In case anyone's wondering, the response is made up. The editorial that the OP excerpt comes from is also fantastical and totally unsupported by any accounts that I can find, but for the sake of context, it continues:
He buried a quantity of beans in mud, let them remain there for a few weeks, and then retrieved them. He noted their resemblance to human fetuses, thus convincing himself of the intimate relationship between beans and humans. To eat a bean would therefore be akin to eating human flesh. Equally, to crush, smash, or dirty a bean would be to harm a human. Thus the very strict rule to abstain from beans.
Just to restate this, that article is not verifiable or based on reliable accounts, and it cites no sources.
No one really knows why the Pythagoreans didn't eat fava beans. Historical speculation from a few sources includes:
farts are bad
beans are bad for your health
beans cause bad sleep
they're basically animals, in the same category as meat and eggs
temple mystics advise not to eat them
they're the same shape as the universe
they're the same shape as genitals
they're used to cast votes, and you shouldn't associate with politicians
Ah yes, the early human fetus, famously very visually distinct from the early fetuses of other mammals. /s
Also, would he even have had access to human fetuses in the first place? More so than other animals' fetuses (since he apparently naturally associated the shape of the bean specifically to human fetuses)? I looked into it a bit, and I have my doubts. Pythagoras (Wikipedia) lived c. 570 – c. 495 BC, hundreds of years before human dissections were a thing in Ancient Greece. His listed main interests do not include anything medicine-adjacent. He did travel, I suppose.
if i had to guess, the people in antiquity were obsessed with the kidney as the "source of life" or sth. the reason was that the kidneys are around the womb area so they were thought to give off some kind of fluid that makes the child grow or sth. iirc.
Honestly, I think you could call almost all of our organs the "source of life" using that barometer. Not to say you're wrong, just that it's kind of crazy how many things have to keep on keeping on inside of us to simply do the bare minimum of staying alive.
I was thinkkng the same:
"Earth is flat" (Pythagore knew it wasn't)
"They use chemtrail to turn you [whatever]"
"Give all the money to the rich, it will trickle down!"
"Vaccines don't work"
The list goes on
According to Thomas L. Heath (1861–1940), no specific attribution of the theorem to Pythagoras exists in the surviving Greek literature from the five centuries after Pythagoras lived. However, when authors such as Plutarch and Cicero attributed the theorem to Pythagoras, they did so in a way which suggests that the attribution was widely known and undoubted. -- Wikipedia
36 replies
In case anyone's wondering, the response is made up. The editorial that the OP excerpt comes from is also fantastical and totally unsupported by any accounts that I can find, but for the sake of context, it continues:
Just to restate this, that article is not verifiable or based on reliable accounts, and it cites no sources.
No one really knows why the Pythagoreans didn't eat fava beans. Historical speculation from a few sources includes:
TIL, Im hauling the whole weight of the universe with me.
why do you think stuff goes all saggy with age? mere mortals were not meant to carry such burdens
Mediterranean people are often allergic to fava (broad) beans. I have this and am Greek and almost died discovering it
Explains why I don't see beans in shawarma despite the dish being basically the Middle-Eastern burrito.
Thank you for the added context
Ah yes, the early human fetus, famously very visually distinct from the early fetuses of other mammals. /s
Also, would he even have had access to human fetuses in the first place? More so than other animals' fetuses (since he apparently naturally associated the shape of the bean specifically to human fetuses)? I looked into it a bit, and I have my doubts. Pythagoras (Wikipedia) lived c. 570 – c. 495 BC, hundreds of years before human dissections were a thing in Ancient Greece. His listed main interests do not include anything medicine-adjacent. He did travel, I suppose.
This is what people did before the Internet if they weren't drinking or copulating.
Think, drink, fuck, repeat
plow the fields, plow the wife
plow the fields, plow the wife
plow the fields, plow the wife
Truly we haven’t changed much. We think a lot less now though, on the whole.
thank you for this excellent-quality shitpost.
if i had to guess, the people in antiquity were obsessed with the kidney as the "source of life" or sth. the reason was that the kidneys are around the womb area so they were thought to give off some kind of fluid that makes the child grow or sth. iirc.
I mean they went the wrong direction, but I'd say our body's filtration system is a decent thing to call the "source of life"
Honestly, I think you could call almost all of our organs the "source of life" using that barometer. Not to say you're wrong, just that it's kind of crazy how many things have to keep on keeping on inside of us to simply do the bare minimum of staying alive.
source of not dying in excruciating pain as the rest of your body collapses form systemic toxicity
I dont know anything about that but i trust you so im believing it wholeheartedly
source: i read it in a book about antique and medieval mythology and mysticism. so take it with a grain of salt
"people just thought whatever" in complete contra to today...
I was thinkkng the same:
"Earth is flat" (Pythagore knew it wasn't)
"They use chemtrail to turn you [whatever]"
"Give all the money to the rich, it will trickle down!"
"Vaccines don't work"
The list goes on
Great, now that you've shared it on Lemmy we will never hear the end of it
In what world do beans smell like cum?
Ancient greece, probably. Wish I was there...
According to Thomas L. Heath (1861–1940), no specific attribution of the theorem to Pythagoras exists in the surviving Greek literature from the five centuries after Pythagoras lived. However, when authors such as Plutarch and Cicero attributed the theorem to Pythagoras, they did so in a way which suggests that the attribution was widely known and undoubted. -- Wikipedia
Schrödinger's Pythagorean theorem.
it smelled like what? cHm? cym? cxm?
We will never know
Naah Gd gets angry if you say cm. /s
Real human bean
Mr bean
and a real hero
When you eat enough beans for your cum to smell like beans, you ate too many beans.
I trust Liam to answer this one honestly.
Well, all life has spawned from the same source so technically correct.
“Pythagoras didn’t eat meat or beans!” -The Death of Pythagoras
No fiber? What a fucking loser. I eat beans almost any day and my poop is always soft as silk. Shit you not.
Sounds like shit you much, though.
Tastes like it too