Foer writes eloquently of his early attempts at vegetarianism, his re-commitment when his son was born, and the moral underpinnings of his choice ("Try to imagine any end other than taste for which it would be justifiable to do what we do to farmed animals"). But what stood out for me about his piece was the descriptions of food he'd given up. He writes,

Some of my happiest childhood memories are of sushi "lunch dates" with my mom, and eating my dad's turkey burgers with mustard and grilled onions at backyard celebrations, and of course my grandmother's chicken with carrots. Those occasions simply wouldn't have been the same without those foods - and that is important. To give up the taste of sushi, turkey or chicken is a loss that extends beyond giving up a pleasurable eating experience. Changing what we eat and letting tastes fade from memory create a kind of cultural loss, a forgetting. But perhaps this kind of forgetfulness is worth accepting - even worth cultivating (forgetting, too, can be cultivated). To remember my values, I need to lose certain tastes and find other handles for the memories that they once helped me carry.

It's true that not every tradition is worth preserving, and plenty of things that we now consider abhorrent were once happy memories for some. At the same time, Foer is more honest than many vegetarians about the personal cost of not eating meat. For me, becoming a vegetarian didn't involve jettisoning a lot of beloved foods. I was such a picky kid that my favorite foods were toast, apples, and ice cream, and although I enjoyed a brief food renaissance when I went to college, I didn't really become emotionally attached to meat. Giving it up at the age of 20 was easy.

But I got sick. Vegetarianism led to near-veganism led to an obsession with "healthy" food (combined with a summer on a very strict beans-and-broccoli budget) that left me underweight, cold, and anxious all the time. I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder, but my friends were concerned, and my doctor sternly told me to gain weight. Which I did, in part by eating seafood again.

I still do it, and I'm still not completely proud of it — while I don't share Foer's ethical fervor for the vegetarian cause, I do know that fishing can be as bad for the environment as factory farming. I think of my eating style as a way to eat less flesh and use fewer resources than I would as an omnivore — which it is — but it's also a way of honoring good memories and keeping bad ones at bay. Being a pure vegetarian or a vegan still reminds me of a time when I was sickly and scared and not taking good care of myself. Eating the occasional clam linguine or California roll reminds me of getting better, of feeling physically and mentally healthy again. I know that many, many people thrive on animal-free diets, and I believe that, with the right preparation and the right frame of mind, I could too. And I don't believe, as some do, that vegetarianism is just another eating disorder. But I am afraid of how easily my ethics can turn into self-denial, my self-denial into self-punishment. And I don't want my diet to remind me of my summer of beans.

Foer says that when his grandmother made her chicken and carrots, she "wasn't preparing food, but humans." And it's true that food is rarely just food — it's also the stories and the values that surround it. For me, for now, a can of anchovies tells a story about healing myself, and it's not a story I'm willing to give up just yet.

Against Meat [NYT Magazine]

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia tested the cognitive skills of over 2,000 participants ranging in age from 18-60. "The people involved – who were mostly in good health and well-educated – had to solve visual puzzles, recall words and story details and spot patterns in letters and symbols," the Daily Mail notes. 22 year olds had the best scores; after the age of 27, scores began to drop off, particularly in the areas of reasoning, spatialization, and speed of thought.

"Results converge on a conclusion that some aspects of age-related cognitive decline begin in healthy, educated adults when they are in their 20s and 30s," wrote Professor Timothy Salthouse, who believes that therapies designed to prevent the aging of the brain need to start much earlier in order to prevent cognitive deterioration.

So in the spirit of being more proactive, here's something to get you started on better understanding your brain:



Old Age Begins At 27: Scientists Reveal New Research Into Aging [Daily Mail]

For the study, published today in Applied Cognitive Psychology 40 volunteers were asked to listen to a boring two and a half minute phone message that gave the names of several people and places, reports EurekAlert. Half of the participants were asked to shade in shapes without paying attention to neatness while they were listening, and the other half were not. After the test, they were asked to write down the names and places that were mentioned in the message.

The doodlers recalled on average 7.5 names of people and places, while non-doodlers only recalled 5.8 items. Lead researcher Dr. Jackie Andrade, University of Plymouth in England explaines in The Guardian :

If someone is doing a boring task, like listening to a dull telephone conversation, they may start to daydream ... Daydreaming distracts them from the task, resulting in poorer performance. A simple task, like doodling, may be sufficient to stop daydreaming without affecting performance on the main task.

Andrade told Newsweek that she was inspired to do the study because she was interested in daydreaming. She said:

When you have something really boring to do in a laboratory, you aren't just doing that task-you are thinking about shopping, picking the kids up from school, what you're going to have for tea. We don't usually take those things into account. Daydreaming takes up a lot of mental energy and can be distracting. I had the idea that maybe some small, simple task would catch just enough energy to keep you focused on the [main] task at hand, and though it wouldn't make the task you're doing less boring, it could help you focus.

The study was well timed, as today is National Doodle Day in the U.K., an event created as a fun way to raise money for people affected by epilepsy and neurofibromatosis. Celebrities including Gillian Anderson, Ben Kingsley, and Ricky Gervais, have submitted their doodles to be auctioned on eBay to benefit the charity. There is also a U.S. National Doodle Day on May 7th to raise money for people affected with neurofibromatosis. The sketch above was submitted by then-Senator Barack Obama last year. Here's the work of a few extremely focused celebrity doodlers being auctioned on the charity's website this year:

Candice Bergen:



Ellen DeGeneres:



David Duchovny:

Do Doodle: Research Shows Doodling Can Help Memory Recall [EurekAlert]
Doodling Should Be Encouraged In Boring Meetings, Claims Psychologist [The Guardian]
Doodle Zone [Newsweek]
UK National Doodle Day
USA National Doodle Day

Well, well, well! Not only will your boyfriend's schweaty balls armpits make you horny and fat, they'll also make you smarter! Apparently the new issue of Science is reporting that "a whiff of a familiar scent can help a slumbering brain better remember things that it learned the evening before."

Thing is, in order for your brain to process information in this hyper-efficient way, you need to smell your "familiar scent" both while you're learning something new and after you fall asleep. So tell your man to get in bed, plump up some pillows, and snuggle up with that 800-page Pynchon book you lied about reading during your freshman year. If he balks, just remind him you can always find a smellier guy to go out with!

Study Uncovers Memory Aid: A Scent During Sleep [NYTimes]
Earlier: More Proof That Men Are Evil