is much easier to fix but it will fill a clogged sink in no time and ruin the kitchen or bathroom floor. Often, it is us who clog our mind when all it could have taken was to let one  drip of a comment go by.  Lest we forget it takes one tiny grain of sand under our eyelid to blur our vision or cause one irritating episode of discomfort and pain.

Let not our hearts be troubled by the littlest of things.  On the other hand, it is also the littlest of things we can do to unburden someone of one heavy load.  If we do that even if only from time to time, another person's day is made brighter no matter how gloomy the forecast is.

How We Remember, How We Forget is in The Hips

"The Hippocampus Hips and the Amygdala's Tres Amigos". It is a mouthful, and if you've only casually encountered this awkwardly put together jumble of words and recall it exactly in its entirety a day or two later, spelling and all, then you have an impeccable memory.  You may not need to read this any further. But, if you are one of a certain age, emphasis on age, then you may want to because every now and then you find yourself helplessly grasping to recall something that defies recollection no matter how hard you squint and grimace.  This makes a growing sector of the population fearfully dreadful of memory loss while advances in medicine have allowed for people to physically live longer. By the way, those jumbled words I put together were for a reason, that we will get into later.

The good news, an excellent one actually, is that not only is that recent studies show that however alarmingly frightful we've been led to believe, only 10% of 65 and older folks will develop dementia or Alzheimer's. More significantly, there are now  proven ways to improve memory effectively as we advance in age.

However, it is part of our aging reality  that forgetfulness is one inevitably acceptable part of growing old.  We accept it, but should we take that without a challenge, as if to simply agree and surrender?  "Accept", in this case, can arguably be defined as one defeatist attitude simply because we forget names so easily or where we last put our keys or wallet and why we sometimes go to the garage and we find ourselves standing there and realize we don't know what it was we were there to get  or do.  Or, we see a famous actor's face on TV that we know we used to know so well but can no longer recall his name.  And what about the so called "tip-of-the-tongue" phenomenon that exasperates us to no end until we make the recollection.  

Our brain is the single most powerful part of our anatomy if we are merely ranking magnitude of importance when it comes to function.  Let us not forget though that without it, existence is absolutely impossible.  People can go on living with missing limbs, one kidney or one lung, one eye, etc.  Artificial hearts, kidney and heart donor organs have prolonged countless lives, heart/lung machines can temporarily keep people alive, people can go on living through dialysis machines, and a few more other advances in medicine will someday allow more replacement organs possible.

Indeed, there are hopeful practical possibilities.  But a brain that is partially functioning or even temporarily affected as in a concussion or mental trauma is a critical anomaly.  Brain damage as generally defined is a serious normal life ending condition.

If we worry about forgetfulness we should first and above all be in awe of how and why we remember. Quickly, let's make one quick comparison. 

A supercomputer "Deep Blue" that beat a human chess champion (for the first time ever) was a roomful of high end CPUs (Central Processing Units) linked together into a powerful "thinking machine" that required a lot of electrical power and robust cooling system against  2-1/2 pounds of living tissue. All that Kasparov had to rely on was his experience as a chess player, what he had for lunch, some water and reserve energy in whatever body fat he had in store.  Deep Blue had the support of several technicians during the match and a chess program put together by several engineers, programmers and chess players who used volumes of references of matches played by human chess champions in the past - an artificial array of memory.

We need to go over that to show that our brain is no slouch when it comes to memory and computing power while at the same time do all the simultaneous orchestration of the functions of every body part that must all work together to sustain one complex physiology.  

We will not talk about the entire brain for that will be one gargantuan chore. Instead let's just focus on the two crucial components that are the repositories of how memories are created, sorted and recalled.

1. Hippocampus is from the Greek where "hippos" is horse, "kampos" for sea monster.  Early physiologists/anatomists saw, as in the photo below,  the hippocampus as looking like a seahorse.  Within the folds of the brain's temporal lobe is a seahorse-like tissue that is responsible for creating and retrieving declarative and spatial memories; or, simply put, remembering facts and events and routes, pathways and directions.  It is where we remember lines in a poem, dialogue in a movie, speeches, etc. and how we get back to our seats in a theatre after an intermission.

2. The Amygdala refers to two almond-like structures next to the hippocampus, so named because in Greek it means almond. They're tiny, relatively  smaller parts of the brain (the graphic below is exaggerated for emphasis).

 

The amygdala is responsible for storing and retrieving memories involved in processing emotions, behavior, emotional control and learning as parts of the brain's ability to empathize, react to fearful stimuli and control of our emotions. Unfortunately, the amygdala can also be responsible for obsessive thoughts, harbor uncontrolled and unexplained phobias, or engage in aberrant behavior, for example.  But without a doubt the amygdala pair is one powerful "computer chip" if we must relate our brain to a machine.

There is a long list of human mental powers, as in total recall, musical abilities to play an entire piano concerto from memory, or the conductor knowing exactly when the notes from a bassoon will be wafting above a field of swaying violas and violins in a 100-piece orchestra and ever always aware of every instrument's role  and so on and on,  but let's pick one other example.

When an NBA player makes a 3-point jump shot attempt, those two components of his brain enable him to leap from behind the 3-point line, make a correct orientation of where the  hoop is, be mindful of the defender wanting to block the shot, release the ball  with just the right trajectory and force from his fingertips and remember to land correctly back on the floor to avoid a twisted ankle and be ready to move again whether he made the shot or rush forward to recover a missed attempt. All of these happened within one second because the player's hippocampus and amygdala (H and A) learned, committed and processed to memory, practice after practice, to recall, adjust and execute the shot.

For us ordinary folks, what can we do to help our H's and A's make us better memory champions?  Maybe, not champions to the point of reciting the value of Pi to the nth digit . Ordinary folks can easily recite the value to four decimal points, as in 3.1416 - enough for 99.9 per cent in solving math problems. The world record today stands at 70,030 decimal digits. Why?  Because Suresh Kumar Sharma from India can.  Keep in mind this is just one example among countless others who exhibit extraordinary feats of memory.

Cliff Klaven, the much maligned, often derided character in an erstwhile, popular TV sitcom, "Cheers", was a U.S. Postal worker whose role at the bar almost always revolved around his mastery of trivia, deemed by his friends as useless facts. Truth be told, there is nothing so trivial about trivia if you are a "Jeopardy" contestant along with millions of fans of the  show around the world. I could be among those closet trivia fans although my reason for being one may be different from most.

Knowing, committing to memory, retrieving information as trivial as trivia is no different from lifting weights or running on a treadmill as in physical exercise.  Our muscles are indifferent or oblivious to whether we are only lifting weights or laying bricks, cutting timber with an ax or saw, just as our leg muscles are not aware if we are running in place or away from predators or going after prey.  They get exercised.  Our H and A are exercised whether we are doing a crossword puzzle, playing bridge, chess, or committing to memory useless digits of Pi after 3.14159 26535 89793..

Now, we are told that exercise, literally the physical one, is a memory booster. Studies have shown that seniors engaging in ballroom dancing or line dancing have helped in improving their memories.  If that is so, where cha-cha, Samba, Mambo, etc., are good for improving our memories, then I call these forms of exercises  as involving the "hippocampus hips". 

Any exercise that raises our heart rates and consequently blood flow to the brain helps in boosting memory retrievals and long term retention. Our brain may only be 2-2.5 % of our body weight but it demands 25% of the total energy consumption.  Blood flow is the only way oxygen gets delivered to the brain, so the more we get that going the healthier the brain is in performing its functions.

The amygdala twins need their three friends - the Tres Amigos - to be in top shape:  Diet, Exercise (that hippocampus hips provide) and Sleep.  To aid us in remembering, we will go by the acronym, D.E.S.

Diet goes with little reminding on how important it is for our general health and overall maintenance of our physiology, but one caution is to avoid over indulgence, particularly in alcoholic consumption, marijuana, and other drugs. They are memory busters.  There is little we can add to what has already been said about the right balanced diets for nutrition.

"Sleep, perchance to dream" from Shakespeare's Hamlet has more to say than the Bard of Avon may have ever imagined.  As a species, a third of our daily existence, more or less, is to sleep. It cannot be underestimated nor ignored. Our H and A demand it.  It might be the  downtime for most of our body but H and A use the time to sort, organize and file memories we've experienced throughout the day.  I am simplifying here but that explains dreams and why we have them. Now, how do dolphins and whales sleep? They are water bound air-breathing mammals, so what is their secret? Read up on it and begin your treasure hunting for trivia.  Your H and A will appreciate the exercise.

We do not have to remember the jumbled words above.  Just remember to move those hips and what D.E.S. stands for.

I don't or, more likely, can't dance but I hope my swimming routine gives enough hip actions for my hippocampus. We all would like to believe our D.E.S. levels are adequate but we should always be mindful of that.

Let's be mindful too that every modern invention or amenity in life almost always has another side, often in shades darker than gray. The couch and television are two of those that as a pair will likely be responsible for creating a path for an evolutionary diversity that in a thousand years (assuming our species will still be around) future anthropologists will identify as  a new sub-species: "homo couch potato modernis". Please take this with a sense of humor, or instead simply realize that the couch and television are memory busters if used for far too long every day.

So, because I do not have total recall, below is how I make sure I know exactly where my wallet, driving glasses and  car keys are at any moment I need them.  My cell phone would be there too except I used it to take this photo.  And this took my go-to hand eye coordination activity that is woodworking to make them.

One more thing.  Our H and A are not only in charge of one enormous filing cabinet, they catalogue them for easy retrieval.  When we were young we hardly forgot new stuff we learned as our H and A had relatively fewer files to work on.

We can imagine that as we advance in years, H and A will have a need to work harder in sorting new files or retrieving old ones. But it is also the accumulation of those files that allow us the privilege of having this most important attribute that comes with aging - wisdom.  We have H and A to thank for it. H and A also have a way of filing away bad memories to the back of the filing cabinet, and in extreme cases simply fail to retrieve them, often for good reason, or it shuts down the entire retrieval system and that is how some folks suffer from amnesia.  In other cases, bad memories are kept in front of the filing cabinet and that is how grudges remain a corrosive part of memory.

Our H and A will serve us well when they arrange for good memories to remain in front of the filing system for ease of recollection when we need to lift our spirits or to just feel good with little effort.

There is so much H and A can do for us and all they ask is regular exercise, a healthy diet and a good night sleep. The message to us is that we should never stop learning past the retirement date.  H and A still have enough room to file literally to last a lifetime. Find joy in learning new stuff for H and A to file.  We keep them busy that way. Encourage them to keep the happy files up front of the filing cabinet.

Let us look below at a few lines from Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Memory" from his musical, "Cats", 

"Memory, all alone in the moonlight

I can smile at the old days

I was beautiful then

I remember the time I knew what happiness was

Let the memory live again"

Keep the hippocampus hips moving and enough, good quality D.E.S. for our H and A to keep working for a long, long happy time.