Okay, this thread is going to seem like a total joke at first, but just hear me out. I think I may honestly be on to something here...

Perhaps the whole problem with the Middle East is due to dehydration.

When you're done laughing, think about it:

1. Mental/Psychological Effects of Dehydration: Those who are dehydrated often do not realize it, will make unwise or brash decisions because of the mental and physical effects of dehydration. In short, it makes thinking clearly far more difficult. Many people do not realize just how much the human body relies on proper hydration to remain fit mentally and physically.
   
   
2. Arid Climate: This is a land where the moisture level in the air is so low that even properly hydrated people can become dehydrated without a constant supply of fresh water, due to natural osmosis.
   
   
3. Lack of Proper Re-Hydration: A good portion of our re-hydrating comes from bathing, swimming, or otherwise coming into contact with water, not just drinking it. In a land where most people do not have running water, bathing is going to be on a very limited basis compared to a land where plumbing and running water is standard. Even if one were willing to carry the water across god-knows how much hostile terrain to partake of a bath, good luck finding an unused, unpolluted, and unguarded source of water.
   
   
4. Drinking Diuretics: The whole reason tea became big in the first place is because people needed to boil water to make it drinkable, but boiled water tastes kinda nasty. Thus, tea. Unfortunately tea, coffee, and certain juices are considered diuretics, which further dehydrate the body due to increased urination. In a world where your water supply is not only uncertain, but coffee and tea are ways of life, this is likely to be the main source of beverage.
   
   
5. Lack of Proper Medical Diagnosis and Treatment: The availability of medical treatment in the Middle East is dismally low. Even if one were able to find a doctor who could properly recognize and treat the symptoms of dehydration in a patient, it is far more likely they will never be bothered to check because they're too busy being flooded with patients who have an immediate threat to their life. From what I understand, only the wealthy in the Middle East can casually wander to a competant doctor and ask for a checkup.
   

Now put all those factors together and consider the whole. In any land (including Africa's more arid regions) it is a recipe for a very unhealthy mental state. Entire legions of dehydrated people, wandering around with guns and religious extremism as their only comforts.

Could it seriously be as simple as this? Could the complete and utter lack of diplomacy, logic, and reason in Middle East politics, insurgencies, uprisings, and so forth be the result of people not drinking enough water?

I seriously wonder what would be the result of, say, sending a few million bottles of water to Palestine and distributing them to all the crazed gunmen. If perhaps, once properly hydrated, at least a few of them might sit down for a moment and think about the consequences of their actions.

Is it possible? Would anyone be able to consider this as a viable alternatve to nuking the region if it was? Are there any tests that could be run?

Now this is definitely an original idea! Very interesting too. Ive heard people say "they are crazy religous nuts cuz the sun cooked their brains". Maybe not so silly?

When you consider the cruelest, most intolerant religons the world has ever seen originated in the middle east, it makes you kinda wonder.

Maybe we should start doing raindances?

It's not crazy at all. My own reading confirms your contention, in my mind at least.

Irrational brutality is much more prevalent in arid regions, or so it seems to me, based on what I've read. Maybe it's a sort of unconscious, instinctual desperation, brought on by life spent in conditions that are very nearly unlivable?

Much of what I'd like to contribute to this discussion, I simply can't, because this is a family site. The pages of history are worse than any splatter film, more horrifying than the better part of De Sade's literary legacy - it's even enough to make me grimace and I'm as jaded as they come.

When reading historical and literary accounts of Persian, Middle-Eastern, and Asian atrocities, there is a definite jingoistic tendency on the part of European authors, who have no qualms about demonizing their subjects. That has to be taken into account, but I think there's plenty of corroboration to go around, often coming from the accused themselves - in the form of folktales and religious tracts, tales of 'valour' and warnings delivered to infidels, even paintings and photographs in some cases.

I definitely won't go into details, except to suggest an investigation into the practices of the Ghouls of the Sahara, or the Afridi torturers, or the Pathans, or the Turks during the Crimean war - if one has a strong stomach, and curiosity to match. Going farther, you could investigate the reputation of ancient Egyptian mariners, Moghul warriors, Persian slave-owners, Hindu princes like Nana Sahib, and of course there are more examples, so many more. It would fill volume after volume if I attempted to list them all. (One day I may do just that, and will likely be labeled a gore-nographer for my trouble )

It's entirely possible that my reading has been slanted, and that I've acquired a false picture of history. But I think the picture is fairly accurate. Hot, dry regions seem to produce the most insane human beings that one could possibly hope to find.

I'm also biased on account of my heritage being all snow and ice.

Wow, okay, so I'm not a total loon, then.

So if this really is a possible cure, then what can be done to implement it?

It occurrs to me that shipping bottles of water to the Middle East would be a lot cheaper than shipping weapons and bodies. At the very least, the cost in weight should break about even. Does anyone know any organization that might be willing to give such an odd plan a try?

I'm pretty sure the current administration wouldn't be up to trying this plan, I could hear the conversation now.


"Uh, lemme get this straight. You want us to stop fighting the terrorists, and give them water instead?"

"Errr..."

"Boy, you smoking the dope?"

"I don't see how that applies!"


Or something like that. But maybe if, like we gave a Muslim charity the idea... Or would I get a response of "No, kidding? They need water in the Middle East? Will you next reveal to us the existance of gravity?" I mean, I've really got no idea where to go next with this idea. NPR maybe?

(edit to correct spelling)

[edit on 8/15/2006 by thelibra]

While a neat idea, there are rivers that run through the Middle East. Not to mention they extensively use irrigation to get water around. And have you noticed where the majority of the population lives? Around rivers or irrigation channels. So, they really shouldn't be in that short supply of water.

Originally posted by thelibra



It occurrs to me that shipping bottles of water to the Middle East would be a lot cheaper than shipping weapons and bodies. At the very least, the cost in weight should break about even. Does anyone know any organization that might be willing to give such an odd plan a try?

The Gates Foundation would probably be your best chance for success.
they are already responsible for Billions in health and HIV programs all over the world

It almost certainly wouldn't be as simple as saying "Here's some water, a gift from us to you!" - they'd likely think it was a smallpox blanket of sorts.

Cmdr is right when he says they do have some sources of water, but it's definitely not enough, and it's not clean. The killer is the climate too, it sucks the moisture right out of you. They'd have to drink a LOT to stay hydrated in that climate.

It's not just a ME problem, we should keep that in mind. There are a shocking number of Americans who are dangerously dehydrated - to the point of insanity and near brain-death. The diet over here is very, very heavy with salt, and people don't drink enough water. Many of the water-containing foods they eat also contain salt water in place of fresh water, so obviously that's no good.

If America were to go ahead and deliver millions of gallons of water to the ME, in a steady stream of bottles and barrels, before too long we would find ourselves quite short of that commodity, I think.

I'm a big fan of the 'clean your own house' addage, despite the cultural impact isolationism brings with it. I think we ought to get our own affairs in order, and then we might actually be able to serve as an example to the rest of the world. As it stands, we're exporting a damaged, faulty product - which is a good way to piss off the customers.