DovBerele

humans are very broad omnivores. we evolved to be able to do okay with an extremely wide range of diets. if you look at the diets of indigenous peoples around the world they range from almost entirely vegan (in india) to almost entirely meat (groups near the arctic) and lots in between.

and, no diet is going to be perfect for the environments and lifestyles humans are leading now, because evolution didn't adapt our species for this environment/lifestyle. so, idk, maybe we should just cut ourselves some slack, instead of trying to figure out what's perfect?

I can't find a citation for this, but the stat I heard recently is that only ~10% of our modifiable (non-genetic) health outcomes are accounted for by diet, as opposed to environment, poverty, sleep, exercise, and other lifestyle things (smoking, drugs, etc.) which make up the other 90%. Even if those numbers are off a bit, it still feels like we put way too much emphasis on food and not enough on all those other things, which may be at least as, if not more, important.

I visited East Wind on LEX from Twin Oaks, around 15 years ago. From what I recall, the gender ratio was skewed really heavily towards men at the time. Is that still the case, and if so, has it caused any noticeable social issues?

Did you visit any other communities before you chose East Wind? What factored into your choice?

That does seem true where I’ve seen very skewed gender ratios. It becomes a vicious cycle that’s hard to snap out of unless you’re willing to make a rule that says we won’t accept any more male members until we’ve had x number of women join, or something like that.

When I lived at Twin Oaks, there was a sociologist visiting, who was doing research about community demographics, including the gender ratios. Not sure if he ever published it though.

It’s funny, I left TO years ago (because I was young and not ready to settle down somewhere), but when people who aren’t involved in ICs ask me why I think it’s lasted as long as it has, I always say “it’s the bureaucracy!”

At least for me, the way I was able to make the psychological leap to income sharing was that I could trust the bureaucracy had an inertia of its own that would keep things running, even if I couldn’t totally trust all the other people.

Takes all kinds, though.

My father has melanoma where the primary site was not on his skin, but in his rectum. (they checked his skin suuuuuper thoroughly, and found nothing) Is colorectal melanoma heritable in the same way that other kinds of colorectal cancers are? Just wondering if I need to follow the first-degree relative guidelines for when to start colonoscopies or not.

Or, if you just had any thoughts or interesting bits of info about different kinds of colorectal cancers other than the most common adenocarcinoma?