Hi Edgar-
--- In [email protected], Edgar Owen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ah, come on now! You can't leave us dangling with that teaser > and not tell us now, can you? Fess up! After all we might I most certainly can! But...I do like you a lot being a fellow hermit alien and all...and you have asked... > learn something, at least I might. After all, I'm a hermit too, > living alone on top of my hill in the woods, object of suspicion > and rumor, my only loves my visiting animals, the wind, the sun > and the boles of trees, and the constant loving flowing glow of > the Tao. > > Edgar Hmmmm. Lets start by saying that illusions about love and sex are some of the most stubborn and difficult to detach from, and it may be impossible for some people (age is a factor) because of hormones. I am talking about recent research written about by Helen Fisher (physical anthropology). Fisher has several books out. Also research done in the late 70's by the woman who wrote Love And Limmerance, whose name I unfortunately cannot remember. If you have access to video or television, the National Geographic Channel, there is a very good episode of the show Naked Science called What's Sexy? that will give you the basics. The basic gist is this: Mother Nature is a brilliant manipulator and She has a nearly unlimited toolbox at Her disposal. Mother Nature is a very foxy Lady, and by foxy I mean super-intelligent and sly. Mother Nature wants us to make babies and has some very good tricks to get us to do just that. First of all you must understand that hormones are not just any chemicals, they are mind altering drugs every bit as powerful as LSD or any of the others. Also remember that there's 60 some hormones, estrogen and testosterone are only 2 of them. Anyway, what we think of as "love" - that is, romantic love between a woman and a man, is nothing more than a very powerful chemical-hormonal cocktail served up courtesy of Mother Nature via your own brain to get you to do one thing: make babies. It is a complete illusion. It does not exist. It is not "personal" - the same chemical cocktail is served to anyone who has ever been, or ever will be "in love." Animals are served roughly the same chemical cocktail (depending on species) chimpanzees, for example, get almost exactly the same chemical cocktail we do. The difference is animals don't try to make it into something it's not by getting married, writing sappy love songs, declaring it ordained of God, etc. The animals breed, raise the young, and get on with the rest of life. I guess it's no secret by now that I think animals are much "smarter" than people in this area. Now, I want you to understand that Helen Fisher has received death threats over this. I'm not kidding. So I really am going out on a limb here. I've had a glass of water thrown into my face over it and have been told that I am unspeakably evil. I just want to remind everyone that I am a mother. I used to be under the influence of that same chemical cocktail. But now I am a post-menopausal woman, and post-menopausal women are in a unique position. We no longer have enough of certain hormones to make the chemical cocktail...we are able to observe and communicate what it's like to be an adult and not be influenced by the chemicals. All I can say is that my personal experience corroborates the research. I could get into a lot of other stuff about why the culture (American) treats older women the way it does, but I don't want get into it right now. There you go, Edgar. PEACE to everyone else. ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
