In this 241st in a series of live discussions with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying (both PhDs in Biology), we talk about the state of the world through an evolutionary lens.
In this week’s episode, we discuss food, science, and myth. Research out of Tufts University three years ago created the Food Compass—a new guide to what is healthy that rivals the Food Pyramid for sheer lunacy. Advising us that Froot Loops and Pringles are healthier choices than meat and eggs, the authors of that research are now promoting ESG + Nutrition, in which their Food Compass informs governments and private enterprise on how to get the population of the world to follow along. Then: What is history, what is myth, and when is it appropriate to stop talking and be quiet already? Real figures from history—Jesus, King David, Churchill—are also mythic; to what degree do the myths verge from the reality, and what are the conditions under which we are obliged to care? Also mentioned: the Censorship Industrial Complex, Pathological Noble Liars, and Dumbledore’s Army. Finally: a few words on the death of Paul Harrell, who advocated for the responsible use of firearms.
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Mentioned in this episode:
Mozaffarian et al 2021. Food Compass is a nutrient profiling system using expanded characteristics for assessing healthfulness of foods. Nature Food. 2(10):809–818: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-021-00381-y
It’s An Upside-Down World, and You’re Living In It: Big Food, Hollywood, and the Democrats:https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/its-an-upside-down-world-and-youre
O’Hearn et al 2022. The time is ripe for ESG+ nutrition: evidence-based nutrition metrics for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. European journal of clinical nutrition, 76(8):1047-1052: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41430-022-01075-9.pdf
Rescue the Republic – September 29 on the National Mall: https://jointheresistance.org
Paul Harrell’s final video: https://youtu.be/M-gZuFcEu0E
We have "cartesian blinders being put on us so that we are trying to make sense out of scraps of information and hints." - @bretweinstein
WEINSTEIN: I mean, even if you have your villains who are engaged in the behavior that motivated this war in Iran, even if that's the story, presumably most of the people in the path of these ferocious bombings that he is describing are not deserving of going back to the Stone Age.
In fact, I distinctly remember him telling us that part of what we were up to was liberating the people of Iran from their tyrannical regime.
So if it's the tyrannical regime that justifies the ferocious bombing, then it's a tragedy that other people are going to be sent back to the Stone Ages with them. Right?
HEYING: It's it's not a narrative. It's an incoherent set of talking points.
WEINSTEIN: Yeah, it's a kind of cheerleading that is completely inappropriate from the perspective of the president.
Bret Weinstein discusses the Trump administrations "back to the stone age" recent remarks in the latest episode of The Evolutionary Lens, Episode 320 "Are we back in the stone age?" on DarkHorse.
Bret Weinstein explains, "If you stop businesses from starting here, and if you drive people so that they move elsewhere—even though it's difficult to do—then the point is the tax base dries up, which then forces you to become even more predatory for the people who stayed.
And that's really the thing, right? They're setting themselves up so that they have to go after more and more people, because the people who are starting new businesses are not going to do it here."
Bret and Heather discuss logic and scientific thinking, as it is done on politically hot topics (e.g. 9/11, Charlie Kirk), and on calmer topics like whether retrievers like to fetch (or just think that we like them to fetch), and whether domestic cats see people as big, clumsy cats. Putting all the hypotheses on the table, working hard to falsify even—especially—your favorite ones—and ending up with one left standing, is the scientific way, and how we arrive at answers that are most likely to be true.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzqWnk4dsZY
Rumble: https://rumble.com/v7fl3ho-the-343rd-evolutionary-lens-with-bret-weinstein-and-heather-heying.html
X: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1aKbdEmwMdqJX
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2eXZex59yvQFbHbhaHmC4l?si=cdAnrQx4Q7usdUhpPs_8TQ
Apple: ...
Bret and Heather, you advertise Xylitol products and spoke about its benefits several times. Did the recent Xylitol safety concerns come up on your radar? Will you please review and comment. Thank you.
Press-release by European Society of Cardiology (escardio.org) on Aug 26 this year: Xylitol may increase the risk of cardiovascular events.
www.escardio.org/news/press/press-releases/xylitol-may-increase-the-risk-of-cardiovascular-events
Dr. M. Witkowski did a presentation on that at the recent congress of that society. The abstract of the presentation can be found at esc365.escardio.org/esc-congress/sessions/20372-hungry-heart-nutrient-deficiencies-and-cardiovascular-disease
I also copied and pasted it below.
Also, these publications by the same doctor:
Witkowski M, Nemet I, Li XS, Wilcox J, Ferrell M, Alamri H, Gupta N, Wang Z, Tang WHW, Hazen SL. Xylitol is prothrombotic and associated with cardiovascular risk. Eur Heart J. 2024 Jul 12;45(27):2439-2452. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehae244. PMID: 38842092; PMCID: ...
This Wednesday, September 16th Bret and Heather will take an evolutionary lens to our relationship with our pets and also examine the sex lives of frogs.
Participate in the only live chat during the stream with members of the DarkHorse Locals community. Look for the link in your inbox on Wednesday.
