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Down syndrome


Perhaps you've tuned-in to this website because of this postcard I mailed out.
Thanks for visiting.
I hope you read all the articles on obesity,
and several other pages of this website too.

Anyone who wants to use any part of this postcard to stir up a conversation
has my permission to share it with others, spoken or printed.
Put this postcard on your bulletin board - or - even print a banner and put it on your building.

More below 
a cute girl, 
who apparently didn't like her sash buckle centered.

Primal Urges vs. Intellect

Overweight geniuses 
inhabit a people-group
led by Down syndrome adults.

I have personally known many obese people.
Most of them that were my age - are now dead.
I also have two Down syndrome relatives, and some casual contact with other Ds folks.
Obesity is a common thread in Down syndrome.

Internet sources agree that Down syndrome people have more 
weight and obesity issues than other people groups.
(I've read that Hypothyroidism is more prevalent in Ds, which contributes to Ds obesity.)

So what about obese, fully-abled people? Why the obesity?
Most obese, fully-abled people I have known - thought quite well of themselves, as do I.
As far capabilities go, I think I've done well with myself, for what life-training I have had.*

And yet, seeing such a strong link between Down syndrome and obesity,
I must conclude that there must be a primal draw to overeating 
that mere intellect cannot overpower. 

So, I must ask, How much good is intellect, 
if it can't keep us from behaviors that can shorten our lifespans by 1/3?
For a lot of people, 
their high intellect is a muse but does little to make them extraordinarily useful.


****************************************************************************************

* I once was a high-high school dropout, who went back and finished high-school, 
then went into labor/construction jobs. After 10 years of this, I grew tired of manual labor jobs, and began to think about 2-year college, for a higher-level tech job that required certification.

But I didn't know if I was smart enough to pass college-level technical classes.
I heard that Mensa (an IQ club) offered IQ tests. I tested positive for Mensa,
which encouraged me to begin night classes, taking several trade courses, 
eventually earning a bachelor's degree in Business Admin., and IFMA CFM status.

Yet I have been overweight most of my life. 
(except for the years that I smoked cigarettes as a young adult).

more below...
Diabetes amputations

So then, how profitable is intelligence -
if intelligence doesn't help us overcome primal urges that can shorten our lives by 1/3?
And IQ can't guard us from the mostly-preventable Type 2 diabetes that causes 160,000 amputations per year?
Digest that...

diabetes.org/advocacy/amputation-prevention-alliance

Here is a rendering of a 35,000-seat stadium. 
Imagine four of these stadiums, plus 20,000 people. 
160,000 people is a recent count of 1 year's diabetes amputations.
Many of these amputees are quite intelligent.


I am trying to create social angst here,
by challenging overweight intellectuals to wrestle with this issue
of our intellect's powerlessness over our primal urges.

Many of the crimes shows I see on TV are of intelligent, educated, successful people
that couldn't resist the primal urge to kill the other-parent ... of their own children.

So...
Socially, is IQ really such a big deal?
Well, it can be, but it doesn't solve problems caused by misused free will.

Please go back and read the other sections on obesity for the bigger picture.
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