First Nations' teachings meet Einstein

Lately I find more First Nations people are willing to reach out to speak to me.  I recognize this takes time, energy and some degree of pain particularly for survivors of residential schools.  Thank you -- Meegwetch.  

Hopefully these posts show some appreciation but also they're an opportunity to bring you along for the journey.  I know I make mistakes as I attempt to convey ideas and beliefs I know little about but the disrespect of not responding in a conversation is an even greater wrong.  I  hope my First Nations friends will correct me.  I urge you to reach out too.

The Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health

Recently, I spent a wonderful Saturday afternoon with Chief Gilbert Whiteduck, Claudette Commanda, Grand Chief Alice Jerome, Regional Chief Ghislain Picard, and the amazing architect Dr. Douglas Cardinal.  Dr. Cardinal was the architect of the Museum of History (Civilization) and the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington.  

I have always been a great admirer of Cardinal's work.  My boys and I used to while away a cold winter's day in the bright, inviting Children's Museum within the Museum of Civilization. Douglas Cardinal's designs evoke nature -- undulating curves, uneven surfaces and textured sandstone.  If you ever have an opportunity to visit the beautiful Wabano Centre, do it!  If a building could spontaneously heal us, it's this one. And it's filled with inspiring First Nations, Inuit and Metis art from across the country. Dr. Cardinal will be turning eighty soon and a big party is being planned to help finance the construction of an indigenous centre, Circle of All Nations, at Asinabka (Victoria Island). Let's be there to support this great endeavour.

Chief Whiteduck spoke about our connection to the land and I hope this post winds up there too.   European and First Nations peoples have such different views of land, nature ... and self.  

Who am I?  It's a question teens often ask as they struggle for a place in the adult world but it's also a question we adults should ask more often.  As environmental and climate crises increasingly threaten our world, questions of identity and conviction become important.

Self in the European way of thinking is a distinct entity, apart from land and nature.  It is bounded, separate and seen as self-sufficient.  In the biblical sense, man has dominion over God's earthly creation and we are its master.  In the economic and political spheres, I is the basic unit of agency, the actor in these dramas.  For most Western people, this version of I appears to be self-evident and because of this, there isn't any other way of seeing self that isn't considered to be nonsense or wrong.

What if were to tell you that no less a figure than the great Albert Einstein saw self differently?

A human being is a part of a whole, called by us "Universe", a part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.*

While post-modern philosophy challenges this egocentric notion of self, many people in Western countries still believe it.  But the Cartesian idea of separation of mind (self) and body will be generally understood to be erroneous someday in much the same way we no longer believe the earth to be the centre of the solar system. 

Perhaps what I don't need to tell you is that modern science is still trying to catch up with Einstein.  A short book that examines the biological paradox of physical boundaries and perhaps even self is My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor.  Dr. Taylor, a 37 year-old Harvard-trained neuroanatomist, suffered a massive stroke in 1996.  From the perspective of a scientist who specializes in the study of the brain, Dr. Taylor came back from the stroke to tell us what she observed during her recovery.

One of Dr. Taylor's more profound observations is that when the posterior parietal gyrus was shut down in the left hemisphere of her brain due to the stroke, her sense of physical boundaries was turned off.  Essentially without a sense of boundary between skin and air, Dr. Taylor experienced a oneness with nature that she describes as very pleasurable.  The question is did this shutdown of the posterior parietal gyrus also cause Dr. Taylor to lose her sense of self.  Taylor does say that in the course of her recovery, the pleasure of this state was so intense that it took some effort to bring herself back.

Sometimes I try to imagine what Dr. Taylor might have felt as I float in my quiet lake at sunset.  As the chatter of my mind temporarily ceases, I experience a deep appreciation for my surroundings and a sense of tranquility. 

I assume Dr. Taylor is accurately describing the situation -- a distinct area within the brain that defines boundaries and perhaps self.  But I also recognize that I am likely simplifying a complex phenomenon. Still there must have been an evolutionary advantage to awareness of self-boundaries and on the surface of it, it appears to be obvious.  An organism needs a way to protect its integrity from injury and attack. Without this sense of boundary, we may see ourselves as one with the lion that is about to attack, which is not exactly a state of mind conducive to survival.  

I suppose a similar question could be asked of the lion; does it simply have a sense of boundary or is it something more?  I would guess that with similarities in brain structure, it probably does although it's likely fairly different from ours. Still from the perspective of a cat lover and former cat owner, there is no mistaking that cats have an overblown sense of self but dogs, on the other hand ... .

First Nations people have a sense of self that is moderated by philosophies, cultures and religious beliefs different from Western thinking.  First Nations people talk not just about their connections to children, parents and perhaps grandparents but to seven generations.  They also speak about connections to the land and nature in a similar way and about how all of creation is inter-connected.

Last Saturday, Grand-Chief Alice Jerome spoke about her struggle to keep her language while in a residential school.  She explained that her Algonquin language is important as it gives her an ability to freely express concepts not readily available in other languages. For example, the words "open" and "life" are similar in Algonquin and they convey the idea that life is a state of openness to one's surroundings or openness toward the world.

I have come to believe that First Nations people have much to teach us ... and frankly if we are to survive, these are lessons we will have to learn.  Humanity is coming to a crossroads -- either we come together to live in harmony with each other, the land and nature or we will all perish.  And living in harmony means understanding that we are an intrinsic part of nature.

In this journey, I have been amazed by the time and patience Aboriginal people have given me and those around me.  Still the ultimate question for us as Westerners remains do we have the humility and selflessness to truly listen, learn and change our practices.  Do we have the desire to also help build bridges of understanding?  For as Douglas Cardinal says, "We have the power to destroy this whole planet.  We have to learn to be responsible for our acts."


The views expressed in this post are personal opinions only.

Chimps and children -- the lowdown on childhood obesity

Happy New Year!  Like many of you, I make New Year's resolutions and usually my resolution is to lose weight.  Last year, I lost 20 pounds but with a small medical issue in the fall, it came back.  But who am I kidding?  It always comes back.  Because of the many diets I've tried, almost all successful in the short term, I've probably lost 500 pounds in the course of my life and gained 580.

Some doctors like to say that people who are overweight are in denial.  They don't see themselves as fat and they aren't being honest.  Okay, I'll say it.  I'm fat.  Now I would like some health professionals to get real too.

Jane Goodall's chimps

Here's an interesting article I came across during the holidays.  Recent studies conducted by David B. Allison et al. indicate that humans are not the only animals getting fat.   Pets, mice in labs, marmosets and primates are also gaining weight.  In fact, the average weight of the chimpanzee has increased by 35% per decade.

It's probably obvious that chimpanzees just don't have the will power to stay away from those high-carb bananas.  Perhaps it's because they've let their memberships lapse at the aerial gyms or maybe it's because people have cut down the aerial gyms along with the forest canopy.

All kidding aside, the third reason is closest to the truth.  Humanity in reshaping nature has changed the complex relationship between food and ourselves; between the environment and animals.  The problem of weight gain in animals, including humans in developed and developing countries, is complex and it is more than a simple question of calories and energy expenditure. It's a question of how bodies are using and storing those calories, both in human and chimpanzee bodies.

I had read some of this research before.  The concept of "obesogens" or endocrine disruptors has entered popular thinking thanks to Dr. Oz and Dr. David Suzuki.  A study from the National Institute of Health sees it has a worldwide phenomenon.  This doesn't let me off the hook.  A sensible diet and exercise are still my best options but I worry about the next generation.  More children today are fat, out-of-shape and succumbing to adult-onset diabetes at a younger age.  And the "blame the victim" mentality that simply points the finger at children or their mothers will not solve the problem.  Some ParticipACTION ads have been truly offensive in this regard.

What I have learnt from my numerous attempts at dieting over the years is that there is big money to be made in the fast food and diet industries.  Besides the obvious financial interests of fast food chains, even the board of the Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research, an arm of the Dietitians of Canada, includes representatives from the Campbell, Nestle, Unilever and Sodexo companies.  On the other hand, we have Drs. Atkins, Bernstein, Pescatore and others who have made millions from the sale of their books and diet products.  If only these people define the conversation, we are unlikely to get the whole story on obesity and without it, we won't truly understand and take action to benefit the next generation of chimps and children.

Yes, let's begin by removing junk food from school cafeterias and ensuring there is 20 minutes of real daily physical activity in our schools but let's not assume this is sufficient. There's a lot at play here but there's also some hope on the horizon.  A recent article in the Globe and Mail indicates that it may be possible to rid ourselves, and particularly our children's bodies, of toxins and it may be as simple as switching to eating organic fruits and vegetables.

Later in life?

This is controversial and it would require a much broader understanding if we're going to ensure that all children, particularly children living in poverty or in the third world, have an opportunity to lead a healthy adult life. Ultimately, it will require us to clean up the environment as a whole and this can't help but help chimpanzees too.

So to the health professionals out there, I have been honest with you.  Now will you come clean too and have a more informed discussion of what it will take to address childhood obesity?


The views expressed in this post are personal opinions only.