JWerner

Science is starting to prove that a lot of these illnesses are physical conditions. In other words, if you have chronic depression or OCD, you will actually see the structure of the brain change. It makes sense that medicine (a physical product) could help with these physical diseases. In essence, they are just as real as any other physical problems.

Do you have proof that the news has become more negative and gruesome? One anecdote is not very compelling.

No, there isn't.

This has been debunked. The 8 glasses myth has been popular for a while. Someone researched the the idea and there is no real basis for it. Google for eight glasses water myth and you'll see news stories that reported the findings. Conventional wisdom is that if you are in normal circumstances, drink as much as you feel like. Shocking huh? If you are in a position where you won't notice dehydration, then make sure to drink enough.

I think animals have emotions. Emotions are chemical processes. Other chemicals can be used to control and trigger emotions (like euphoria). These emotional processes evolved before we were humans (look at great apes who exhibit anger and fear for example). It seems like they are widespread in most mammals. I don't think anyone who's ever had a pet mammal would dispute that they have emotions. The problem is that people confound emotion and thought in humans and then think it's not possible for animals to have emotions because they don't think at the level we do. Thoughts can cause emotion but they aren't the same thing. I believe the idea of primitive and advanced evolution is outmoded. Evolution isn't trying to create advanced organisms. Very basic life is just as evolved as we humans are. That said, it seems emotion is only present with more "complex" life.

Turkey's democracy isn't very sturdy. The US supported Turkey long before it showed any real interest in democracy because of its strategic location and because of Turkey's secular, western aspects. The US supported Turkey during the cold war and still today to the extent Turkey's interests were in line with US interests and it did as the US said. Democracy has nothing to do with it.

Fair enough, but that is not US foreign policy (and I don't care what the official line is, the US is pro-Israel all the way no matter what) and I don't think that's what Friedman's getting at. I think Friedman thinks that terror will decrease if the middle-east is democratic and that Iraq is a good way to start the spread of democracy. Both prongs are problematic and naive.

First of all, someone's ideas aren't right or wrong based on a degree they do or don't have. Your problem is that you haven't shared any evidence or arguments about this girl's condition. What does this mean exactly? Just because you were right about your son, doesn't mean you are right about this girl's condition. If you are going to claim something, you need to back it up with evidence.

You need to see what the colleges you want to go to think of it and how much credit you'll get for it. I'd go for what is going to get you most credit at the school. I wouldn't care too much about prestige. It's prestegious, but it's not going to make or break your career.

If you consider US interests to be pro-Israel and pro-intervention in the middle east, a democratic Iraq is not going to be much of a help to our policy. A democratic Iraq would almost certainly oppose US support for Israel and oppose US foreign policy in the middle east generally.

I once read that humans haven't adapted to the agricultural revolution because it's only been about 10,000 years and it takes 200,000 years for humans to evolve traits in response to environment. Is this 200,000 year number nonsense? Is it roughly correct? I believed it until I considered catastrophic events like the plague. Theoretically, if a disease killed off all people without gene X, evolution could have occurred over one generation.