Ancestral Health Symposium video

Below is my talk from the Ancestral Health Symposium.  It's called "Wild Animals, Zoos, and You: The Influence of Habitat on Health".  I talk about what we can learn about human health from animals in zoos, including some of these fun topics:

  • the origins of jumbo jets, jumbo shrimp, and Dumbo
  • a brief history of zoos 
  • the most dangerous animal in zoos
  • the most famous (and worst) piece of modern architecture in zoos
  • biological organisms as information processors
  • the "Un-Zoo" 
  • cheetah sex
  • why gorillas should be vegans
  • gorge and fast feeding in captive lions
  • why gerbils dig
  • a neutral approach to health (the Veil of Ignorance)
  • how do you make anything healthy?
  • our last connection to the wild 

And here are the slides -- you'll definitely want to follow along, I used a lot of pictures.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think in the comments.


Comments

Wow! You are very handsome

Submitted by Joy on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 12:24.

Wow! You are very handsome and healthy looking!  

 He definately has classical

Submitted by eimat on Tue, 08/23/2011 - 12:40.

 He definately has classical good looks, right down to the aqualine nose.  If he spent a few months in Toastmasters, this guy could be dangerous.  Even if the only thing he fixed was to get rid of the "uhm" he says about every 4 seconds, this would be a highly improved presentation.  I know he's busy, but 3 months will go by so fast it'd make his head spin. It's cheap, fun, and easy.  Try it and do an "after" video to compare. The difference will amaze you.   :0)

 Fantastic presentation!  I'm

Submitted by Tim on Sat, 08/20/2011 - 14:48.

 Fantastic presentation!  I'm a landscape architect in San Antonio, and the firm I work for does a lot of work at the San Antonio Zoo (some of which has been with Jones & Jones actually), so this topic really strikes a chord.  Is your book, and whole general direction, going more towards using ancestral health principles to foster better zoo habitats and experiences, or are you taking a more general approach to how the ideas gleaned from your zoo research could directly influence the way we design buildings, cities, products, etc?  This a pretty huge area of interest for me, so I'm really looking forward to the book and whatever comes next!  Cheers.

 Hey John,First off, I just

Submitted by Bill Staley on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 13:05.

 Hey John,First off, I just wanted to say it was nice meeting you at AHS a few weeks ago (albeit brief). I'm glad they finally got your video up. It was one of the presentations I didn't get to attend at the symposium and I was really bummed about it at the time. I'm even more distraught now, since you discuss a lot of your research with respect to landscape architecture (Tim, I'm an RLA, myself). I really wish they would have captured the slides as well in these videos. From what I can see, your presentation was excellent, and am also really looking forward to the book (no matter what it covers, I'm sure it'll be awesome). Bill

 love it! I <3 elephants and

Submitted by nadia on Sat, 08/20/2011 - 23:05.

 love it! I <3 elephants and have had the pleasure of experiencing them in their natural habitat! have soem pics on fb , will ask for your friend(ing/-ship.) and have also had the luck to traverse the woods on the back of a tame elephant once.  great speech and the most refreshingly- not human /paleo - diet oriented one from the symposium.