Vegetarian cooking | Kinnesiology | Epistemology

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 08 February 2007 20:57:16

Now, I'm not a vegetarian. I was for a while as a student but when I came down with M.E./C.F.S the doc said "No! Thou must devoureth of the flesh of beasts!" So I do, but would rather not. So my veggie cooking skills are pretty shoddy. To add to my complications I have a few allergies (well, my kinnesiologist tells me I do...) so I'm desperately trying to come up with a do-able veggie dish which doesn't involve dairy products, soya, yeast, sunflower oil or seeds, mushrooms, gluten, saffron, garammousala, peppers, polyurethane, saw dust or ammonia. I'm thinking coconut, coriander and lime sauce with mixed veg on a bed of brown rice. But that sounds so boring. Suggestions welcome. Suggestions that'll impress a gorgeous woman very very welcome!

Now, hands up who's ever been to see a kinnesiologist? Well, I went to see one a few weeks back and wow, what a strange, fascinating, slightly bizarre and entertaining thing it all is! Basically, for allergy testing, you lie on your back on a massage table thingy with one forearm raised vertically and the kinnesiologist tests the resistance of your arm by pushing it while holding various food stuffs over your belly. Before all you sceptics start raising your eyebrows and think I've joined a Glastonbury based new-age sex cult I must stress that I didn't see a single crystal, smell a single airborne organism of patchouli or hear any whale song CD's while I was there. Good. I knew I was allergic to goats yoghurt before I went, but I took a tub of it along for the show anyway. So there I am on my back with my eyes shut having my forearm pushed hither and thither when we get to the goats yoghurt tub. As soon as she holds it over me and pushes my arm.....no resistance at all. Nothing. there's no way this could be psychological induced as I had my eyes shut and had no way of knowing she was holding the goats yoghurt over me.

So as you'd expect this got me thinking about questions of epistemology: how do we know stuff. Brian Eno talks about "big brain theory", the theory that the physical actions and gestures that our bodies make have a bearing on our inner world and our ability to do things which we might not necessarily be able to explain in language. This is why computers suck, because they reduce millions of years (is that a creationist coming over the hill with a spear?) of physical evolution to clicking on a mouse with a forefinger. Rubbish. Anyway, this idea that our bodies might have their own particular kind of knowledge "written" into it is interesting and has the potential to help us understand why we are who we are and understand how powerful and formative our sexual experiences are. Nietzsche wrote that every advance in human development is started in the body; not the soul, mind, consciousness or spirit but the body. I'm lucky enough to have met some wonderful artists (musicians and sculptors mainly) and athletes. If there is truth in what Nietzsche wrote then maybe it is the daily physical discipline required to attain a level of brilliance in their chosen field which is responsible for the special demeanour / aura / presence / confidence / way of being that so many artists and athletes seem to exude. I guess I'll unpack some of this over the next week or two and make links with the whole discussion on sexuality we've (ok, I've) been having.

Have a good weekend. ;-)