In today's podcast, I am joined by my friends Kyle Thiermann, Chris Ryan and Mark Healey for witty banter, philosophizing, and intellectually stimulating conversation straight from the island of Hawaii, where we - along with several others mentioned in this podcast episode, such as Dr. Peter Attia, Kyle Kingsbury and Hawaii hunting guide Justin Lee - took a break from hunting, hiking, spearfishing and dressing meat to gather round the podcasting mics.
In this conversation, you'll hear... -Recap of the trip...6:47
- Chris was a last minute substitute
- Primal surroundings: goat head in the back of the pickup
- They were all dropped off by helicopter on various spots on the Big Island
- Ben engaged in spearfishing; caught Hawaiian lobster, opi'i fish
- Impossible to replicate their meals in a restaurant
-Ben is asked about consuming energy bars while facing dehydration...12:17
- If you're in an extreme dehydration situation, you're probably starving to death, so don't throw them out
- They could potentially be used as a water filter because they're so thick
- Coffee and beer don't actually dehydrate you
- Energy bars have moisture in them
- Depends on salt content, moisture level, etc.
-How ranchers on the island of Kaho'olawe used goats to prevent sharks from attacking their herd...14:05
- Sharks would attack as they were loaded onto ships for transport
- Ranchers pushed a herd of goats tied to each other off a cliff
- The cattle was transported while the sharks feasted on the goats
-Discussion about the sustainability of humans hunting their own meat in the modern world...15:30
- Hunting is necessary in Hawai'i for sustainability of the land
- It's not cheaper when you factor in ammo, time spent hunting, obtaining permits, etc.
- Large amounts of money from hunting is invested into environmental sustainability
- Eradication vs. management
- Killing an animal is a deeply personal experience
- Everyone who eats meat should hunt at least once
- We are what we eat: cruelty, apathy, torture, etc.
-How do our thoughts shape our health?...
-Our understanding of human history as it pertains to resilience toward stress...
- Research suggests we become more sensitive to stress rather than more resilient
- Chronic stressors (business responsibilities) our ancestors didn't deal with
- Experiencing stress without realizing it, or thinking you're relaxed
- Difference between stress and excitement
- Alpha vs. beta brain waves
- Alpha: what you experience in "the flow"; familiar, happy, focused
- Beta: Higher level of excitement; less predictability
- Parasympathetic vs. sympathetic nervous system
- Sympathetic: fight and flight nervous system
- Parasympathetic: rest and digestive nervous system
- Vagus nerve feeds into the sinoatrial node of the heart
- You want high heart rate variability (HRV)
- Vagus nerve is operating the parasympathetic system properly
- Meditating, chanting, cold water assist with maintaining high HRV
-How stress affects rigor mortis (in hunted game) and cramping
- Deer reach rigor mortis in 20 minutes when corralled (stressed) and over an hour when killed in the wild
- You cramp in stressful situations while exercising due to calcium release
- Sour, spicy taste overrides neuronal reflex
- Golgi tendon organ limits the contraction, but is overridden by neuronal reflex
- Other animals don't have this, and put far more stress on their muscles
- When mom lifts a car to save the baby, the brain, because of extreme stress, overrides the golgi tendon organ
- Brain over brawn: why humans have the golgi tendon organ and other animals don't
-The evolving understanding of convenience vs. an appreciation of our history...
- Infant formula: no colostrum, fatty acid,
- Breast milk is a fatty, highly addictive food; you'd be obese if you drank it all your life
- The microbiome is a gift to the environmental movement
- Your surroundings impact your gut health
-Is bottled water really cleaner and safer than tap water?...
-Why Hawai'i is so freaking amazing...
- Hawai'i had cattle ranchers before California
- Beach as well as mountain culture
- Cultural holocaust: Christian missionaries
- Hawaiian language stayed alive in the cattle ranchers:
- It was more functional
- Perhaps reflective of the number of colors, sights and scents in Hawai'i
- Akin to why podcasts are popular: you can break down concepts you can't on CNN
-How Mark Healy narrowly escaped death while surfing in Fiji...
- Grew up on North Shore of Oahu; got noticed by important surfer dudes
- Ended up going to Fiji for his first professional trip at age 14; had visualized Fiji for years
- Was in one of the most iconic surfing photos in history
-Is Nature really the violent, nasty, brutish force we're led to believe it is?...
- Hobbes: Everything eats life
- Things that appear to be important are not in evolutionary terms
- Human chin - where two bones come together
- An arrow is a much better way to die than dying in nature
- We speak of death as though it's not going to happen
- Non-Western cultures celebrate death
- Perhaps explains animosity surrounding hunting
-Differing perspectives on how we relate our life experiences to others...
- Narrative: knowing which dots to connect, and what to leave out
- Being present and in the moment vs. on auto-pilot
- Writing the story before it happens
- Specificity is key. Too much information is overwhelming, prevents people from taking action (for example, charity donations)
-The role of fire and water in the history of human evolution...
- Source of food, amusement, protection, comfort
- Movement of fire is reflected in the nature of human consciousness
- They can alter landscapes, be very destructive
- Large swaths of the Amazon have been cleared by fire
- Podcasts around a fire never work well
- Water is the greatest source of "awe" that we know of
-Perceived scarcity vs. real scarcity...
- People with nothing live as though they have everything. People with everything live as though there's not enough
- Perspective, born of experience, helps to understand the disparity between real and perceived scarcity
- We spend money to isolate ourselves from others as soon as we get it
- Inconvenience puts you in touch with other people (hitch-hiking, taking the bus)
-Mark describes his business, Healy Water Ops...
- Many of the clients are very wealthy and successful in business and life
- They know a red herring when they see or hear it
- They enjoy having Mark run the show, tell them what to do; it allows them to relax for a bit
-Running a business, unschooling, and why we need to restore boredom in our culture...
- Treat your business like a big dog; assert dominance
- We don't have boredom anymore with social media, smartphones, etc.
- Silence often precedes a maturation in a relationship
- Learn how to hunt without a guide; self-taught
- Allow kids to work out conflict on their own
- Preventive medicine
-And much more. Resources From this Episode:
-Book: The Biology of Belief by Dr. Bruce Lipton
-Book: Mind to Matter by Dr. Dawson Church
-Kion Energy Bars
-Kion Coffee
-Podcast: 32 Ways to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve, Fine-Tune Your Nervous System & Self-Hack Your Hormones
-Article: The History of Hawaiian Cowboys
-About the Hawaiian Language
-Book: Ni'ihau: The Last Hawaiian Island
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