[Buddha-l] bad karma causes illness?

[Richard Hayes]

On Aug 15, 2009, at 9:09 PM, Weng-Fai Wong wrote:

> Hey, I was right after all! Eating hamburgers (your own deliberate
> karmic action) causes stupidity!
>
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1206448/Junk-food-dummies-How-bingeing-burgers-chips-drain-brainpower.html

The Canadian radio program "Quirks and Quarks," which reports on  
science news, had a program a while back on a study showing that human  
beings have their most vivid memories around events in which fat was  
involved. The working hypothesis is that as human beings were evolving  
there were many periods of food scarcity, and during times of scarcity  
survival depends on stored fat. Moreover, when food is in very short  
supply, the best way to store fat is to eat it (rather than using the  
American method of eating huge amounts of concentrated carbohydrates  
and letting them turn to fat). So, the hypothesis goes, the senses are  
particularly heightened when fat is available, and the memory of such  
events is more vivid.

The same study also suggested that fat may play a role in enhancing  
memory in general. The study that Weng-Fai cites suggests just the  
opposite. My goodness, what is a niścaya junkie to do in the face of  
conflicting hypotheses? Well, I suggest we here on buddha-l apply for  
a grant to do an empirical study. We'll need some travel money to go  
to Tushita Heaven to study chubby Maitreya, and a time machine to go  
back and visit Gautama when he at so little that he could touch his  
spine by putting his finger on his belly, and we'll give them a  
battery of tests to see which buddha's brain performs better.

always thinking scientifically,
Richard