So these tests really tell you nothing! I just started reading the Dr. Bieler book yesterday, and this article seems to follow right into his view. What needs to change is not inside us, our bodies are marvellously made and can cope, as long as we eat right and are in a healthy environment. But both are in danger of disappearing (if they not already have). Our food is contaminated with chemicals in and out, from fields fertilized with chemicals, and then the plants sprayed with even worse chemicals. The air is full of contamination (chemtrails all day yesterday, chemical plants, smoke, exhaust from cars). And then the doctor tells you to take more chemicals!
"The brain is a particularly elaborate antenna. It is not the source of what it receives."
Cowan is doing what scientism and religion do here.
Thinking that there's a higher intelligence that makes our brain work via signaling means that we are just "robots of god/etc".
If the brain is controlled by some outside energy, it negates the point of why life developed brains- to survive by perceiving the environment and giving internal logic to figure out things.
If anything, the "receiving of signal" is what McGilchrist explains about the right hemisphere. It's the side that takes in a big picture gestalt view of what is sensed of reality in order to help the organism detect dangers or patterns.
The first point made here about the DECISION to perform an action being “upstream” from the various reductionist processes that carry out the decision made me think of the term ‘precede.’ In this case we say that the decision precedes the various mechanisms of physical action IN TEMPORAL terms.
In Philosophy, the term ‘precedes’ (verb: to precede) means that the subject is of a HIGHER ORDER of BEING. To say that "state A” precedes “state B” is to say that State A is both of a more REAL essence and in terms of causality. (State A precedes State B implies that State B is “contained within” and caused by State A.
I thought that was an interesting meaning in this context: Mind precedes the experience/perception of action.
“Anyone who has ever decided to do anything has direct, immediate, repeatable evidence of this. You can test it right now. Decide to raise your finger. Watch what happens. The decision is upstream of the chemistry. The chemistry is the means by which the decision becomes movement. The chemistry is not the decision.”
This picture reminds me of the debate over free will. There are those who argue that we don’t have free will because decisions that we make(choose A or B) is determined at a biological level, not in your mind. So, why did you raise your finger? I chose to. No, you didn’t choose, your finger did.
I’m not good with conflating the philosophical with the biological.
So, you think 'mind' is only philosophical? Or is it part of our conscious experience? I would argue that mind is more our experience than the various constructs of biological reductionism about which we have no conscious experience at all.
This article is very interesting to me because I have or had macrocytic anemia. I never got treated and do think that I have a B12 deficiency although it is very mild if it still exists. Sublingual B12 or sublingual methylated folate doesn't help either. One line of thought that I have been pursuing for some time is the presence or absence of intrinsic factor which is required for B12 absorption.
While I do think that the terrain theory is far more useful in chronic conditions, sometimes a nutritional deficiency exists even though the diet has everything in it. It is absorbtion that is the issue or the microbiome itself as gut bacteria do synthesize B12, so if for some reason you have impaired B12 absorption then supplementation will not work.
I had a peptic ulcer a few years before the blood test which showed the macrocytic anemia. A naturopath ordered the test and did not see it. The reason why I bring this up is that peptic ulcers are linked to H.pylori in greater amounts than usual and that pathogen is linked to the lack of intrinsic factor in the small bowel to absorb methylated co-factors. I think the presence of H.pylori is real; although I do not believe that if I still have macrocytic anemia it is due to the presence of H.pylori. I think it is the gut and here targeted probiotics might work as there are gut bacteria which can synthesize B12.
While I generally agree that terrain issues are the cause of almost all conditions, the polymorphism is real, but the solution is wrong as stated in the article. I think glossing over the genetic issues this time is the wrong approach, but the solution may very well exist with the microbiome which is susceptible to food, water or other things which mess up a person's terrain. I have not eaten fortified cerals in 50 years, so an impaired methyl recycling is not due to folic acid. Another question to ask is almost the whole developed world eats fortified cereals or pastries for breakfast. Why is only 30% showing the MHTFR issues? What about the others?
I agree that poor diet is a major problem among developed nations (3rd world nations have other nutritional deficiencies not due to excess like we do), but I also think this article minimizes this problem. I think an article on B12 and B9 is due, how they work and how people who eat right, and do most of the things in this article: wired computers, organic, no processed carbs, pasture raised meats, raw milk, etc can still have methylation difficulties: other labs that are significant in this discussion are the methionine, selenium and zinc values slong with B12. My dog has methionine issues, along with iso-leucine, selenium and zinc which I think is either an MHTFR genetic thing or a zoonotic H.pylori infection from me. He hasn't eaten kibble in four years, so I don't think the problem is dietary.
If you do happen to have an MTHFR variant, is “improving methylation” (via methylated B vitamins, SAM-e, etc.) even possible? Or is “fixing methylation” a myth?
Some years ago someone convinced me that the "need" some people have for methylated B's was a hoax to justify a more expensive vitamin pill. Pure business.
However, I'd like to suggest that every generation is weaker than the one that came before (probably, though not necessarily, from more and more vaccines at an earlier and earlier point in life) and it is entirely possible some people are born with irreversible body chemistry defects. Permanent, unfixable deformities. Too Far Gone for natural resolution.
Not saying this way or that, just suggesting it is a possibility. Thanks.
But I will take issue with “thoughts first” idea. We believe that there is someone inside us, the homonculus, that is driving our decisions. But who is powering that “person” inside us?
I think it’s complicated. Yes, you mention the brain as some sort of radio receiver, rather than a generator of thoughts. But what is generating whatever the brain is receiving?
I’d love you to address those issues without the methylation distraction. You are totally on point and I learned so much from your essay using MTHFR and its lessons in reductionism. Thank you!
What you write about is exactly what I have come to understand these past few years. Literally everything we have been told is inverted. I live my life much happier now knowing this. I do have some answers as to why my son was born with what is called MHE or Multiple Hereditary Exestosis. It is not necessarily inherited and it is certainly much more than growths on bones. We are not told it is a Heparin imbalance in every cell, so a defect in every cell, that creates the problem, which is the bones keep growing after they should recognise they are complete and small spindly growths grow in any direction, creating pressure, lumps and pain on nerves and organs, depending on their random location. Often requiring surgery.
It isn't rare, nor a common condition.
The more I learn about the allopathic deception, the less I believe any of these explanations.
I now always wonder what conditions there were that created this perfect storm, and was it during conception or gestation? A combination of his father's terrain and mine? One day I hope to understand the reasons why, not necessarily because I blame myself or anyone, I just want to find that needle in the haystack.
I thought I was just going to read about methylation testing which is something that interests me but it went much deeper on a spiritual and philosophical level that I was not expecting.
I am currently exploring my own journey towards a spiritual life and have been having a lot of very deep and inspiring conversations with like-minded people about the nature of consciousness.
I too feel our minds and bodies are conduits for channelling our consciousness from the source/ Dao.
The more I learn the deeper the Duning Kruger curve becomes.
So these tests really tell you nothing! I just started reading the Dr. Bieler book yesterday, and this article seems to follow right into his view. What needs to change is not inside us, our bodies are marvellously made and can cope, as long as we eat right and are in a healthy environment. But both are in danger of disappearing (if they not already have). Our food is contaminated with chemicals in and out, from fields fertilized with chemicals, and then the plants sprayed with even worse chemicals. The air is full of contamination (chemtrails all day yesterday, chemical plants, smoke, exhaust from cars). And then the doctor tells you to take more chemicals!
"The brain is a particularly elaborate antenna. It is not the source of what it receives."
Cowan is doing what scientism and religion do here.
Thinking that there's a higher intelligence that makes our brain work via signaling means that we are just "robots of god/etc".
If the brain is controlled by some outside energy, it negates the point of why life developed brains- to survive by perceiving the environment and giving internal logic to figure out things.
If anything, the "receiving of signal" is what McGilchrist explains about the right hemisphere. It's the side that takes in a big picture gestalt view of what is sensed of reality in order to help the organism detect dangers or patterns.
The first point made here about the DECISION to perform an action being “upstream” from the various reductionist processes that carry out the decision made me think of the term ‘precede.’ In this case we say that the decision precedes the various mechanisms of physical action IN TEMPORAL terms.
In Philosophy, the term ‘precedes’ (verb: to precede) means that the subject is of a HIGHER ORDER of BEING. To say that "state A” precedes “state B” is to say that State A is both of a more REAL essence and in terms of causality. (State A precedes State B implies that State B is “contained within” and caused by State A.
I thought that was an interesting meaning in this context: Mind precedes the experience/perception of action.
“Anyone who has ever decided to do anything has direct, immediate, repeatable evidence of this. You can test it right now. Decide to raise your finger. Watch what happens. The decision is upstream of the chemistry. The chemistry is the means by which the decision becomes movement. The chemistry is not the decision.”
This picture reminds me of the debate over free will. There are those who argue that we don’t have free will because decisions that we make(choose A or B) is determined at a biological level, not in your mind. So, why did you raise your finger? I chose to. No, you didn’t choose, your finger did.
I’m not good with conflating the philosophical with the biological.
So, you think 'mind' is only philosophical? Or is it part of our conscious experience? I would argue that mind is more our experience than the various constructs of biological reductionism about which we have no conscious experience at all.
This article is very interesting to me because I have or had macrocytic anemia. I never got treated and do think that I have a B12 deficiency although it is very mild if it still exists. Sublingual B12 or sublingual methylated folate doesn't help either. One line of thought that I have been pursuing for some time is the presence or absence of intrinsic factor which is required for B12 absorption.
While I do think that the terrain theory is far more useful in chronic conditions, sometimes a nutritional deficiency exists even though the diet has everything in it. It is absorbtion that is the issue or the microbiome itself as gut bacteria do synthesize B12, so if for some reason you have impaired B12 absorption then supplementation will not work.
I had a peptic ulcer a few years before the blood test which showed the macrocytic anemia. A naturopath ordered the test and did not see it. The reason why I bring this up is that peptic ulcers are linked to H.pylori in greater amounts than usual and that pathogen is linked to the lack of intrinsic factor in the small bowel to absorb methylated co-factors. I think the presence of H.pylori is real; although I do not believe that if I still have macrocytic anemia it is due to the presence of H.pylori. I think it is the gut and here targeted probiotics might work as there are gut bacteria which can synthesize B12.
While I generally agree that terrain issues are the cause of almost all conditions, the polymorphism is real, but the solution is wrong as stated in the article. I think glossing over the genetic issues this time is the wrong approach, but the solution may very well exist with the microbiome which is susceptible to food, water or other things which mess up a person's terrain. I have not eaten fortified cerals in 50 years, so an impaired methyl recycling is not due to folic acid. Another question to ask is almost the whole developed world eats fortified cereals or pastries for breakfast. Why is only 30% showing the MHTFR issues? What about the others?
I agree that poor diet is a major problem among developed nations (3rd world nations have other nutritional deficiencies not due to excess like we do), but I also think this article minimizes this problem. I think an article on B12 and B9 is due, how they work and how people who eat right, and do most of the things in this article: wired computers, organic, no processed carbs, pasture raised meats, raw milk, etc can still have methylation difficulties: other labs that are significant in this discussion are the methionine, selenium and zinc values slong with B12. My dog has methionine issues, along with iso-leucine, selenium and zinc which I think is either an MHTFR genetic thing or a zoonotic H.pylori infection from me. He hasn't eaten kibble in four years, so I don't think the problem is dietary.
If you do happen to have an MTHFR variant, is “improving methylation” (via methylated B vitamins, SAM-e, etc.) even possible? Or is “fixing methylation” a myth?
I think it sounds like a myth.
Some years ago someone convinced me that the "need" some people have for methylated B's was a hoax to justify a more expensive vitamin pill. Pure business.
However, I'd like to suggest that every generation is weaker than the one that came before (probably, though not necessarily, from more and more vaccines at an earlier and earlier point in life) and it is entirely possible some people are born with irreversible body chemistry defects. Permanent, unfixable deformities. Too Far Gone for natural resolution.
Not saying this way or that, just suggesting it is a possibility. Thanks.
There is so much good in here.
But I will take issue with “thoughts first” idea. We believe that there is someone inside us, the homonculus, that is driving our decisions. But who is powering that “person” inside us?
I think it’s complicated. Yes, you mention the brain as some sort of radio receiver, rather than a generator of thoughts. But what is generating whatever the brain is receiving?
I’d love you to address those issues without the methylation distraction. You are totally on point and I learned so much from your essay using MTHFR and its lessons in reductionism. Thank you!
What you write about is exactly what I have come to understand these past few years. Literally everything we have been told is inverted. I live my life much happier now knowing this. I do have some answers as to why my son was born with what is called MHE or Multiple Hereditary Exestosis. It is not necessarily inherited and it is certainly much more than growths on bones. We are not told it is a Heparin imbalance in every cell, so a defect in every cell, that creates the problem, which is the bones keep growing after they should recognise they are complete and small spindly growths grow in any direction, creating pressure, lumps and pain on nerves and organs, depending on their random location. Often requiring surgery.
It isn't rare, nor a common condition.
The more I learn about the allopathic deception, the less I believe any of these explanations.
I now always wonder what conditions there were that created this perfect storm, and was it during conception or gestation? A combination of his father's terrain and mine? One day I hope to understand the reasons why, not necessarily because I blame myself or anyone, I just want to find that needle in the haystack.
This article was a very pleasant surprise for me.
I thought I was just going to read about methylation testing which is something that interests me but it went much deeper on a spiritual and philosophical level that I was not expecting.
I am currently exploring my own journey towards a spiritual life and have been having a lot of very deep and inspiring conversations with like-minded people about the nature of consciousness.
I too feel our minds and bodies are conduits for channelling our consciousness from the source/ Dao.
The more I learn the deeper the Duning Kruger curve becomes.
Thank you for this inspiring article.