This was a question I answered today and felt it was such an interesting one that I reproduce it here. My answer was chosen as a Best Answer for this on Yahoo Answers but really the issue is such an interesting one that I hope you find the questions posed intriguing:
Resolved QuestionShow me another »
In creation, did God create 'from nothing' or from something?
Reading Genesis, it's difficult to see which interpretation to put upon it: that God started with nothing (no space-time, no energy, no laws) and created from that; or that God started with those things and framed a universe from them.
Which should I understand, from nothing or from something?
And as a follow-up question (if I may), is God immanent then in that creation in the sense of sustaining it, in the sense of directing it, in the sense of observing it, or in some combination of these (or other) senses?
If you could, please, give me Bible references for these (but please, not a simple cut and paste job; with the references I can find and read the text for myself!)
Many thanks
12 hours ago
Additional Details
@Melie - So, you did actually read the bit when I said please no cut and paste jobs? What was it? 'Please no' means something different in your language!?
11 hours ago
@CodyHas... LOL! There might just be a teensy-little flaw in your logic there! ;-)
11 hours ago
Report Abuse
by sol w Member since:
22 June 2007
Total points:
352 (Level 2) Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
I don't have the bible to hand but can answer from my understanding from having studied various aspects of your questions.
Firstly, let me state that Spiritism, in particular the works by Allan Kardec, even more specifically The Spirits' Book offers the most lucid answers (and ones I have yet to see bettered anywhere) to your questions and many many others.
According to The Spirits' Book (which follows the teachings of Christ yet states the Bible was a text for its time and that many parables of Christ were not ready to be understood then),God
created the world/universe and the spirits who incarnate in the bodies of humans.
The ancients believed that we came from a state of nothingness or a void too.
God created us in a similar way to that in which people decide to have children - for knowing Himself through them too.
Whilst he created us we are of course separate and the choices we make are our own. Where God's influence can be felt (and is felt by the millions or billions who notice it) is in the guides who routinely try and steer us away from danger and onto a good path Thse are frequently spirits who some call Guardian Angels and who were almost all just people who upon dying decided to be a guide and were permitted to be one. This is the still small voice we sometimes hear when a part of us wants to be cruel and spiteful - it is never insistent therefore and denying this is entirely fine - neither I nor anyone truly spiritual, and the same with the spirit-guides, is going to force people to believe anything, or even try.
Nevertheless, I attempt to answer the question from my understanding gleaned from my studies of your excellent and interesting questions. God gives us free will - this means we get the glory if we do good things - even if we've been slightly steered on that path (but if we listened, then we are owed the glory!) and conversely, if we make errors, then there are consequences. Some mention karma and that is one way of describing what happens when injustice is committed in the lifetime/incarnation of a spirit. The following incarnation, things will be balanced consequently, much of what God does is not noticed, but think about it and how else can the world be just unless God does systematically reward and punish? It is the obvious and intelligent answer to many inexplicable injustices, as it were. God is just and I believe does want His children to be happy, but He won't force them to do what He knows would make them happy - they have all the freedom to make their own lives as they see fit. What then happens if someone lives well their entire life? Well, that can lead to them going to a more spiritually developed planet where there is less misery or it might lead a spirit to choose to guide a family member still on earth. Some become angels or archangels and go close to God, apparently.
God loves each and every one of His children despite the vast number and has complete awareness of all things at the same time.
So God is immanent in the sense of observing it, but His direction/sustaining of life on earth is dependent upon each case individually, and in the case of the planet as a whole, in the sense of group karma. So, if someone suffers greatly, prayers to God may or may not relieve that suffering. That is God's decision. Ultimately, a parent wants the child to learn, to make moral progress. Sometimes, picking them up and making them feel better is best. At other times, leaving them to get up themselves and dust themselves off may be wiser, as they will learn something valuable about self-sufficiency or not being a cry-baby perhaps. Each case and each person will have different reactions from God. Many say, Why does God allow War, Suffering? Well, often the spirits involved are on a wheel, if you like, whereon they are one life the aggressor, the next life the victim. If we believe this, though we can still be kind and do our best to mitigate the pain of as many people we can. We are here to learn, to perfect ourselves morally/spiritually and to carry out our mission (our mission may be a very material simple one in many ways, though how we are as a person, how we behave, always has an impact and can be part of the mission).
Perhaps the sentence 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God..' bears testimony to how powerful words are and equally how powerful our thoughts are. May your words and questions lead you to a personal truth - what I appreciate most about Spiritism is that it recommends a questioning stance toward the big issues and the entire book, The Spirits' Book is in the form of questions and answers.
Source(s):
The Spirits' Book by Allan Kardec
Work as a researcher about Spiritism in Brazil
Wednesday 6 May 2009
The Genotype Diet
I previously let you know a little about what The Genotype Diet was going to be before it was made public. I have now been following the advice of Dr D'Adamo (who also wrote about blood type, you might remember) in the book The Genotype Diet by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo and am very impressed. It is a diet and lifestyle plan that cannot fail to improve the lives of everyone, no matter how fit or healthy.
It was reviewed in The Telegraph in the UK (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3917177/Revealed-the-diet-secrets-to-help-you-fit-into-your-genes.html) and has other write-ups all viewable here (http://www.genotypediet.com)
My last blog post about Apple Computer I reproduced for those who have not seen it, as I found it still inspiration re-reading it in my email inbox from a fair while back. It was also emailed to me by a very good friend who subsequently died of pancreatic cancer so it seemed appropriate to share it.
I am pasting out The Genotype interview below.
An article also appeared in the US saying The Genotype Diet is taking the country by storm and that Oprah Winfrey is a fan. I urge you to get involved with your health and fitness by reading up on it!
N.B. The Blood Type Diet is still highly effective but The Genotype Diet is, if you like, a refinement of that plan based on further research undertaken by Dr D'Adamo. The man is deserving of the Nobel Prize, 100%. Just because science and parts of the media are slow to recognise him in the UK, doesn't take away from the fantastic, life-changing results he is providing everyone who seriously investigates and puts into practise his findings.
Dr Peter J. D'Adamo:
As a naturopath, I have a deep faith in our ability to take control of our bodies. Every day, I treat patients who discover a health, vitality, and joy in life they'd never thought possible, simply by altering what they eat, which supplements they take, and how they exercise.
Yet I had one blind spot. I always assumed that the genetic part of our story had already been written – that the genes we inherited from our parents were the cards we were dealt, the ones we had for life.
Imagine my delight, then, as I began to discover that we have an
enormous power to improve our lives when it comes to our genes. True, we can't add new genes to the mix or eradicate old ones, but the genes we get at conception are only the beginning of the story. From our time in the womb through our childhood, youth, and adulthood, we have the capacity to turn up the volume on some genes, and silence others, vastly improving our capacity for health and happiness. We can understand the trajectory of our life and health – what physical challenges we're likely to face, what disorders we're prone to – and we can respond. All we need is an understanding of our diet and an exercise plan that is right for our particular "genotype".
In traditional scientific practice, the word genotype is used only to describe a person's actual assortment of genes. However, my use of the word includes our relationship with the environment, the influence of family history, and the effects of prenatal history.
My Genotype Diet is based on a simple but radical notion: we have the power to alter the behaviour of our genes. Some of that power belongs to our mothers, during gestation, but a great deal of that power becomes ours from birth.
Whether you realise it or not, you've spent an entire lifetime altering your genetic activity. That first sip of wine triggered your body's genetic ability to detoxify alcohol. That summer tan, activated the genes that control pigment (melanin) production. An infection, a cold or the flu, boosted activity in the bone-marrow genes that produce protective white blood cells. You see, your genes are not a fixed set of preprogrammed instructions. They are a dynamic, active part of your life, influenced by your history but responding every single day to your environment and your diet.
So let me introduce you to my Genotype programme. I have developed individual diet plans, comprising the foods and supplements that I believe will work best to create optimal health, weight, and vitality for each of the six Genotypes I have identified. These genotypes developed over 100,000 years of human history;
they are the Hunter, the Gatherer, the Teacher, the Explorer, the Warrior, and the Nomad. Each Genotype has different issues concerning weight and metabolism, which is why they can benefit from a tailor-made diet. Following your Genotype diet and exercise plan will give your body all the support it needs to attain and maintain your optimal weight.
How to work out your Genotype
There are three Genotype Calculators (basic, intermediate or advanced). You can use the basic calculator below to get up and get going right away. It is the simplest, quickest and easiest to do. But no matter which level you begin the Genotype programme at, you can always return when you have more information and use a more sophisticated calculator. You can find the intermediate and advanced calculators in my book.
Measure the length of your torso and legs
Leg and torso ratios reflect the levels of the growth factor hormones that you encountered in the womb and early childhood. Being short and having short legs appears to increase your risk of being overweight and of developing Type 2 diabetes. Short leg length is correlated with your risk for coronary heart disease. Being tall seems to increase risk of some cancers. Legs that are equal to or shorter than your torso are indicators for Teacher and Explorer Genotypes.
Measure the length of your index and ring fingers
Which is longer, your ring finger or index finger? A longer ring finger means you faced more androgens in the womb (androgens are a precursor of testosterone); a longer index finger means you faced higher levels of oestrogen. In general, more male hormones contribute to an "Andric" (male) shape: longer, leaner, more
muscular.
Longer ring fingers on both hands are a keynote for the Hunter Genotype, although the Explorer and Nomad show this pattern, too. Having longer index fingers on both hands is a hallmark of the Gatherer, although it is also seen in female Nomads, and occasionally in Teachers. A different result on each hand (that is,
having a longer ring finger on one hand and a longer index finger on the other) is a hallmark of the Teacher, although it is also seen in the Gatherer too.
THE SIX GENOTYPES
The Gatherer
Gatherers are nature's survival strategists, adapted to conserve calories as fat. The challenge is to fit their survival programming to the realities of today's overabundant diet.
Typical features
Has a phenomenal capacity for concentrated brain work; a
problem-solver and early adopter of new ideas; tends towards emotional highs and lows.
Body type
Endomorphic body type, always looks "padded", even when at healthy weight. Tends toward a high BMI and waist-to-hip ratio. Lower leg is shorter than upper leg, and index fingers longer than ring fingers.
Blood type
O or B, and mostly Rh-positive. High oestrogen levels.
Strengths
Terrific mental endurance, highly motivated, fertile and potential to age well.
Weaknesses
Gatherers are unsuccessful crash dieters. Appetite regulation can be a problem. Elevated oestrogen sensitivity can stimulate hormonal cancers.
Vulnerable to accumulating damaging chemicals in tissue.
Health risks
Alzheimer's disease, depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, low thyroid activity, obesity, reproductive cancers.
The Teacher
Sinewy and flexible, with great adaptability, the Teacher is a balance between opposing forces. Blessed with a tolerant immune system, the Teacher is burdened by excess altruism, leading to problems dealing with the bad guys.
Typical features
Views the world in a calm way and has close links with nature –
can "see the forest despite the trees".
Body type
Torso usually longer than legs and generally of moderate to short
stature. Andric body type. Index-to-ring-finger ratio often inverted from hand to hand.
Blood type
Often A, occasionally AB. Rhesus-positive. Tolerant immune system but prone to excess bacterial growth in the digestive tract.
Strengths
Successful adapter. Powerful spiritual energy. Ages gracefully. Great mechanical strength and flexibility.
Weaknesses
Sensitive digestive system, but immune system may not detect cancer mutations early on. Can be too detail-oriented.
Health risks
Ear infections, lung, stomach, and bowel problems. Bacterial
infections. Risk of breast cancer in later life.
The Explorer
Muscular and adventurous, the Explorer is a biological problem-solver who can adapt to environmental changes and has an above-average capacity for gene repair. A balanced diet and lifestyle can overcome a vulnerability to hormonal imbalances and brain strain.
Typical features
A lateral thinker concerned with changing concepts. Quirky. Great entrepreneur. Above-average intelligence.
Body type
Often left-handed. Index-to-ring-finger-length ratios are often reverse of what is expected for sex (ie, longer ring fingers in women, longer index fingers in men). Often muscular, broad-headed, with "chiselled" facial features. Torso usually longer than legs.
Blood type
Any ABO. Often Rh-negative. Vulnerable to borderline anaemia.
Sensitive to caffeine, fragrances, medications.
Strengths
Good gene repair and illness-recovery rate; stamina and memory
retention in old age; a problem-solver; ages gracefully.
Weaknesses
Environmental and chemical hypersensitivities. Accident-prone.
Health risks
Liver function compromised. Medically hard to diagnose; blood
irregularities.
The Nomad
A Genotype of extremes, with great sensitivity to environmental condition, especially changes in altitude and pressure, the Nomad is vulnerable to neuromuscular and immune problems.
Typical features
Phlegmatic, easy-going, roll-with-the-punches personality.
Optimistic, rational and fun-loving. Keeps emotions hidden.
Body type
Physically symmetrical, index and ring-finger lengths are usually
symmetrical to sex. Extremes of height – short or tall. Legs usually longer than torso. Waist-to-hip ratios high in men, low in women. Small teeth. Higher-than-average number of redheads, green eyes.
Blood type B and AB, mostly Rh-positive.
Strengths
Great mind-body connection, balanced immune system and good
stress-handling abilities.
Weaknesses
Sensitive digestive tract.
Health risks
Tendency toward "slow infections" such as lingering viral disorders, warts or parasites.
The Hunter
Tall, thin, intense and adrenalin-driven, the Hunter was originally the success story of the human species. Vulnerable to burnout when overstressed, today's Hunter needs to conserve energy for the long haul.
Typical features
Detail-oriented, mechanically-inclined, has a sense of fair play. Handles stress when well nourished.
Body type
Body seems symmetrical, athletic; tall, strong-boned and well-formed, is often "Andric" (tends toward masculine body type). Ring fingers tend to be longer than index ones.
Blood type
Always O.
Strengths
Energetic and metabolically efficient. Eats heartily, without gaining
weight, for optimal stamina and wellbeing.
Weaknesses
Hair-trigger reaction to infections, viruses, allergens. Beware of
midlife burnout, ageing poorly and digestive problems. Adrenal and pituitary glands are vulnerable.
Health risks
Allergies, auto-immune illnesses (asthma or rheumatoid arthritis),
depression, coeliac-like gut problems, reproductive cancers (more common in men).
The Warrior
Strong, lean, and healthy in youth, the Warrior is subject to a rebellion from their body in midlife. With a good diet and lifestyle, the Warrior can overcome the quick-ageing metabolic genes.
Typical features
Charismatic, if occasionally bad-tempered. Nimble-minded. Needs
to learn how to relax. Will pursue a mental challenge until it is mastered.
Body type
Legs usually longer than torso. Slender in youth; pear-shaped or
barrel-chested later in life. Flushes when under stress. Index-to-ring-finger ratios are usually symmetrical.
Blood type
Often A or AB and typically Rh-positive. Blood can clot too easily.
Strengths
Ox-like, recovers well from illness.
Weaknesses
Thrifty metabolism, stores calories as fat. Stress tends to depress immune system and cause blood to thicken.
Health risks
Insulin resistance and obesity in midlife, digestive problems, hormonal imbalance and infertility, heart disease, high blood pressure.
This is just a taster for the GenoType diet; full details about which foods to eat and which to avoid can be found in 'The GenoType Diet’ by Dr Peter J. D’Adamo (Bantam Press).
It was reviewed in The Telegraph in the UK (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3917177/Revealed-the-diet-secrets-to-help-you-fit-into-your-genes.html) and has other write-ups all viewable here (http://www.genotypediet.com)
My last blog post about Apple Computer I reproduced for those who have not seen it, as I found it still inspiration re-reading it in my email inbox from a fair while back. It was also emailed to me by a very good friend who subsequently died of pancreatic cancer so it seemed appropriate to share it.
I am pasting out The Genotype interview below.
An article also appeared in the US saying The Genotype Diet is taking the country by storm and that Oprah Winfrey is a fan. I urge you to get involved with your health and fitness by reading up on it!
N.B. The Blood Type Diet is still highly effective but The Genotype Diet is, if you like, a refinement of that plan based on further research undertaken by Dr D'Adamo. The man is deserving of the Nobel Prize, 100%. Just because science and parts of the media are slow to recognise him in the UK, doesn't take away from the fantastic, life-changing results he is providing everyone who seriously investigates and puts into practise his findings.
Dr Peter J. D'Adamo:
As a naturopath, I have a deep faith in our ability to take control of our bodies. Every day, I treat patients who discover a health, vitality, and joy in life they'd never thought possible, simply by altering what they eat, which supplements they take, and how they exercise.
Yet I had one blind spot. I always assumed that the genetic part of our story had already been written – that the genes we inherited from our parents were the cards we were dealt, the ones we had for life.
Imagine my delight, then, as I began to discover that we have an
enormous power to improve our lives when it comes to our genes. True, we can't add new genes to the mix or eradicate old ones, but the genes we get at conception are only the beginning of the story. From our time in the womb through our childhood, youth, and adulthood, we have the capacity to turn up the volume on some genes, and silence others, vastly improving our capacity for health and happiness. We can understand the trajectory of our life and health – what physical challenges we're likely to face, what disorders we're prone to – and we can respond. All we need is an understanding of our diet and an exercise plan that is right for our particular "genotype".
In traditional scientific practice, the word genotype is used only to describe a person's actual assortment of genes. However, my use of the word includes our relationship with the environment, the influence of family history, and the effects of prenatal history.
My Genotype Diet is based on a simple but radical notion: we have the power to alter the behaviour of our genes. Some of that power belongs to our mothers, during gestation, but a great deal of that power becomes ours from birth.
Whether you realise it or not, you've spent an entire lifetime altering your genetic activity. That first sip of wine triggered your body's genetic ability to detoxify alcohol. That summer tan, activated the genes that control pigment (melanin) production. An infection, a cold or the flu, boosted activity in the bone-marrow genes that produce protective white blood cells. You see, your genes are not a fixed set of preprogrammed instructions. They are a dynamic, active part of your life, influenced by your history but responding every single day to your environment and your diet.
So let me introduce you to my Genotype programme. I have developed individual diet plans, comprising the foods and supplements that I believe will work best to create optimal health, weight, and vitality for each of the six Genotypes I have identified. These genotypes developed over 100,000 years of human history;
they are the Hunter, the Gatherer, the Teacher, the Explorer, the Warrior, and the Nomad. Each Genotype has different issues concerning weight and metabolism, which is why they can benefit from a tailor-made diet. Following your Genotype diet and exercise plan will give your body all the support it needs to attain and maintain your optimal weight.
How to work out your Genotype
There are three Genotype Calculators (basic, intermediate or advanced). You can use the basic calculator below to get up and get going right away. It is the simplest, quickest and easiest to do. But no matter which level you begin the Genotype programme at, you can always return when you have more information and use a more sophisticated calculator. You can find the intermediate and advanced calculators in my book.
Measure the length of your torso and legs
Leg and torso ratios reflect the levels of the growth factor hormones that you encountered in the womb and early childhood. Being short and having short legs appears to increase your risk of being overweight and of developing Type 2 diabetes. Short leg length is correlated with your risk for coronary heart disease. Being tall seems to increase risk of some cancers. Legs that are equal to or shorter than your torso are indicators for Teacher and Explorer Genotypes.
Measure the length of your index and ring fingers
Which is longer, your ring finger or index finger? A longer ring finger means you faced more androgens in the womb (androgens are a precursor of testosterone); a longer index finger means you faced higher levels of oestrogen. In general, more male hormones contribute to an "Andric" (male) shape: longer, leaner, more
muscular.
Longer ring fingers on both hands are a keynote for the Hunter Genotype, although the Explorer and Nomad show this pattern, too. Having longer index fingers on both hands is a hallmark of the Gatherer, although it is also seen in female Nomads, and occasionally in Teachers. A different result on each hand (that is,
having a longer ring finger on one hand and a longer index finger on the other) is a hallmark of the Teacher, although it is also seen in the Gatherer too.
THE SIX GENOTYPES
The Gatherer
Gatherers are nature's survival strategists, adapted to conserve calories as fat. The challenge is to fit their survival programming to the realities of today's overabundant diet.
Typical features
Has a phenomenal capacity for concentrated brain work; a
problem-solver and early adopter of new ideas; tends towards emotional highs and lows.
Body type
Endomorphic body type, always looks "padded", even when at healthy weight. Tends toward a high BMI and waist-to-hip ratio. Lower leg is shorter than upper leg, and index fingers longer than ring fingers.
Blood type
O or B, and mostly Rh-positive. High oestrogen levels.
Strengths
Terrific mental endurance, highly motivated, fertile and potential to age well.
Weaknesses
Gatherers are unsuccessful crash dieters. Appetite regulation can be a problem. Elevated oestrogen sensitivity can stimulate hormonal cancers.
Vulnerable to accumulating damaging chemicals in tissue.
Health risks
Alzheimer's disease, depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, low thyroid activity, obesity, reproductive cancers.
The Teacher
Sinewy and flexible, with great adaptability, the Teacher is a balance between opposing forces. Blessed with a tolerant immune system, the Teacher is burdened by excess altruism, leading to problems dealing with the bad guys.
Typical features
Views the world in a calm way and has close links with nature –
can "see the forest despite the trees".
Body type
Torso usually longer than legs and generally of moderate to short
stature. Andric body type. Index-to-ring-finger ratio often inverted from hand to hand.
Blood type
Often A, occasionally AB. Rhesus-positive. Tolerant immune system but prone to excess bacterial growth in the digestive tract.
Strengths
Successful adapter. Powerful spiritual energy. Ages gracefully. Great mechanical strength and flexibility.
Weaknesses
Sensitive digestive system, but immune system may not detect cancer mutations early on. Can be too detail-oriented.
Health risks
Ear infections, lung, stomach, and bowel problems. Bacterial
infections. Risk of breast cancer in later life.
The Explorer
Muscular and adventurous, the Explorer is a biological problem-solver who can adapt to environmental changes and has an above-average capacity for gene repair. A balanced diet and lifestyle can overcome a vulnerability to hormonal imbalances and brain strain.
Typical features
A lateral thinker concerned with changing concepts. Quirky. Great entrepreneur. Above-average intelligence.
Body type
Often left-handed. Index-to-ring-finger-length ratios are often reverse of what is expected for sex (ie, longer ring fingers in women, longer index fingers in men). Often muscular, broad-headed, with "chiselled" facial features. Torso usually longer than legs.
Blood type
Any ABO. Often Rh-negative. Vulnerable to borderline anaemia.
Sensitive to caffeine, fragrances, medications.
Strengths
Good gene repair and illness-recovery rate; stamina and memory
retention in old age; a problem-solver; ages gracefully.
Weaknesses
Environmental and chemical hypersensitivities. Accident-prone.
Health risks
Liver function compromised. Medically hard to diagnose; blood
irregularities.
The Nomad
A Genotype of extremes, with great sensitivity to environmental condition, especially changes in altitude and pressure, the Nomad is vulnerable to neuromuscular and immune problems.
Typical features
Phlegmatic, easy-going, roll-with-the-punches personality.
Optimistic, rational and fun-loving. Keeps emotions hidden.
Body type
Physically symmetrical, index and ring-finger lengths are usually
symmetrical to sex. Extremes of height – short or tall. Legs usually longer than torso. Waist-to-hip ratios high in men, low in women. Small teeth. Higher-than-average number of redheads, green eyes.
Blood type B and AB, mostly Rh-positive.
Strengths
Great mind-body connection, balanced immune system and good
stress-handling abilities.
Weaknesses
Sensitive digestive tract.
Health risks
Tendency toward "slow infections" such as lingering viral disorders, warts or parasites.
The Hunter
Tall, thin, intense and adrenalin-driven, the Hunter was originally the success story of the human species. Vulnerable to burnout when overstressed, today's Hunter needs to conserve energy for the long haul.
Typical features
Detail-oriented, mechanically-inclined, has a sense of fair play. Handles stress when well nourished.
Body type
Body seems symmetrical, athletic; tall, strong-boned and well-formed, is often "Andric" (tends toward masculine body type). Ring fingers tend to be longer than index ones.
Blood type
Always O.
Strengths
Energetic and metabolically efficient. Eats heartily, without gaining
weight, for optimal stamina and wellbeing.
Weaknesses
Hair-trigger reaction to infections, viruses, allergens. Beware of
midlife burnout, ageing poorly and digestive problems. Adrenal and pituitary glands are vulnerable.
Health risks
Allergies, auto-immune illnesses (asthma or rheumatoid arthritis),
depression, coeliac-like gut problems, reproductive cancers (more common in men).
The Warrior
Strong, lean, and healthy in youth, the Warrior is subject to a rebellion from their body in midlife. With a good diet and lifestyle, the Warrior can overcome the quick-ageing metabolic genes.
Typical features
Charismatic, if occasionally bad-tempered. Nimble-minded. Needs
to learn how to relax. Will pursue a mental challenge until it is mastered.
Body type
Legs usually longer than torso. Slender in youth; pear-shaped or
barrel-chested later in life. Flushes when under stress. Index-to-ring-finger ratios are usually symmetrical.
Blood type
Often A or AB and typically Rh-positive. Blood can clot too easily.
Strengths
Ox-like, recovers well from illness.
Weaknesses
Thrifty metabolism, stores calories as fat. Stress tends to depress immune system and cause blood to thicken.
Health risks
Insulin resistance and obesity in midlife, digestive problems, hormonal imbalance and infertility, heart disease, high blood pressure.
This is just a taster for the GenoType diet; full details about which foods to eat and which to avoid can be found in 'The GenoType Diet’ by Dr Peter J. D’Adamo (Bantam Press).
Sunday 29 March 2009
Apple Computer
APPLE COMPUTER
Steve Jobs, the brilliant CEO of Apple, gave the commencement address a few weeks ago at Stanford, and I thought it was an outstandingly interesting, really remarkable address. And it hit me particularly hard, because I've always followed my love. I include Job's address below. You might even show it to your kids. This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005, at Stanford.
"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much."
Steve Jobs, the brilliant CEO of Apple, gave the commencement address a few weeks ago at Stanford, and I thought it was an outstandingly interesting, really remarkable address. And it hit me particularly hard, because I've always followed my love. I include Job's address below. You might even show it to your kids. This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005, at Stanford.
"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
