Monday, September 21, 2015
GOOD science.
Refreshingly good science. Hard work, good observation and analysis, cautious speculation based strictly on real human nature instead of leftist myths.
This is the first evidence that the Ancestral Puebloans and other Southwestern cultures consumed the highly caffeinated Ilex drinks. ... Of the 177 pottery samples — 40 of them, or 22 percent — turned up traces of either cacao or Ilex, even in the sherds from communities that were not known to have Mesoamerican artifacts, or other signs of influence from far-flung cultures. This indicates that the Ancestral Puebloans, the Hohokam, and other Southwestern groups not only traded with the peoples of Mesoamerica and the Gulf Coast, they had prolonged and sustained contact with them. “Once made into drinks, these plants were consumed,” she said. “So, unlike some other exchanged items, if they were an important part of life in the Southwest, or Northwestern Mexico, there had to be an ongoing supply, even if they were consumed only sporadically."Eminently sane. Humans LIKE food and water and air, but we LOVE uppers. We will build trade networks, risk instant death, and violate all sorts of laws, to get crack. Not the most pleasant fact about us, but the most solid fact. Convective thought: Are we trying to restore something we lost at some stage? Is that why we need stimulants? By analogy: Some biologists say that domestic cats are basically the same as wild felines except that the domestics have a "calming gene" that prevents them from going batshit loony most of the time. Cats love catnip because it releases the "calming" effect. Are we chimps with a "calming gene" that prevents us from acting like chimps some of the time? Do we feel the need to restore the original wildness? ¶ 8:45 AM
