tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post3823374264587543583..comments2024-03-29T03:45:01.236-07:00Comments on TalkToYoUniverse: There's more to beds than you might imagine...Juliette Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-11212279890621804682013-03-13T08:48:32.510-07:002013-03-13T08:48:32.510-07:00Thanks for this comment, ABE. Much appreciated - a...Thanks for this comment, ABE. Much appreciated - and I do see your point about the reclining in bed. That's another rich cultural tidbit! You are certainly right about how quickly cultural beliefs change in comparison to biology (like lightning!).Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-20567316436529873352013-03-13T04:45:08.963-07:002013-03-13T04:45:08.963-07:00Possibly a tiny bit to add to "people are pro...Possibly a tiny bit to add to "people are probably pretty much the same size that they are now. I remember seeing the bed that Abraham Lincoln died in, and it was so short that he had to be laid on it diagonally."<br /><br />We visited a Canal House on the Delaware when the kids were little (part of teaching them Colonial history), where the docent told us the reason the beds were so short was that people didn't believe it was safe to actually lie down, and slept half propped up.<br /><br />I wondered if that were actually possible - being myself of the fetal-position sleeping tribe, but people did all sorts of things in the past - such as bathing very infrequently - that we 'modern' Western types don't do any more.<br /><br />Human beliefs have evolved much more quickly than human bodies can possibly change - we still see that in what people eat. I myself can't tolerate large quantities of carbohydrates - but humans couldn't grow into larger numbers until the development of agriculture with the massive influx of CHs into the diet.<br />ABEAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com