PC514 Vitamin D : Ideas and Opinions Blog

Distributed Intelligence
- Doing the Pirate Gold treasure hunt shows True understanding is beyond one man..shows we can't make decisions on one persons logic alone ..no one man cannot understand everything ..but among a group they have enough angles to get to the truth.
- It shows a dictator is not as smart as a democracy can be - It was teamwork & PG is an excellent example of "distributed intelligence" that a team is better that the smartest of individuals.

coincidentally Matt Ridly came up with similar thoughts

- in his The Manhattan Institute very good...He argues "self sufficiency is another word for poverty"

- in business self sufficiency is not sustainable : "No one man can make a pencil "The knowledge is distributed through graphite miners, woodmen etc. etc. "

- He then argues government produces evil, but the free market doesn't..err what about slavery mate ? what about criminality isn't that the ultimate free market ?
- shows yes you neeed a market, but you need regulation

Pugin - BBC TV
- Since his mother was from Lincolnshire he often visited Lincoln Cathedral. That gave hin=m the inspiration for gothic style. And he is solely responsible for starting the Victorian gothic architechture revolution ..designing so many famous important buildings himself ..like the inside of the Houses of Parliament

- He had the idea that things should be functional but nice, why hide a hinge inside when you can make it beautiful outside ?

- He died at 40 3 wives 8 kids, his achitect son also died at 40

Vitamin D stuff

- Last week BBC prog Insidehealth said adults forget more than children. I say that's EXPECTATION BIAS, all ages including kids forget things, but we don't expect them to remember...where's your "PE kit" , "oh I forgot it " etc.

This week - Vitamin D issue - I was surprised to hear that all the doctors on BBC Radio 4 Health Matters yesterday say that they were all taking vitamin D tablets. Now I know that new researches are showing more health problems than we thought are linked to vitamin D deficiencies. But it's not really a good idea to start taking supplement tablets cos it's not as good as having a lifestyle in line with what the human body has evolved in. A proper diet gives you all the other vitamins.

- Then I found the Naked Scientists also had a special prog on Vitamin D. this led on to a new report from the Chief Medical Officer saying that cos of their couch potato lifestyle the government now recommends Vitamin D tablets for all children under 5. They made it clear it's not necessary for normal adults. Of course there a big industry selling people tablets.

- Yes our diet is very low in Vitamin D, but it's not like Vitamin C which the body needs daily and cannot be stored. 90% of our vitamin D is made from sunlight and although in the UK winter there might not be enough correct UV the vitamin D from the autumn stored in the fat under our skin should last us through until spring.

- The Naked Scientists expert said 90% of adults don't get enough Vitamin D (upto ?)
- When asked what months didn't provide enough UVB she didn't give a scientific answer she said "we can see in October peoples levels of Vit D fall and then in March starts to build up " well they might be covering up more going out less etc. Falls from Oct

- My Qs
- 1. effect of winter holidays ?
- 2. why don't more fats like animal have Vit D
- 3. Does sun exposure lead to better sleep ? BTW bad sleep helps you forget so maybe the army should not encourage troops to rest after battle

Amazing story of David Livingstone : BBC TV
- The Last Explorers
- 1. Livingstone - really amazing story too diff to summarize ..religious zeal to end slavery, forced in to telling lie after lie due to a streak of bad luck

- turns up in Capetown with his wife with a mission to clean Africa by ending slavery, and end badness by spreading christianity
- Somehow he travelled alone up & was the first white man to see Victoria falls, which he names after the Queen.
- Since he was on the Zambesi he decides to follow it to the sea.
- It being wet season he travels overland around some rapids.
- By the time he gets to the Portugues controlled Mozambique he's sent a letter to London with his story that the Zambesi was navigable to the sea, and with a grand plan to comeback with a taskforce sail up the river and go up to the highlands and found a city free from malaria .. Spread the 3Cs : Christianity, Commerce & Civilization .

- but he's almost dying of malaria for 4 months, he returns to UK a hero, meets his wife & children who he hasn't seen for 5 years & has been outside UK for 15.

The hero returns to found a colony to liberate Africa, but circumstances drive him to lie after lie
- So he returns sails up the Zambesi & find the rapids which he's never seen before are much bigger than he thought, will never be passable & therefore the Zambesi is not navigable like he told the world.
- So he lies & tells everyone else "these rapids won't be passable for a while, it's a sign from God that we should try the side river north, that we passed 3 weeks ago.

- that river turned out to have rapids on so they walked 50Km around ... Eventually he gets to Lake Malawi..
- So lies again saying "I've found this great lakes with perfect highlands", he hasn't found it as Arab slavers were already in the area.

Beginning of the Mission that nevr got off the Ground
- He got the bishop to come out, but the mission never gets off the ground due to the local tribe war and malaria. They help the oppressed tribe, but they just turn around & enslave the other tribe and bishop dies ... Livinstones wife comes out she dies...

5 years later His reputation is completely destroyed
- he's spent all the governments money & achieved nothing. He returns to UK in disgrace. Writes some memoirs which is enough to support his family.

The Mad Hunt For The Source of The Nile
- And then leaves with a plan go back to Malawi & use the clues in the bible to find the source of the Nile. So he's been doing that for a few years when Stanley turns up. He writes up the story in such a romantic way that Livingstone is restored to hero status ... Livingstone does a few more months of wondering around having not achieved anything new. However he dies a hero buried in Westminster Abbey

- His Legacy Survives all others
- Colonialisation comes and it's not until independence emerges and Livingstone legacy emerges all colonial things are renamed except those connected with Livingstone cos he was the one who started all the freedom, with his mission to end fighting between all the Africans & bring better ways.

- The next prog was about how William Speirs Bruce was the first person to reach Antarctica and start scienctific research, but he wasn't a member of the "Boy's own club" so went largely unrecognised at the time. Interesting blog on Scottish History

BBC that's Britain
- They asked what is annoying : telesales, door to door sales, chuggers, trolls simplistic thinking e.g. blaming "bankers", "benefit cheats", "immigrants" London centric media bubble, occupylx, strikes, reality / celebrity tv, Green dogma, British weather

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- There are 4 blogs ... travel and then I eventually edit and filter off material into
Current 507Ideas and Opinions Blog, ideas index 2, Irrational World Blog

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