tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68384191459815750462011-12-27T17:08:46.461-08:00interdisciplinary inquiries into the human condition via essays (+ ancestral health thinkering)epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.comBlogger2521100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-32765725001502609512011-07-12T20:37:00.000-07:002011-07-12T20:37:08.252-07:00

It's been fun; it's been a great run. My blogging career is now done. Grazie. Finally, Ancestry - My grandfather's physician-leadership legacy: Long-time Vallejo physician leader leaves rich legacy I'll leave my essays up for folks to peruse leisurely. One last time: Thanks to Dave Lull (thx2DL). Ciao, Brent

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-46003879147031065422011-06-27T22:09:00.000-07:002011-06-27T22:09:16.447-07:00

You're sitting there; Your fate grows near: You wait--you contemplate. You're writing now; Your words pour out: You write--you explicate. You're unsure how; Your mind's gone out: You watch--you await. While you await; Your memory escapes-- It finds: your fate.

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-61584559186952389802011-06-11T13:18:00.000-07:002011-06-11T13:18:07.875-07:00

Learn more about the Paleo Diet.

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-8713352240541318382011-05-13T09:42:00.000-07:002011-06-27T22:00:12.637-07:00

Ancestry.

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-32274374738824599042011-04-11T12:53:00.000-07:002011-04-11T12:57:15.508-07:00

Tradition. The importance of tradition has grown on me (by osmosis, seemingly). For instance, memorable traditions during my Jesuit education for high school shaped my personal development tremendously, thankfully. Similarly, this past weekend, I attended Second Look Weekend at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As part of this traditional celebration for admitted students, current

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-23567166849348028852011-04-04T12:38:00.000-07:002011-04-04T18:12:51.537-07:00

I am not you, and you are not me, but together we can self-experiment with shared stories in synergy. And we can even self-experiment with non-shared stories and still stumble upon peace. Self-experimentation with Story Systems is, I suspect, foundational to the process of deducing a m=1 personal my-thology. If we define a Story System (thx2DL) as the conjectures, thoughts, values, beliefs, et

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-29240716945040358302011-04-02T17:10:00.000-07:002011-04-15T08:28:46.827-07:00

I respect the complexities of human biochemistry; the intricacies of our diverse digestive processes. Stephen Colbert trusts his gut principally; this seems wise to me, particularly when it comes to figuring out this business of eating and drinking--the craft of fueling our bodies with building block dietary pieces. Personally, I suspect an empirical foundation built on digestion provides the

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-8063307238103367042011-03-28T12:53:00.000-07:002011-03-30T13:01:46.561-07:00

Sometimes, the stars align. Sometimes, things coincide. It's at these times when serendipity collides; we see signs of the times. The recent publishing of two Ancestral Health books, Gray Graham's (et al.) Pottenger's Prophecy and Art DeVany's The New Evolution Diet, provides one such time: it's full-circle time. When these two books combine, we see three clear signs: Uno: Through

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-37609399120299426452011-03-08T21:37:00.000-08:002011-03-09T04:57:52.308-08:00

From the ashes they will rise, institutions that we newly derive. The Three-Body Agency Problem in Health Care & The Integrated Health System Model Solution R-evolution: During the 20th Century, medicine evolved at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine into a science-based practice grounded in combining clinical care, research, and education all in one setting. Similarly, Kaiser

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-84249641085237671322011-03-04T00:24:00.000-08:002011-03-04T00:24:58.023-08:00

"Fleeting Fate" Fleeting fate: You set a date And then you wait. You await, But it escapes. You play mind games; Everything seems to race. Then comes another day. And you wait; You wait for the next state: For your fate. To good health, Brent

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-17322853742082639982011-03-03T08:28:00.000-08:002011-03-03T08:28:25.781-08:00

Ancestry Fractal Governance: Organizing Society like Nature by Brent Pottenger, healthcare epistemocrat, @epistemocrat (*BP) by G, The Daily G, not-on-Twitter! (*G) It's supremely challenging; this whole business of governing; of leading. BP: The problem with inventing something that doesn't exist is simply that: it doesn't exist. Thus, conceptualizing a new system of governance, for

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-10894955829839171612011-02-25T07:57:00.000-08:002011-02-25T07:58:32.431-08:00

The whole truth is wholly elusive. But that doesn't mean we don't try. "Blind men and a elephant" is an insightful parable that frames truth-seeking perceptively: Given our personal opacities, we individually conceive varying realities to some degree, despite seeking the same underlying "truth" ultimately. About four years ago, Craig Ventor published his personal genome online; he wanted the

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-53403840168178877442011-02-24T21:26:00.000-08:002011-02-24T22:52:26.458-08:00

(Graphic by Sarah Rebich) Above all, I'm thankful for my family and my friends. Thankfully, I can count Brian Geremia (President of Ancestry) and Aaron Blaisdell (President of the Ancestral Health Society) as friends--friendships are blessings. In response to my previous poem--"Stumbling Upon Ancestry"--Brian composed a thoughtful analysis--"Reflection on 'Stumbling Upon Ancestry'"--on his

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-34766450599407519982011-02-21T22:39:00.000-08:002011-02-21T23:23:03.894-08:00

"Stumbling Upon Ancestry" From these ashes they will rise: Institutions that we newly derive. Institutions that we re-create glocally; That is, institutions that we scale up fractally. From the individual to the family; From the family to the community: We'll band back together synergistically, And help each other regain our dignity, our integrity. That is, we'll organize society like Mother

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-44933358349364413662010-12-10T07:37:00.000-08:002010-12-10T07:37:06.558-08:00

We Aren't Who We Thought We Were Things are improving For this whole business of being A human being. It started with a G. It now has a M. The Genome was a human thing. And now it has a Microbiome silver-lining. That is those bacteria, fungi, and viruses; Those micro-organisms that are lining our inner-beings And interacting with our reasons for being. We knew about that twisted

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-17167456093307188192010-12-03T18:29:00.000-08:002010-12-04T16:41:24.355-08:00

Ancestry is one idea, one main theme: Respecting our ancestral heritages as human beings. Tickets for the Ancestral Health Symposium (AHS) are here: Ancestral Health Symposium The Ancestry Web site has additional information (hat tip to Brian Geremia for designing it): AncestryFoundation.org The awesome, amazing logos for the Ancestral Health Symposium, the Ancestral Health Society, and

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-9067896915484537652010-11-15T00:23:00.000-08:002010-11-15T07:54:08.636-08:00

HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: HOME TO DR. ATUL GAWANDE, MD, MPH Serendipity. Is a mystery to me. Is important to me. Is plain fascinating. The Internet has its pros and its cons; its positives and its negatives. Personally, one of the greatest benefits of the Internet is exposure to the envelope of serendipity. Recently, I connected with Adam Stoffa: He read my previous essay on Dr. Atul

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-5065413296249278952010-09-17T02:02:00.000-07:002010-09-18T19:28:31.119-07:00

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Dr. Atul Gawande Over the past decade, we've learned a lot from Dr. Atul Gawande, MD, MPH. From his previous works, Complications and Better, we learned (a) to count things (e.g. Apgar Score) and (b) to write something (e.g. The Velluvial Matrix). Now, from his latest masterpiece, Checklist Manifesto, we learn (c) to check things. To check

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-74258194075689778302010-09-08T00:56:00.000-07:002010-09-08T00:56:26.517-07:00

As I've said before, I think maps matter. A lot. Just ask Daniel Kahneman. Mental maps, that is. Cognitive landscapes for decision making. Organized threads for thinkering. Well, Robb Wolf is one of my favorite Ancestral Health cartographers. Therefore, here are my caveats: 1) Robb generously sent me a copy (pictured above) of his new book, The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet. 2)

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-39113568385250639482010-09-07T22:22:00.000-07:002010-09-07T22:22:22.352-07:00

I think the arts are forms of craft.  I think people find craft fulfilling; that is, transcending.  Here's what Karl Popper said (thanks to Dave Lull): Karl Popper: I do think that all men, including myself, are religious. We do all believe in something more--and it is difficult to find the right words--than ourselves. While I do not want to set up a new kind of faith, what we really believe in

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-34175253762268021302010-08-23T23:40:00.000-07:002010-08-23T23:40:47.162-07:00

All things Ancestry (Ancestral Health Society, Ancestral Health Symposium, et al.) exist and persist via a hobbyist volunteerism model. Collectively, many talented and passionate volunteers connecting around the central idea that we can learn things about health and lifestyle choices by studying and respecting our diverse heritages as human beings can produce amazing results in serendipitous ways

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-26379890534406938252010-08-21T02:50:00.000-07:002010-08-21T02:57:05.901-07:00

(Above: My ancestral birthday cake from last year. I had FAGE with a few blueberries this year.) Brian Geremia, Seth Roberts, Aaron Blaisdell, Michal Naisteter, and I were lucky enough to be on Jimmy Moore's podcast show yesterday, which ended up being a nice 27th birthday present for me. Thanks to Jimmy for helping support the Ancestral Health Symposium! Spread the good word. To good health

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-13193633877989126292010-08-12T06:55:00.000-07:002010-08-12T07:00:59.036-07:00

Two Mantras Hybridized: Cura Personalis & Epoche Collide Two mantras hybridized; Cura Personalis and Epoche collide. The former is a Latin phrase. The latter is a Greek term. Together they cross-pollinate To produce the spirit I hope to captivate. Cura Personalis means caring for the whole person. Epoche translates as suspending judgment. The former requires the latter. Because listening

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-20032998923204415372010-08-02T21:48:00.000-07:002010-08-02T22:00:37.336-07:00

The Gut-Brain Connection: An Inside Look at Depression (See notes here) I recently wrote a poem ("Where's My Brain?") about the gut-brain, the heart-brain, and the head-brain, among other things. I concluded, tentatively, that it's all brain. So here's a nice presentation on the gut-brain (thanks to Dr. BG). Intestinal Dysbiosis is rising to the surface as one of the most important aspects

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-87052087825708970222010-08-01T21:38:00.000-07:002010-08-01T21:40:22.027-07:00

Stuart Appleby, one of my favorite golfers (I try to mimic his swing), shot 59 today to win. His historic performance emerged unexpectedly; he hasn't played up to his vast potential these past few years. Enter serendipity. But that's how athletic performance seems to go; that is, it ebbs and it flows. Playing sports taught me that lesson many times over, as well as the following: Uno: 

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-6358065514248298382010-08-01T15:43:00.000-07:002010-08-01T15:43:54.141-07:00

Meta-Rule: Avoid foods that produce negative effects in metabolically similar pets. I'd been feeding my dog pet food mixes from Whole Foods (the butcher grinds up beef, liver, and heart nearing their expiration dates and then sells this mix for $1.50 a pound as dog food), and I suddenly noticed a distinct "doggy" odor. You know the smell, I'm sure. Most dogs have it, but mine never did. I began

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-48579108082979597742010-08-01T00:06:00.000-07:002010-08-01T10:51:42.309-07:00

Here are three 'myth-as-mentor' components of my m=1/n=1 Ancestry. Primo: Decades ago, Dr. Francis M. Pottenger, MD, served as the President of the American College of Physicians and wrote a fascinating book, Tuberculosis and How to Combat It - A Book for the Patient. Here is a notable quote: "No two physicians can deal with their patients exactly alike, yet each one may obtain satisfactory

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-50742113806849201812010-07-29T01:51:00.000-07:002010-07-29T10:29:30.980-07:00

Thought for the day ... (via Frank Wilson; thanks to Dave Lull)"Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve." - Karl Popper, born on this date in 1902 Primo: Happy Birthday to Sir Karl Raimund Popper, the critical rationalist who thinkered about fallibilism, evolutionary

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-45744404212329689852010-07-27T19:17:00.000-07:002010-07-29T11:02:03.001-07:00

"Fixed Path Length Constraints" There's only so much time in a day. There's only so many things we can say. Sometimes it's best to just get out of our own ways. I move right. There's new light. I move left. I feel bereft. I'm searching under uncertainty. I take a Levy flight. I see a new site. It's fascinating yet intimidating. There's so much to see, But yet so much remains unseen. How

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-60509355984195446682010-07-27T14:04:00.000-07:002010-07-27T14:04:01.548-07:00

In response to my previous post on The Problem of Induction ... Note the negative empiricism spirit in LeonRover's thinkering: I have begun to find that invocation of the notion of "optimality" has become bogus as far as my eating decisions are concerned.Back in the day, I use to do LP - Linear Programming - not LipoProtein. The solution space was defined by a set of values on a convex set, and

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-86282432199416166722010-07-27T13:22:00.000-07:002010-07-27T13:33:40.141-07:00

Note the homoplasy below in David's 'walking' meta-rule that correlates with Nassim Taleb's aphorisms about thinking while moving. Some would say, "How can God enter your reflections if you always have music playing?" I like music. But I also like some silence. Either way, enjoy what the ever-epistemocratic DT has to say: As Brent may have mentioned before, meta-rules help you decide how you

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-69448456133711519532010-07-27T09:21:00.000-07:002010-07-27T09:21:14.868-07:00

Everything has a caveat. A warning. (Or is it a forewarning?) My blog has a caveat; it's a Warning located in the upper right-hand corner. The Problem of Induction requires caveats; elegant caveats that celebrate individuality. For instance, my friend, Jeff Erno, picked up a bunch of Vibram Five Finger business cards to hand out to people who asked about his uncommon minimalist shoes. This

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-90558563213219379332010-07-26T11:49:00.001-07:002010-07-26T11:49:14.108-07:00

"Theory" A theory is just a theory. Well at least it is in theory. They say theory informs practice, But what about practice informing theory? The theory says one thing; But my experiences say another. Am I wrong? Or is the theory? How do I validate my experiences, Without sweeping my intuitions under the rug? Because validation is important; Say scientists looking at child development.

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-69111585586686462752010-07-25T19:24:00.000-07:002010-07-25T19:28:04.454-07:00

"Where's my Brain?" I can't figure this out. But surely you can help. I've lost my brain, And I'd love to know where it's hiding out. Is it in my head? That's certainly long been said. Is it in my heart? I definitely can feel it play a part. Or is it buried deeply within, underneath my viscera and skin? The 'gut brain', they say, is a powerful thing. They say these types of things more and

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-39611339066129360432010-07-25T15:37:00.000-07:002010-07-25T17:19:42.797-07:00

Dr. Atul Gawande says, "Whatever you do, write something." Something. Blogging, in some way, is something: a healthy hobby, perhaps. Writing is a way to test things; to try things out; to work through things: it's meditative, maybe. Three years of writing by Blogging have revealed the following, randomly: (1) Lots of people are thinking, wondering, worrying, and considering similar things.

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-54364606834881408932010-07-24T14:09:00.000-07:002010-07-24T21:25:31.633-07:00

At times, I feel as if I have been a "Pre-Med" student forever (and it's a feeling of patience and perseverance that I am thankful for experiencing). I entered the University of California, Davis in Fall 2002, and I finished my undergraduate studies in Spring 2007. As indicated in the Graduation Ceremony video above, I then went on to pursue a Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree, which

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-16473776846894472202010-07-23T18:01:00.000-07:002010-07-23T18:25:22.015-07:00

Primo: Michael Allen, Grumpy Old Bookman, composed his 40-year m=1/n=1 nutritional bricolage journey as an essay, "Is it Safe to Eat Breakfast? One man's search for a healthy diet" (thanks to Dave Lull). Several fascinating themes emerged in this essay: (1) human fallibility in nutrition science; (2) self-experimentation as a necessary process for stumbling upon a pretty decent diet; (3)

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-74113625250688413892010-07-23T11:13:00.000-07:002010-07-23T11:13:50.583-07:00

(Hat tip to Pradeep)

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-20818138151949860352010-07-21T23:00:00.000-07:002010-07-21T23:04:40.546-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm m=1 My-thology: Three of my mentors, Mark Sisson, Seth Roberts, and Marc Simonson, conjecture that daily setting of circadian rhythms is foundational to health. Given my interest in nonlinearities, multifractal relationships, and the power-law mathematics of information cascades, the simple notion that we need to get our hormonal systems firing on

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-11677811552565449252010-07-16T19:19:00.000-07:002010-07-16T19:19:35.808-07:00

A Meta-Rule for Meta-Rules ... Don't neglect to look continually for error (criticize, falsify) and weed it out of your garden of meta-rules. - Dave LullHow? 'While nothing can ever be justified in any ultimate sense, certainly we can see error and weed it out. This is true whether we are dealing with empirical science and perhaps even knowledge of what is ethical. An important part of [W.W.]

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-56099905716230194942010-07-14T00:22:00.000-07:002010-07-14T06:36:23.915-07:00

"Animals have ancestors too," as my friend, Professor Aaron Blaisdell of UCLA, would say. That's true. And Steve Brown honors this reality in all the passionate work that he does to improve canine health via ancestral nutrition considerations. Steve's Web site is SeeSpotLiveLonger.com, and one of his published works is the following book: In Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet, Steve

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-37567581284167905342010-07-06T23:50:00.000-07:002010-07-07T00:12:04.974-07:00

I co-founded Game Plan Academy (GPA) with my friends in Sacramento a few years ago. After replicating the model in Sacramento successfully, we were lucky to expand GPA into a new neighborhood this past May 2010 by partnering with Revolution Test Prep, Compton Unified School District, and the University of Southern California. GPA is a collaborative volunteer effort, a Private/Public/NonProfit (3P

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-433678201007277062010-06-26T23:28:00.000-07:002010-07-07T00:21:17.582-07:00

Nassim Taleb's Meta-Rule:… As an empricist, I don’t have to understand the logic behind a system; I just take it as it is because I’m not smart enough to understand it. I call it opacity.(Hat tip to Dave Lull & The Black Swan Report)Like Karl Popper's Meta-Meta-Rule that requires falsifiability for conjectures, this could be the Meta-Meta-Rule for hedging against the Justificationist Addiction.To

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-28820658153970529172010-06-21T22:22:00.000-07:002010-06-25T06:51:27.137-07:00

Fun Note: I enjoyed an awesome dinner tonight with Dr. BG, Richard Nikoley, and Patrik. We enjoyed one of my favorite feasts: Korean BBQ! Of course, as seems to always be the case with Ancestral Health MeetUps, good food, good conversation, and good friendship won the day. When I think of epistemocracy, I think of these types of gatherings.Now, on to my essay ...m=1/n=1 Meta-Rules for

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-55331702067081713922010-06-20T23:08:00.000-07:002010-06-21T00:00:15.637-07:00

It's like Yin without Yang.Practicing Science sans Philosophy of Science balance is a dangerous game.Why?Because science is a method. No more. No less. It's a (potentially beautiful) method with a good track record for uncovering some of the dynamics that drive the universe. This method involves observing, hypothesizing, testing, measuring, analyzing, concluding, and questioning. But while these

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-66533004629652279022010-06-17T19:49:00.000-07:002010-06-17T21:07:25.200-07:00

It's the only possibility.Deleveraging.Nassim Taleb has reflected about other possible answers. However, despite running numerous thought-experiments in parallel, he cannot figure out another way (save for a positive Black Swan strike) to rescue our economies from their current conundrums other than by reducing our debt levels significantly. That is, we must deleverage financially by "tightening

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-33389783768826477422010-06-16T09:02:00.000-07:002010-06-16T10:38:35.374-07:00

Searching for the perfect human diet is an art.A deductive (reasoning from n=WP (whole populations) down to n=1) art because we each possess genomic and microbiomic individuality, minimally.We also have our own aesthetic tendencies and personalized palates for taste preferences. And, once we introduce epigenetics and epimicrobiomics into the health optimization equation, the degrees of freedom

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-83079730175787002962010-06-14T19:12:00.001-07:002010-06-15T10:35:56.020-07:00

Why do we believe the things we do?Because ________. (insert your justification here)Not so fast.Are our beliefs based on n=1 experiences? Are they based on m=1 personal my-thologies that we have constructed from our cultural traditions or deduced from our reflective thought experiments? Or, do we derive some of the beliefs that round out our tentative story systems with an "I_Don't_Know_ist"

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-11886704970876603422010-06-14T09:37:00.000-07:002010-06-14T11:49:19.250-07:00

On Thursday, the 2010 US Open will begin at the gorgeous Pebble Beach Golf Course in Monterey, California. Ten years ago, in the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, Tiger Woods scorched the field to win by fifteen shots. At that time, people from all walks of life were making all kinds of predictions and extrapolations about where Tiger Woods would be in ten years. Well, here we are, a decade later,

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-6428186767977206792010-06-13T23:50:00.000-07:002010-06-14T01:18:01.153-07:00

Episode I & Episode IIEpisode III: Why Hyper-Localism?Setting: Back at Chris Owens' coffee bar, of course.Scene: Dr. Swan, Dr. DJ, and Dr. Camp(bell) meet up with Dr. Naws (Swan spelled backwards) for some coffeedy conjecturing about the need for a return to localism in the Differentiation of Information Age.Naws: Naw, I just don't see why you guys are so into all this hyper-localism nonsense.

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-78890989436893664832010-06-13T20:36:00.000-07:002010-06-13T22:03:52.231-07:00

My always-insightful friend, Professor Aaron Blaisdell, communicates his m=1 my-thology so elegantly (yes, you can clap for him after you finish reading this):I have faith (an assumption) that the world can be accounted for in terms of material and its mechanisms. I don't know whether or not that's the case, but it's what I believe. I don't believe in God in the sense of a creative intelligence

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-20441815796602825632010-06-13T10:47:00.000-07:002010-06-13T11:44:27.540-07:00

We don't know it all.That's not news to anyone.I don't know it all, to say the least.That's an understatement. But, in spite of this condition, we surely do know things. Lots of things.Personally, in the face of this epistemological paradox, I find peace as a deductivist (reasoning from general to specific like Sherlock Holmes did) because I know that I don't have to be all things to all people

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-38972385041596637412010-06-09T09:13:00.000-07:002010-06-13T00:01:47.513-07:00

Above: My short piece about Game Plan Academy (GPA) in Sacramento Press features a hyper-local synergy: Brian Geremia is a GPA & Ancestry co-founder and, as you can see in the picture above, his family's business, Geremia Pools, which was founded in 1922 and has served Sacramento's local and surrounding communities loyally ever since, has an advertisement running right now in Sacramento Press,

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-41046496101798574452010-06-07T19:30:00.000-07:002010-06-07T19:44:33.296-07:00

Nassim Taleb works on robustness to factor for the invisible (hat tip to Dave Lull).In the case of serendipity, such as Morton Meyers' Happy Accidents in medical research, when we finally connect the dots, the unseen is made seen.When it comes to spirituality, Marc Simonson says the following:HI BRENT,IT IS EASY TO READ AND TALK IN WORDS AND TO THINK ABOUT SPIRITUAL THINGS NOT BEING IN THE

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-44282282617201054742010-06-07T18:52:00.000-07:002010-06-07T20:35:37.672-07:00

(Above: I saw Mark Sisson's The Primal Blueprint in Borders.)Perceiving wisdom is not easy.Living in a world where we can learn by grace or by hard knocks doesn't always provide clarity.In short, we're left, at the margin, with some form of spirituality. Marc Simonson embraces this reality:HI BRENT,SINCE YOU ATTENDED A JESUIT SCHOOL, I FEEL THAT I CAN SHARE THE FOLLOWING.MANY YEARS AGO, AS MY

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-21506250949665570242010-06-05T09:42:00.000-07:002010-06-07T20:25:58.303-07:00

I am thankful to all those who have contributed thus far to my ongoing Self-Experimentation with Meta-Rule Formation project (much appreciated). Marc Simonson is one of those people. People from all walks of life can approximate m=1 truth in their own specific n=1 Patient of One cases in many ways; they can also reach similar conclusions independently at the end of the day (homoplasy). Meta-Rule

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-90613281066591505322010-06-05T06:52:00.000-07:002010-06-05T07:29:35.796-07:00

(Above: Coach John Wooden's TED Talk. He talks about his own m=1 cartography.)John Wooden mentored me. His personal my-thology spoke to me.He passed away yesterday, but through myth as mentor he will stay with me.In high school, I read his books, and I even composed an essay on his Pyramid of Success because it inspired me. His maxims--"Woodenisms"--such as, "Never mistake activity for

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-14010174164701030102010-06-04T21:16:00.000-07:002010-06-05T00:47:16.363-07:00

HI BRENT,MY BASIC META-RULE ON POSITIVE THINKING:DON'T LET NEGATIVE COMMUNICATIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES BECOME YOUR OWN, AS THEY MIGHT BECOME NEGATIVE SELF-FULFILLING PROPHESIES.HOW? IN 1998, I HAD A POSITIVE BIOPSY FOR MELANOMA ON MY LEFT JAW/CHEEK AREA. FOUR YEARS BEFORE THIS, I HAD TO HELP ONE OF MY AUNTS CARE FOR MY UNCLE, WHO WAS DYING A HORRIBLE DEATH FROM MELANOMA. NEEDLESS TO SAY, MY NATURAL

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-12154659290784860682010-06-04T07:03:00.001-07:002010-06-04T07:32:08.001-07:00

Another installment of Comment Highlight, thanks to the always-thoughtful-and-enjoyable insights from The Daily G:On redundancy: My paternal grandfather was an engineer who did design work on many large civic/public-interest projects like bridges, power-stations and warships. He admired the old Victorian Age engineering culture and always maintained that the final destruction of this golden age

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-55787505628986130212010-06-03T22:20:00.000-07:002010-06-03T22:35:37.618-07:00

Mentorship matters.I read this in the newspaper today:My mother was mentally ill, my father was absent, and the school was my haven. I often wish I could tell some of those adults who helped me along the way that I did make it and that I'm so grateful for the little and big ways they intervened in my life.To all who serve children: Please know that even very small kindnesses give hope and

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-39388991342700331422010-06-01T18:01:00.000-07:002010-06-02T10:11:09.198-07:00

HI BRENT,THIS IS HOW I LOOK AT LIVING LIFE.META-RULE:DON'T LET EACH YEAR THAT YOU LIVE BE LIKE A POTATO THAT YOU ADD TO A BACK PACK YOU ARE CARRYING. EACH YEAR, THE WEIGHT WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY HEAVIER AND MORE BURDENSOME PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY AND WILL EVENTUALLY WEAR YOU DOWN.HOW? I BELIEVE ANTI-AGING IS SPIRITUAL, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL.MY MATERNAL GRANDFATHER TOLD US KIDS TO "MAKE

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-91673408943112036472010-06-01T08:52:00.000-07:002010-06-01T09:15:35.798-07:00

Homoplasy of an aphorism (Meta-Rule) by Hippocrates and Galen: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." I'm investigating Galen's dietary thinkering in Mark Grant's, "Galen on Food and Diet," prompted by a nutrigenomics article that @KeithNorris (Theory to Practice) recently posted on Twitter. When you're a USC Alumnus, you have to study Galen. We'll see what ancestral wisdom Galen

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-6151992835539367732010-05-31T23:00:00.000-07:002010-05-31T23:07:00.297-07:00

Comedy, Conjectures: "Anything with wings is a pretty tasty treat."

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-30244152122423996452010-05-31T14:12:00.001-07:002010-06-01T09:36:18.140-07:00

Note: This marks my 200th post, according to my Blogger archives, of attempting interdisciplinary inquiries into the human condition via essays. Above: A picture from Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe in California; quite a scene for late May! Note the eye-pleasing aesthetics of this fractal landscape.Cancers, like avalanches, can be devastating. Both are events that we'd like to prevent from causing

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-47352148940912521182010-05-30T19:55:00.000-07:002010-05-31T00:48:39.540-07:00

(Above: Grilling chicken, onions, and eggplant in butter, attempting to occupy my time this holiday weekend in Quadrant III: Modern Environment + Ancestral Energy Intake & Expenditure)It has to originate from within to be a sustainable strategy.I suspect that mapmaking is one such strategy: act like a cartographer and make your own personalized m=1/n=1 maps; or, as I often like to do, adapt other

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-66477782350380454372010-05-30T11:43:00.001-07:002010-05-30T19:34:03.849-07:00

It looks promising; this book, I mean.Often, when I read good works, I get that exciting feeling where my 'eyes light up'. Although I am still working my way through this book, here are some snippets to entice your imagination to start thinkering freely, as the recently-retired President of the University of Southern California (USC), Steven B. Sample, suggests that Contrarian Leaders must do ("

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-28819404490461291422010-05-29T10:47:00.000-07:002010-09-01T10:27:33.280-07:00

(Above: Dennis Green, former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, talking about human biology dogma prior to recent advances in genomics and in microbiomics) Turns out, we aren't who we thought we were. Awhile back, like in 2003, the central dogma of biology (DNA --> RNA --> Protein) still ruled the day and Lamarck was considered crazy. Like most extant models of homeostasis (physiologies are

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-4214529374120691892010-05-26T10:26:00.000-07:002010-05-27T16:50:45.489-07:00

It's one idea: AncestrySearching throughout our ancestral heritages respectfully for pearls of wisdom to apply gracefully in our modern ecologies.Update on the all-things-Ancestry-front: We officially started the formal incorporation process with the Secretary of State in California to create Ancestry Foundation as the 501(c)(3) non-profit umbrella for the Ancestral Health Symposium, the

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-53230951741516573142010-05-19T19:04:00.000-07:002010-05-26T10:26:01.468-07:00

Should humans eat plants?View more presentations from Brent Pottenger.I'm not a Kitavan.Nor are you.But I am a Staffan Lindeberg fan. And I bet you are too.If not, you will be soon.Through The Kitavan Study, which provides most of the clinical basis for his book, Food and Western Disease: Health and Nutrition from an Evolutionary Perspective, Dr. Staffan Lindeberg (MD/PhD) collected (hunted and

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-69666575712478878242010-05-18T08:33:00.000-07:002010-05-21T06:56:13.597-07:00

I'm not you, and you're not me, and that's why we need an Ancestral Health epistemocracy.I started thinkering with epigenetics a few years ago--see my essay, "MemBRAIN - It's all about ENERGY FLOW"--and I have experienced the concrete, tangible manifestations of epigenetic mechanisms in my own health improvements--see the poster that Aaron Blaisdell and I presented at UCLA: We both cured

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-78363341472219921532010-05-09T13:24:00.000-07:002010-05-10T08:38:23.327-07:00

Uno: I had the opportunity to kick off the first week of Game Plan Academy (GPA) in Compton yesterday with Tyus Edney. Tyus' son (pictured above wearing his dad's #5 jersey; his name is Tyus too) is already showing promising signs of basketball stardom (he has a nice knee bend in his jump shot, for starters).Here's one of Tyus Edney's memorable highlight clips from his playing days at UCLA:I

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-73434075548533434342010-04-29T08:53:00.000-07:002010-04-29T10:41:38.425-07:00

And now, here's another installment of "Coffeedy, Conjectures" (hat tip to @WhatBrett for naming this Series):m=1 My-thology: Drinking water contains halogens (chlorine and fluorine). These halogens can displace iodine in our bodies, which could cause thyroid malfunctions, among other things (*see Marc Simonson's Meta-Rule). Making coffee/espresso helps filter water to reduce poison levels to

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-13568131684899203572010-04-28T14:44:00.000-07:002010-04-29T07:15:12.502-07:00

(Above: Highlights from Professor Callahan's presentation; hat tip to Brian Geremia for video editing.)Rich Callahan of the University of Southern California (USC) spoke to our students at Game Plan Academy (GPA) this past Sunday. He did a great job; he was gracious and supportive as always.All the mentors at GPA are simply volunteering their collective time and energy to create a fractal program

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-75218210279370823012010-04-27T11:59:00.000-07:002010-04-27T12:34:52.732-07:00

(Above: Alex Van Dyke shares his professional wisdom)Game Plan Academy (GPA) opened camp this past Sunday.GPA is awesome.Check out the Sacramento Press article here:"Game Plan Academy opens second season" by Nick HouserIt's all about localism: we're local animals living in an increasingly global world.Social innovation locally is what excites me personally.That's why Brian Geremia and I have been

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-18535599671941767452010-04-17T09:55:00.001-07:002010-07-30T08:29:54.780-07:00

Nassim Taleb talks about epistemic humility in terms of quality of knowledge. Jerome Groopman, in parallel, shares a similar theme by asserting that knowledge does not translate directly into wisdom. And it's wisdom that we're seeking, ultimately. That's why I wrote about Black Swan Logic for n=1 Health. Knowledge is just a (necessary, but not sufficient) stepping stone in between. So, when it

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-25760432956000310452010-04-15T01:05:00.000-07:002010-04-16T09:53:52.679-07:00

Episode II: Welcoming Dr. Camp(bell) ...(Dr. Swan and Dr. DJ leave the coffee shop and start walking down the block to their favorite trailhead. It's here, serendipitously, that they run into another person wearing Vibram Five-Fingers shoes.)Dr. DJ: "Look; he's wearing Vibrams too. Are those the new Treks? I wonder if he reads Mark's blog daily like we do?"Dr. Swan: "That's a telltale sign; I bet

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-85545349186744039102010-04-12T21:58:00.001-07:002010-04-13T01:12:02.247-07:00

Setting: A coffee bar owned by Chris Owens (@singleorigin) ... they simply follow Chris wherever he goes; he's a legend like that. Coffee-house culture is key to their thinkering (at least that's what they tell themselves regularly; that, and "thanks to Dave Lull").Characters: Dr. Swan & Dr. DJScene: Dr. Swan & Dr. DJ stumble upon Ancestry (an emerging school) early in the day and then stop by

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-78884268119690299332010-04-12T15:38:00.000-07:002010-04-12T22:33:52.862-07:00

As the awesome Robb Wolf says, the "Universe is anecdotal."So here's an anecdote to consider.My friend and colleague, Gio Carmazzi, has been reading Nassim Taleb recently (namely, "Why I Walk" and other essays). We've chatted in the past quite extensively about the ideas of Nassim Taleb, Art DeVany, and Doug McGuff (and many others) given our kindred interest in financial matters and Black Swan

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-39808484352453721582010-04-11T13:19:00.001-07:002010-04-11T13:51:03.977-07:00

Child development is important to me.It's why I work with my friends on Game Plan Academy (GPA).I had a nice opportunity to discuss child development this morning with my sharp, epistemocratic friend, Jeff Erno.Child development is so encouraging because human potential is exciting. Of course, it's also challenging.We must do our best to foster the human spirit effectively (and warmly).Here's

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-54333436952657979642010-04-11T12:48:00.000-07:002010-04-18T15:44:41.567-07:00

Another, as Brett might say, 'Coffeedy Conjecture', to muse on today:Doing exercises at inclines and upside-down could be beneficial for cardiovascular health because we get our body fluids flowing in different directions while also reducing (transiently) the loads placed on various valves throughout our circulatory systems.It's a hypothesis. That's it. I'm testing it. How? Upside-down pushups--

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-8927503961809676692010-04-11T07:23:00.001-07:002010-04-11T08:55:32.398-07:00

Stability.That (oft-)fleeting notion of social (system) cohesion.Degraded by deceptive, manipulative tensions; supported by intricate, interpersonal connections.But interpersonal and intrapersonal skills are intimately interlinked; they're inseparabilities, really. Self-awareness becomes social awareness fractally. From me to you to us and the rest of our glocal communities.And when it comes to

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-20101678151226936482010-04-07T19:19:00.000-07:002010-04-07T23:27:51.735-07:00

When you reflect on imperfect wisdom--opacity--for awhile, you realize that we can generate conjectures for testing in infinite ways, from any (Whole Health) Source.Hypotheses do not discriminate; mythologize, experiment, iterate.For instance, in his excellent podcast with Jimmy Moore, Richard Nikoley discusses his self-experimentation bouts during his ancestral health journey, and in this

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-21123552626231290102010-04-05T18:07:00.001-07:002011-04-15T08:53:10.437-07:00

What is it, exactly? Evolution, that is. To me, evolution is simply an execution framework (hat tip to Navanit Arakeri) for storytelling about changes in organisms that occur across time. That's it. On various time-scales and on different levels, there exists a genetic, epigenetic, cultural, social, et al. co-evolutionary milieu that creates the context within which each ancestral lineage

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-22824116501316773602010-04-04T20:42:00.000-07:002010-04-04T22:42:40.307-07:00

Easter, fundamentally, is about freedom.But with freedom comes responsibility. And, responsibility, ultimately, requires accountability.In practice, accountability relies on feedback loops and structures: we have to be accountable to something greater than ourselves, and we have to reflect openly and honestly about our actions as we thinker our ways through our days. Religious, spiritual, and

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-36285002306824166952010-03-30T23:17:00.000-07:002010-03-31T12:11:58.938-07:00

I have to admit: I'm a big Nora Gedgaudas fan.After all, an author who names a chapter of her book after my ancestor, Dr. Francis M. Pottenger, Jr., MD, is going to hold a special place in my book.So, I am biased; biased positively toward what Nora has to say. Everything is subjective anyways.Because I happen to think that what she's trying to communicate in Primal Body, Primal Mind: Empower Your

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-51253175617058403812010-03-28T23:41:00.000-07:002010-03-29T09:07:09.658-07:00

Einstein said he had one idea. Nassim Taleb says, "Two ideas, you're dead" (thanks to Dave Lull).Ancestry is one idea.And it's foundational to the Ancestral Health Symposium and the Ancestral Health Society, so I am excited to announce the new, official Web site:ancestryfoundation.orgClick around and check it all out. Spread the good news too!Brian Geremia did an awesome job with the Web design

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-6860043893186713432010-03-12T14:54:00.000-08:002010-03-12T15:02:28.731-08:00

In Summer 2011, the Ancestral Health movement will converge in Los Angeles for a (pre) historic event ...Please see the form at the bottom of AncestralFitness.org ...... or sign-up here:Loading...Grazie!We'll be in touch.To good health,Brent

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-61860937263883905612010-03-05T23:15:00.000-08:002010-03-05T23:42:29.587-08:00

Over the past week, I've enjoyed meeting up with the following Ancestral Health epistemocrats:Mark Sisson (see my review of The Primal Blueprint here), Stephan Guyenet, Frank Forencich, Jeff Erno, Aaron Blaisdell, Chris Owens, Erik Cisler, Nell Stephenson, Kai Pottenger, Brian Geremia, and Patrik (Founder of Paleo Hacks).The core health principles that we've all independently arrived at based on

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-60364349517911870602010-03-04T17:03:00.000-08:002010-03-05T22:36:10.763-08:00

Top Figure: An integrated health system. Patients, as principals, hire agents to provide health and medical services, and these agents all operate under one organizational roof. Incentives are aligned and the *Three-Body Agency Problem is accounted for.Bottom Figure: Third-party payor system. Patients hand over their healthcare resources, usually as deductions from their compensation for

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-90561876082071511622010-03-04T07:18:00.000-08:002010-03-04T10:25:26.100-08:00

It's a fundamental reality of epistemology: we simply do not know everything (at least I don't know everything, speaking for myself).We're all partially 'blind', evidently, to empirical reality; it's a shared disability that shapes the human condition powerfully (unless, of course, you possess that rare allele at the 'insight locus' for the '20/20 vision' gene that bestows upon you the ability

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-51051654148965675502010-02-23T00:23:00.000-08:002010-02-23T01:32:00.593-08:00

It's good to know where your faith is.It seems wiser than being ignorant to the fact that, at the margin, we all have faith in something. We simply don't know everything.That's why Nassim Taleb's Black Swan logic is so important to me.It's practical you see.When it comes to human health and fitness, whether energy intake or expenditure decisions, several philosophical problems concern me deeply (

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-81658463886840249272010-02-20T22:50:00.000-08:002010-02-23T00:03:22.885-08:00

It matters; this distinction; the difference between feeling deserving of achieving something great versus feeling entitled to it.And, to be explicitly clear, any feelings of 'deserving' must be framed in light of the integral roles that luck, circumstances, and chance play in our fates (it's the skills plus luck debate that varies between domains; thanks to Dave Lull).In his choreographed

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-55820338252865522912010-02-06T01:09:00.001-08:002010-02-06T01:43:41.859-08:00

Above: Just two Ancestral Fitness Bricoleurs (thanks to Dave Lull) presenting an epistemocratic n=1 self-experimentation clinical poster at UCLA.(Notice Professor Aaron Blaisdell's primal Grok On! shirt ... we both wore our Vibram Five Fingers shoes too ... barefooting is infiltrating academia slowly but surely!)Aaron and I had fun. We received lots of positive feedback and great questions from

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-29018749807085329272010-01-31T22:42:00.000-08:002010-01-31T23:24:08.530-08:00

Searching for Nassim Taleb's epistemocracy ... ... an Ancestral Fitness Epistemocracy in this case:This Thursday (February 4th, 2010), Professor Aaron Blaisdell and I will be presenting a poster at the Center for Neurobiology of Stress Basic and Translational Science Symposium at UCLA. If you live in or near Los Angeles, come hang out with us as we discuss our conjectures between 12:15 and 2:15

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-89372186993388163222010-01-28T00:15:00.000-08:002010-01-28T00:25:32.175-08:00

(hat tip to Dave Lull)I barefoot (hat tip to Brian Geremia) as much as possible, mostly around the house. I wear my Vibrams when I workout at the gym (I get lots of comments), when I play tennis, when I ride my bike, and when I hit the trails to take hikes.It feels great.Parkour!To good (foot ... & the rest of the kinetic chain) health,Brent

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-7425968659151795472010-01-25T21:38:00.001-08:002010-01-26T09:46:03.616-08:00

Medical bricolage is how to care for the Patient of One.It's a clinical craft.It's taking that particular n=1 patient's specific symptoms and presentation at the time, embedded within the context of the care episode at hand (however that unfolds), and then gathering and cataloguing data points actively through careful examination, questioning, and observation in order to deduce how best to

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-24292129592721058062010-01-24T23:51:00.000-08:002010-01-25T01:15:13.658-08:00

"Be human: tinker," Nassim Taleb likes to say.In education and human development (which nearly encompasses everything, if you think about it), this statement leads to the following heuristic (thanks to Dave Lull and Brian Frank):Education is itself a craft — over and above (or underlying) everything else.If it's n=1 nutrition education, deduce (like Sherlock Holmes), on your own terms, for

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-84966371573493908342010-01-21T13:58:00.001-08:002010-01-21T15:53:26.299-08:00

Humans are adaptive organisms. We constantly change in response to varying environmental stimuli. In Body by Science, Dr. McGuff maps this as stimulus --> organism --> response in order to create a simple yet effective framework for viewing our (epigenetic) interactions with our environmental stressors. When we, as Seth Roberts does magnificently, self-experiment with lifestyle choices, we are

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-69987703430630808652010-01-11T19:46:00.001-08:002010-01-12T23:43:56.077-08:00

(Above: Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors by Randy Roach)PRIMO,Randy Roach respects the unseen. He recognizes the limits of disrespecting Mother Nature's evolutionary wisdom that is embedded in our ancestries. He speaks to this throughout his book when he focuses on the value of ancestral traditions in diet and health practices. The depletion of the soil and the industrial manufacturing of fake foods

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6838419145981575046.post-24247593561092717772010-01-09T23:28:00.000-08:002010-01-10T00:34:09.398-08:00

It's the ultimate insight in n=1 philosophy:"We all have faith in something," says Dave Lull, my deductivist decision-making mentor.Don't try to be overly rational, objective, scientific, or even empirical about it: faith permeates all aspects of our lives at all times.The Problem of Induction, as we will see, makes this phenomenon a reality. Opacity (imperfect knowledge) makes recognition of the

epistemocrathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10086277026138820288noreply@blogger.com13