17 Comments
Jun 3, 2023Liked by Gary Sharpe

Very interesting article, but I think schools (and other institutions) are designed as they are for purpose. Public schools are prisons and indoctrination is the subject. Read John Dewey and you will see it's a socialist plan to make obedient subjects, not critical thinkers. Education is not the goal.

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Always interesting and informative Gary on a complex topic that I am also interested in. You are taking a more focused approach than I as I am merely a student enrolled in Neurology at a traditional university.

Neurogenesis is my focus, the growth or regeneration of neurons in adults. Until recently it was believed that adults could not regenerate neurons.

Always curious, I wondered about this. White blood cells live for days, red blood cells live for months, skin cells live for perhaps a year all the way thru the medical index of 80 organs in the human body. (I believe there are 81 systems but that will have to wait for my thesis.)

But, “Can we, as adults, grow new neurons?” Neuroscientist Dr Sandrine Thuret says that adults can grow new neurons.

One lecture she gave included the statement “How to Increase Neurogenesis… Exercise, Learning, and Sex…”

She goes on and mentions fasting, autophagy, diet, vitamins and minerals etc. etc. but she had my interest with the first three; exercise, learning and sex.

I never had a professor like her my first trip thru College.

Here was a scientist who understood the complexity of the human body. Yes, we students are sometimes given a brain in a glass jar, or we may be allowed to dissect the brain from a cadaver, but… what can we learn from that?

When she mentions zinc and its importance to the health of the hippocampus, she is talking about a living system that will thrive in the presence of zinc and wither and decline without it.

Now let us turn to the work of Dr Bruce Ames, PhD and his theories about something he calls “Triage”. Prolonging healthy aging: Longevity vitamins and proteins. He talks of many things, but to just focus on zinc for the moment as “Zinc, for example, is in 2,000 proteins”.

During “triage” the body sacrifices longevity for short term health so if you become infected with a virus, COVID 19 for example, your body allocates the available store of zinc to the immune system by pulling it out of other organs. Everyone knows about the loss of taste and smell associated with a serious viral infection, the olfactory bulb is normally rich in zinc and needs that mineral to function.

In brief, the olfactory bulb for taste and smell is not as important as survival and zinc is a keystone of the immune system and so has priority. The other important system is the hippocampus, and its role in learning and memory.

Zinc again.

A zinc deficiency at any age would lead to sub-standard performance on academic challenges and in older humans some form of ‘dementia’.

Zinc is just one of the “30 vitamins and minerals” that Dr Ames mentions.

I believe that he was 90 years old when he wrote that paper. And as always “By their deeds you will know them.” Matthew 7:16

Time for one more quote:

The time has come,' the Walrus said,

To talk of many things:

Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —

Of cabbages — and kings —

And why the sea is boiling hot —

And whether pigs have wings.' Lewis Carroll

And never take medical advice from a student who quotes Lewis Carroll

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Jun 4, 2023Liked by Gary Sharpe

This is a must-read article. It truly is all about the nervous system and the incredible dysregulation that happens to us from the get-go, from birth and even in utero. Awareness of this important issue is critical for compassion, environmental adjustments, and learning and utilizing a broad array of calming techniques.

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Jun 4, 2023·edited Jun 4, 2023Liked by Gary Sharpe

Over a decade ago, in my pre-PC* days, i read an article that informed of some research about stress among kids in child minding centres...It claimed the kids had high levels of the stress hormone cortisol...

Given how safe and secure such enviroments/places are supposed to be for kids, how to explain the phenoma ? Well, such places function as perfect examples of Panopticons...

-- You are never allowed to be alone (as it's a sign of "deviance")

-- You're required to Join In, in all group activities

-- You are not allowed to be unhappy (another sign of "deviance")

-- You have to fake friendliness with kids you dislike

-- You are not allowed to do any activity (eg climb trees) deemed "Unsafe"

-- You are not allowed to be angry, nor aggressive...etc...

You are monitored constantly...Freedom within Constraints (Freedom comes at a Price !)...

To a young energetic, growing oraganism all such restraints are stress inducing...

It's a perfect institution for turning out obedient citizens...

It is certain that society has become extremely Risk Averse about everything...Seems nothing is ever done without first a Risk Assessment...(Studies done of children of the isreali Kibbutzim noted a strong urge to conformity, lack of individual initiatives, inability to handle being alone )...

You are constantly monitored...

** Pre-PC = pre-personal computer...I used to read lots of books...

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All institutions are, by design, systems of enslavement and indoctrination. They are meant to weaken the human spirit so that we abdicate our agency as creator beings. This learned helplessness works better in some than in others. Children with a strong constitution — which often stems from healthy parenting, proper nutrition, and the freedom to explore one's world during the formative years — develop responses and find mental/psychological strategies for dealing with their forced servitude even into adulthood. Others came from abusive families or the foster system and their already-traumatized responses will, indeed, challenge the rigid system.

Sometime in second grade in public school, I figured out the system was rigged in favor of control, not learning. I excelled at everything I was tasked to do, but was never offered opportunities to move quickly through the system. I asked my parents to advocate for me either moving ahead a few grades or enrolling me in a private school. My father said nothing. My mother outright laughed at me and said, "You don't get to skip grades. Besides, it would be harmful for you to be with older children. Also, we can't afford to send you to private school."

In high school, my band director said he could get me a full scholarship to the private music college where he graduated. My mother refused to fill out the paperwork. I ended up at a state college and hated every minute of it. I transferred to another university, further from home, where I occasionally took music and writing classes. She went ballistic when she found out and cut me off financially. It was hard, but it was what I really needed to be free to live my life as I wanted. Shortly thereafter, I moved to Los Angeles to cut my chops in the music industry (and thankfully never got "selected" to become a "star").

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Jun 3, 2023Liked by Gary Sharpe

Another valuable article. Thank you again, Gary. The point mentioning viewing situations as "challenging" (student) vs. "challenged by" ( the system) really caught my attention. I so relate to this. It does apply to so many situations. Keep up the good work/information sharing👍!

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Jun 3, 2023Liked by Gary Sharpe

Brilliant. This is my rabbit hole of choice. Thank you for showing me the opening!

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Thank you, Gary!

"Children are not learning machines," indeed.

And adults are not teaching machines! But the contemporary public schools are being operated like indoctrination camps. It was not good in the 60s/70s when I was in grade school and high school, but now it is abominable!

Here is my story about returning to college and earning a B.A. later in life, thinking that I would be doing a great service to my community as a substitute teacher in my local school district . . . and what transpired as a result of that decision.

https://sharine.substack.com/p/substitute-teaching

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challenged students grow up to be unstable adults...and you've all got excellent points. i resonate personally with this abuse from being maligned as an introvert, and threatened with a lesser grade for not being "loud enough" (appropriately socially engaged??); and as a wee girl almost failed gym for not being able to do 50-200 pushups and 200 situps. Nothing back then made sense - what got me through was being a bookworm who was too inspired to wait for the standard punch-lines and instead read and wrote with books on my lap, under the desk. ARGH! What we have all been put through!!!!!!

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Jun 3, 2023Liked by Gary Sharpe

Second, my husband had a dysfunctional childhood, three years in Vietnam, and now years of fibromyalgia. This information clarified some of my ’theories.‘

My grandson (adopted) had a mother who was ‘schizophrenic’. He struggles in a traditional school setting. I will be exploring your linked articles. Thanks you.

I have heard of a pelvis ‘freezing’ at some point during the birth process. So this makes sense.

Dr. Ted Morter said that our bodies’ job is to survive in its environment. So it makes sense it just might get stuck.

I’m hoping that somewhere, in the world of alternative therapies, this type of survival mode can be unstuck.

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To answer your questions, I do not know...

As a runner, I realized that before I could enter any race I had to lace up my shoes. If I wanted to finish, let alone win, I had to be more prepared. My academic study of neurology led me to neurogenesis, autophagy, and longevity. My study of COVID led me to nutrition and vitamins and minerals and back to the study of the brain.

My 81 systems metaphor, instead of 80 organs, could be described as trying to master 81 "Rubric Cubes" that were interlinked in ways both known and unknown. Curiosity got me into this mess and it may get me out...

In the beginning of the COVID event I read an English translation of an Italian report about 1,000 dead of COVID who had been admitted to hospital and had full blood work, etc. before they died. The statistical analysis revealed that 99.99% had been clinically deficient in vitamin D3. Everything else was within normal range. They had other problems, obesity, age, smoking, COPD etc. but the D3 saturation level was the most obvious red flag.

Yeah, the study was ridiculed by 'experts' near and far, the professionals, the politicians, and the vested interests, but it convinced me. I did not even know what Vitamin D3 was or did.

It became my first supplement. Then, with more research I added K2 and finally Menaquinone-7. (I have to relate the Menaquinone-7 story sometime, it's about some Japanese statisticians who became curious about increased longevity in one region of Japan.)

The information was out there, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, PubChem.gov, PubMed.gov, etc.

I began to have skeptical thoughts about the medical profession, big pharma, and corrupt politicians.

Some of us are born with more skepticism, curiosity and stubbornness than others. We are all different and unique but still human. Well, some have more social skills than others and prefer to be liked... while others seem to hear a different drum.

Vitamin and mineral supplements are somewhat out of fashion right now, "just eat a healthy diet and you don't have to worry about that". Who eats a healthy diet now? Who can and what is it?

Lots of questions and the answers do not seem to be organized in a coherent unified way.

I am a runner for instance, and like all things I do I overdo it. Endurance runners can sweat off their electrolytes and black out... while running. I've had it happened 6 times in my early training runs. and once just after a Marathon but it was past the finish line so it didn't matter.

I hit my head and had blood everywhere and was unconscious. I got an ambulance ride, a gurney ride, an x-ray, an MRI and a full blood panel of tests before I became conscience.

The technician was stapling the gaping wound together on my scalp. I ordered him to stop, it felt like he had picked up the wrong staple gun and the staples were too long.

Damn, I don't mind pain but that was something special.

My friends knew I was ok as soon as I started bossing doctors, nurses and technicians with staple guns around.

When I received the itemized hospital bill for $15,673.79 dollars one item stood out... A test for magnesium... (no idea what the .79 was for)

Ok, no one is perfect but if my magnesium were depleted I would be dead.

Ordinary people, not just runners, who eat food grown on depleted soil die this way every day. One doctor, who writes books, believes that over 4,000 people in the United Kingdom die for that reason every year.

Magnesium depletion.

I pay to have my blood tested every 60 days because I am curious about the safety and effectiveness of everything I consume, and everything I do.

I donate blood every 60 days and alternate that with my blood test panels, which I pay for. 34 pints of whole blood so far and I always demand an experienced phlebotomist. (more stories about that) The first time I answered their 52 page questionnaire, to determine if they would let me donate, I marveled out loud that if would make a great dating app. Dirty looks from the staff but it was all about sex stuff and it was amusing. People who are looking for a serious relationship don't think about sex first and people who are looking for casual sex don't think about diseases.

Then they draw a half-litre of blood and 5 or 6 vials to test for 18 diseases. Rather an intrusive procedure but necessary if you want to join their 5 gallon club. Just kidding,

I started donating blood to support the wife of a friend. She is anemic and needs whole blood transfusions every week to stay alive. I believe that she is a worthwhile person.

And some people say that I am a selfish jerk.

Anyway, I do not believe I can worry too much about any disease or injury or condition until I am 100% in control of my diet and nutrition.

Self discipline... Why sign up for liposuction and gastric bypass surgery if you have not tried to diet first? Everyone is different. Everyone has the free will to pursue the life they want to lead.

I really hated to give up the 7 deadly sins but there you go.

Boring life huh?

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