Posts by Peter Ashby
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Having been caused to reflect on this argument, I have assessed whether the reasons I am here are still germane and I find that they are not. This place has become a somewhat self regarding clique, vis the treatment handed out to a new poster who mistook the terms Public Address and Hard News for a public forum and got thoroughly slapped down for not knowing the unwritten conventions and that this was a private forum.
Since the posts increasingly do not do what I originally subscribed for back when Russ was on 95bFM, I shall wander off to pastures new and devote more time to forums that know and enjoy the interplay of ideas.
Adieu
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Another in addition. If argument using examples, reason and evidence results in NZ in personal attacks on the messenger instead of dealing with the points raised then I may rethink my desire to return home. At least here in the UK I can have a discussion about ideas and facts with many people without them mistaking criticism of an idea with a personal attack.
In fact I reminded of when joined a religious usenet group and was the culture in other groups posted evidence and links to back up an argument and got a resounding silence instead of a good discussion. They had no idea how to respond to actual evidence.
I am not going to apologise for writing with reason and evidence instead of simply emoting. If you have a problem with reality, I suggest you deal with it instead of turning it back on me.
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@Russell
Shoehorn? One thread after another? (two in the last month by my reckoning, both relevant in response to posted material or other poster's comments).
The truth is you do not want to hear my message. You posted a video containing evidence that my point that we do less exercise than people used to is true. Someone else commented to that effect, I responded. If that is your definition of 'shoehorning' then may I buy you a dictionary?
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I also object to being accused of a threadjack when it was not I who noted first that in the clip lots of people were running.
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@Danielle
For the record not long before we left NZ I paid for a knee op at a private hospital. My knees are otherwise fine thanks and all the research shows that use or lose it is true.
I see around here plenty of obese people around using walking sticks, frames and mobility scooters because their weight has knackered their joints. This happens not just because of the strain of carrying around all that extra bulk but because being overweight causes inflammation, especially of the joints.
So all the evidence says that I am less like than people who do not exercise to need a knee replacement. The idea that exercise wears your joints out is an old wives tale.
And no, I take neither chondroitin or the other one that supposedly goes with it. The evidence for that stuff is just awful and yes, I have looked at and read it as a scientist.
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Yes, yes, people. Instead of facing up to the realities of modern life lets do a postmodern shooting of the messenger. I think when I come home to NZ I might have to vote ACT or Nats in the hope that I don't have to pay lots of taxes to fund the type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stomach stapling operations etc.
After all I don't get my running shoes paid for by the state.
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@BruceThorpe
I hear you as someone not shy about breaking out into a run. I did get some funny looks the other week when the bus was late getting into the hospital which made me late for my platelet donation. So on getting off I ran, not flat out but not jogging either, for the front doors. I probably had a big grin on my face as it felt so good. I was probably marked down as a new dad or something.
We really, really do not realise how absolutely and utterly sedentary we have become. That Rhythm and Movement clip made the clip back in the '40s yet the street scene showed slim people running in daily life. If they were worried back then, then shouldn't we be really, really concerned?
I run but that is often the only exercise I get. Otherwise I am sitting down at a computer, at a desk reading or writing. I get up only to get a drink or food, then I sit down to consume it. We hardly walk anywhere any more so many of us have cars, or we take the bus/train. We have labour saving devices galore and pre prepared meals mean even cooking is a matter of pressing a button then sitting down until a beep tells you it is ready.
Yet, as Rhythm and Movement pointed out, exercise can make you feel great. I spent 53min thrashing myself up my hill circuit last night and when I got back I felt absolutely fantastic. I don't feel like that after every run, that one was nice because the rain meant I didn't sweat buckets for a change. But moving your body really does do you good.
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So I went to the Flying Nun shop for a looksee. I clicked on The Verlaines and wondered what songs were on 'Juvenilia' since all my Verlaines is on, currently unplayable, original '80's vinyl it would enable me to get some of my old favourites onto my iPod. So I clicked on the album and there is space for a track listing, but it is empty. So even if they won't post to Scotland and I have to get the kid at uni in Dunedin to get it for me I'm not interested in taking a punt on the offchance. Also be nice to get the back catalogue out on CD. Be cheaper than trying find a decent turntable rig for all my vinyl. Then I can flog my original discs of Hallelujah All The Way Home, Send You, Tuatara and yes, that 'infamous' Dunedin EP.
Come on Roger, marks for effort, more to do, please. Also if you can persuade Apple to put the stuff on the UK iTunes site I would be very grateful, not to mention much poorer, but happier.
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@Russell
It does surprise me that The Guardian and the FT will write this stories without getting technical background from their own web people, who'd be able to tell them.
Well the good old Graun seems more than willing to let it's general, sports and odds and sods journos write articles on science without consulting their excellent Science team, so why should Tech stuff be any different? I expect that professional jealousy is the problem. Would you give an Aspberger's specialist editorial rights over a piece for eg?
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@Islander
We are also the descendants of those who did not fall prey to scarlet fever in infancy, or measles, or became deaf and/or sterile from mumps not to mention the scourges that were polio and TB. We humans may think that we are immune to natural selection now, but it is not true. Also disease organisms become less virulent over time since it is hard to spread if you kill or seriously debilitate a victim. One reason Ebola has not spread beyond small areas in Africa, yet.
If you add in the combined effects of childhood immunisation and much better nutrition along with hygiene you get our increased lifespan, including a rise in the diseases of old age.
I feel for people with osteo/arth since some years ago a joint in my hands wore out completely. They had to go in a cut the joint out then put a piece of bone from my iliac crest in the gap to fuse the bones. They did that because eventually that would have been the outcome along with much pain. I spent some time being assessed for osteo/arth at the Hammersmith Hospital including a bone scan. Fortunately they found no systemic condition, the surgeon I finally got to see said it was a function of my loose joints, that joint is not designed to move and in me it did, too much. So I have a strong inkling of the pain and disability. However it is a spectrum and we do also know that there is truth in the 'use it or lose it' adage, though maybe not for all. However we don't know that someone with early onset might have got it earlier had they been more sedentary.
I am not accusing you of being sedentary but there is much morbidity in later life from lives lived in far too sedentary a way. It's all tied in with the obesity epidemic as well, sure junk food is a big culprit but again, our ancestors had some pretty awful diets too. The main difference is our calorie burning is simply not high enough. We also know that obesity and overweight causes generalised inflammation which could be risk factors for conditions like osteo/arth, atherosclerosis and cancer (chronic inflammation and cancer is a big research area at the moment).
If you look at some pop videos from the '70s one thing that strikes you is how thin everyone was back then.