Caveman's Happiness

Caveman's Violent Nature

2009-10-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

According to Edward O. Nilson in "On Human Nature", there is strong evidence that violence is innate in human nature. There are following conditions of violence;
1. Protect one's inhabitations
2. Obtain sexual rights for reproduction
3. Hunting

However, it is perhaps most important to note that; while accepting innate nature of violence, increased exposure to violence will create more need to release the violent nature or create violent feelings.

Therefore, exposure of violence needs to be controlled!
1. Avoid violent movies, games
2. Avoid unnecessary conditions that causes feelings of violence - noise, intrusion, lack of privacy
3. Do healthy, competitive, team sports

Caveman problems

2009-09-22T19:33:00.001-07:00

Maybe we should adopt caveman problems and throw out non-caveman like problems away to reduce stress and have better health.

non-caveman stresses are created by the society and yourself

http://www.lifestatement.com/content/caveman

Timeline - history of men

2009-09-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Lower Paleolithic: circa 1 million to 120,000 years ago
Middle Paleolithic: circa 120,000 to 40,000 years ago
Upper Paleolithic: circa 40,000 to 19,000 years ago
Epipaleolithic: circa 19,000 years ago 8000 BC

Agriculture began around 8000BC, so 10,000 years ago, shortly after end of iceage (whether this is a causality) - even agriculture may not be in our genetics!! Food surplus brought all forms of development leading to the world it is today. (if you've played games like Civilization or MS's Age of Empires, you will have a good understanding of this)

Early Bronze Age: 3300 to 2000BC
Middle Bronze Age: 2000 to 1500BC
Late Bronze Age 1500 to 1200BC

Of course these time lines are artificial and are invented so that scientists can simplify their studies. Attributes to each era are not actually unique to each era but the changes occured gradually.

paleo diets

2009-09-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

www.primaleats.com

Interval Thoughts

2009-09-22T17:26:00.000-07:00

It's important to note that although TLC(Therapeutic Lifestyle Change) is based on the assumption that caveman WAS HAPPY, my assumption is far less presumtuous. It is that caveman had developed senses of satisfaction and other feelings that may contribute to happiness(as defined within this blog) and health. And these senses of satisfaction were developed because they were needed for his survival. Yet these senses (now I come to realise 'sense' may not be the most appropriate word but anyhow) are not stimulated enough or at all in the modern society.
What I call 'senses', I mean trigger of certain feelings (whether emotional or physical or both), when a person eats certain types of food (long term or short term feelings), sleep, hunting, exercising, etc.

In other words, caveman knew in his natural environment what was good for him and what was bad (surviving and evolving through millions of years). Now the line does not exist and we are in confusion. If we can eliminate/reduce many of the 'unknown's of the caveman, i.e. processed food, artificial light, stress from driving etc and concentrate on the good and the bad known by the caveman, perhaps the our equation for happiness(including health) would be improved.

I've just reached the second page of google search on the topic. Searching for happiness the caveman way has led me to believe that although there is a deluge of information out there that may be directly or indirectly linked to what I'm looking for, there is still a lot to be found out about.

From the sociological view, it may well be the case that human beings will evolve in relatively short time according to our modernized industrial environments, causing more distinct gaps between genes that are more suitable for certain category of jobs in the society; i.e. entertainers, accountants, lawyers, engineers, etc (not to leave out the ones that still live like the hunters). Of course this may well be a wild idea but we are still talking probably tens of thousands of years at least (apparently 10,000 years is way too short for man to evolve but then the environment is changing very fast). Whether this is good or bad for the future of humanity in terms of its chance of survival of the fatalest of all disasters (like the sun dying), it puts a lot of stress on most of us, one example maybe that birth rate has decreased dramatically and it has something to do with not only because people want to enjoy their lives more, but having children is more stressful than it was a long time ago (education, a lot more expense, longer for them to get independent but once they are, they do not help you survive!)

So the question arises whether we are the ones that need to adapt to the fast changing world or do we abandon our current life styles completely to go back to the old ways. Of course the answer is neither for most of us. We have to find a way to balance our lifestyle according to the genetically outdated bodies to uncontrollably fast changing world.

ilardi's "living like caveman" therapeutic method

2009-09-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

"Ilardi's regimen, the Therapeutic Lifestyle Change for Depression (TLC), is packaged into a 14-week program that combines group therapy with a battery of already established depression- fighting remedies: increased sleep, aerobic exercise, ingesting omega-3 fatty acids, bright-light exposure, social interaction, and replacing rumination (dwelling on negative thoughts) with activity. "

"There are studies including the Stirling County Study findings that contradict the conventional wisdom that modern life is so overwhelming that we live in an age of depression. This longitudinal study (1952-current) has found no increase in rates of depression over the past 40+ years though it did find increases of depression within specific demographic groups--especially young women. There are also those who believe that it is the changes in how we classify and diagnose depression that has changed and lead to the significant changes in depression rates.
The cavemen metaphor also has problems. Some have wondered how it is that we even know that cavemen weren't depressed? And is it possible if they were less depressed it was only because they have a life expectancy of 30 years or less? One way to eliminate the depression of midlife crisis is to eliminate midlife in its entirety."

http://lifetwo.com/production/node/20071019-fight-depression-by-living-like-a-caveman-tlc-ilardi

Cure Depression by Embracing the Caveman within

2009-09-22T02:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.uxbydesign.org/2009/06/11/cure-depression-by-embracing-the-caveman-within/

“As a species, humans were never designed for the pace of modern life,” said Ilardi. “We’re designed for a different time – a time when people were physically active, when they were outside in the sun for most of the day, when they had extensive social connections and enjoyed continual face time with their friends and loved ones, when they experienced very little social isolation, when they had a much different diet, when they got considerably more sleep and when they had much less in the way of a relentless, demanding, stress-filled existence.”

Many elements of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle are robustly antidepressant, Ilardi said. In fact, the KU psychology professor mused that if the neurological benefits of exercise alone could be concentrated into a pill, it would become the best-selling, most-effective antidepressant ever marketed.

Caveman Training - what next?

2009-09-22T02:21:00.000-07:00

http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/522978B5-4BCA-4A78-AC1B-1E4C122D8F46/

List of caveman activities

2009-09-22T02:19:00.000-07:00

http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/522978B5-4BCA-4A78-AC1B-1E4C122D8F46/

lift heavy things,
do full body natural cardiovascular exercises,
get plenty of sunshine
caveman diet
do a lot of walking and running,
have days of feast and famine,
workout naked

Avoid deadly chemicalys, typical cleaning agents

2009-09-22T01:56:00.001-07:00

http://diabetescure101.com/cavemansbody.shtml

Most of the pollution that we suffer from come from indoors.

Chlorine based, very unhealthy
Ventilate the house

Drinking water is very important, try to drink it chlorine free
- this requires either buying distilled bottled water or
- leaving chlorinated water for 24 hours exposed to air to have it chlorine free

Quite often thirst can be mistakenly felt as hunger - drink water constantly

2009-09-22T01:51:00.002-07:00

Diet the caveman way
http://www.earth360.com/diet_paleodiet_balzer.html

According to this article, around 10,000 years ago, men have developed ways of cooking food and dairy foods were invented, which in turn allowed more dense, calory rich foods that could be stored longer. Thus allowing professions other than hunting/food gathering, such as builders, leaders and etc. This coincides with the time around when men have supposedly stop evolving. Therefore, the author proposes, (I presume with dependable sources of reasoning) that the dietary habits of neolithic (new stone age, around 10,000 years ago) have not yet been built into our genetic system, and as a result paleoithic diet is the one that is healthier for us. 10,000 years ago is around or shortly after the end of the ice-age, dramatically changing the terrain and the overall environment. Humans being omnivores, were better suited to adapt, start irrigation and more. (however the irrigated sources of food need cooking; uncooked grains, soy beans, potatoes are, contrary to belief, harmful.

The essentials of the Paleolithic Diet are: Eat none of the following:

· Grains- including bread, pasta, noodles
· Beans- including string beans, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, snow-peas and peas
· Potatoes · Dairy products · Sugar · Salt Eat the following:
· Meat, chicken and fish · Eggs · Fruit · Vegetables (especially root vegetables, but definitely not including potatoes or sweet potatoes)
· Nuts, eg. walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia, almond. Do not eat peanuts (a bean) or cashews (a family of their own)
· Berries- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries etc. Try to increase your intake of: · Root vegetables- carrots, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, Swedes
· Organ meats- liver and kidneys (I accept that many people find these unpalatable and won’t eat them)

Expect some minor tuning problems- don’t worry, you can deal with them: · It will take some time for your body to adjust to the changes after all these years. There is a huge surge in your vitamin intake. There is a huge decrease in your toxin intake.

· Start with breakfast for few days, as this is the easiest place to start as most people eat it at home, and it tends to be the least Paleolithic meal of the standard 3. For weight loss you will eventually need to reduce your carbohydrate intake, but ignore this initially as most people have high carb intakes and this can continue for the first few days that you are on this diet. If you reduce too quickly then you may fell unwell. Then move on to lunch or dinner for a few days and then to all 3 meals. If you work, you will often find it easier to take your lunch to work.

2009-09-22T01:51:00.001-07:00

Sleeping the caveman way

http://www.sleepwarrior.com/the-cavemans-guide-to-quality-sleep

Although it focuses on sleeping better, it does have overall tips on staying healthy, which essentially contributes sleeping better and vice versa.

holosync for Meditating?? http://www.centerpointe.com/

What I've found on web

2009-09-21T19:16:00.001-07:00

Differences between a caveman life style and a modern life style

http://healthoid.com/2009/07/27/the-difference-between-a-caveman-lifestyle-and-a-modern-lifestyle/

1.Food: Fresh, non artificial, non processed, seasonal, free of pesticides
not so much dairy

2.Sleep: sleep when dark, in completely darkness, awake when sun's up, no artificial lighting to keep us awake

3.Sunlight: enough sun light to produce sufficient Vitamin D

4.Mental Stress: Stress over getting enough food to get by, natural disasters and animal attacks, illnesses, vs many small stresses such as paying bills, wearing right clothes, stress from driving and other people.

5.Exercise/physical stress:
Enough exercise for hunting etc, not too much though like 8 hours a day, nor running a marathon.

Defining Happiness

2009-09-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

As found in Wikipedia,

Positive states of mind

Happiness relating to past:pride, contentment, satisfaction, serenity

Happiness relating to present: various that come from external stimuli

Happiness relating to the future: optimism, hope, trust

"The most profound sense of happiness is experienced through the meaningful life, achieved if one exercises one's unique strengths and virtues in a purpose greater than one's own immediate goals."

Difference with the Healing the Unhappy Caveman

2009-09-21T00:28:00.000-07:00

Rather than concentrating on the belief that "the human mind was not designed for happiness and what you can do about it", I want to concentrate on the traits of men that still remain in our genes but are often not utilized, and the differences between modern lifestyle (typically city life style) and the survival driven primitive lifestyle (that shaped the human DNA through evolution) that possibly disallow the utilization of those traits, leading to unhappiness.

Happiness and the 4 Gaps

2009-09-21T00:16:00.000-07:00

Happiness here is not an objective term, rather it's a very personal very vague word

Therefore happiness here is, to explain it fully;
Stimulation of senses that gives a person a feeling of satisfaction.
Satisfying the senses may last for a split of a second to days depending on the senses and there are different types of senses/satisfactions(I will include here Love, Joy, Pleasure, etc), and these satisfactions must be repeatable over a period of a life time.

4 Gaps
(created by the difference between fast changing modern world and our genes that have yet to evolve according to it)

The unnecessary bad feelings
(that are present in today's lifestyle)

The useful bad feelings
(absent or not present enough in today's lifestyle)

The absent good feelings
(absent or lacked)

The satiable good feelings
(too easy, too often achieved satisfactions)

Clean Slate

2009-09-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated in finding ways to make a city dweller like myself to be happier, based on the idea of Evolutionary Psychology.

According to the school of thought (of evolutionary pscyhology), humanity stopped evolving around 10,000 years ago and that the modern changes in society, especially in the West, have yet to be adapted by the genes that modern men carry. To make this easier to understand, consider the following example.

Men and women in today's society are less likely to satisfy their materialistic needs due to significant exposure to modern media such as TV and Internet, that often show glitteraties consuming extremely expensive services/products. This is because people have tendency to try to move up the social hierarchy based on the social groups they belong, attempting to imitate someone with higher social status. This is based on assumption that this notion of behaviour has been around long enough to be embedded into our genes, since when our ancestors evolved to depend on social groups. And men have yet to evolve (if ever) to fully distinguish between what is real(not on a screen) and what is on TV or PC, therefore subconsciously believing that what they see on TV needs to be imitated. As a result, the (virtual) social group is much and unnecessarily larger, that the probability of moving to the top part of the hierarchy for a lot more people, is therefore a constant struggle, yet virtually impossible.

This may or may not be a very good example, but if you've read this far, I assume that there is at least a slight hint of agreement between our thoughts that hopefully will carry you to read the next parts.

And for those that may have already had interested in the subject and had own material to research, I hope that this blog will provide new or at least different thoughts on the subject and hopefully contribute your own thoughts and ideas.

According to evolutionary pscyhology, men must have evolved so that both good and bad feelings(whether derived physically or mentally) will lead to better chance of survival. (i.e. both emotion and logics have evolved as tools for survival)
Therefore there are certain ways to meet the needs that will provide feeling of satisfaction, but as many of the city dwellers, modern men have different life styles (for many reasons that will be discussed) from that of cavemen, therefore unable to satisfy those feelings. I.e. lack of caveman activities in modern life styles yet the stimuli leading to the caveman's satisfaction have been embedded into our genes as they contributed to evolution of men today.

But that's only one aspect of it; there are 4 potential gaps that needs to be studied; bad feelings completely useless in today's society; bad feelings that is sometimes useful; good feelings that need to be satisfied more often; good feelings that are too satiable to be really "good".
(in accordance to rather vague pain pleasure theory, there must be links between the usefuly bad feelings and good feelings) You can try to become a simpleton and observe yourself saying "oh this is bad I want/must make it good"