Skeptopia

There are some ideas that my hippie/utopian side really likes, but my skeptical side really distrusts.

For instance: wicca/nature worship. I don’t believe in any gods, but I like the idea of treating the forces of nature with respect. I also like rituals, incense, drums, naked forest dancing and pentagrams. I just can’t bring myself to perform any spells for any function other than focusing my mental energy on a goal, or marking a significant event. And also, it’s a little silly because there’s no such thing as magic.

Similarly, I love the idea of “eating raw.” These “raw food,” “paleo” and “live food” diets are appealing to my imagination and my sense of “nature worship.” Even since I read Clan of the Cave Bear, I’ve romanticized my hominid ancestors and thought the idea of roughing it when it comes to food is exciting. I met an extremely skinny artist once who told me he was a “raw foodist.” When I asked how that worked, he said, “It involves a lot of chewing.” I tried it for a couple of days, and he was right. Celebrities like Demi Moore adhere to a raw food diet with excellent results, and it doesn’t sound too unhealthy, at least when compared to Atkins or other fad diets.

One thing I’ve learned when researching raw diets is that people on it tend to be the kind of elitist, self educated, one-track-minded people I tend to dislike. There are also plenty of misconceptions put forward about what our ancestors ate, not to mention the fallacy that somehow because our ancestors did it, it’s better for us. And so I often give up researching, frustrated by stupidity, and move on. Read the rest of this entry »