The photo on the right shows
an unusual juxtaposition of businesses. Weight Watchers is next door to a Marine recruiting office. Both require the customer to make a major life choice. Losing weight is a commitment of great will power with long term effects. Joining the Marines can be even more far reaching. The Marines will hold you to a commitment of several years. Weight Watchers can have an important change in your life but you can fail any day you want.
Weight Watchers has made me conscious of the importance of the invention of fire. From the Weight Watcher tables of caloric impact we can see that one cup of carrots cooked have twice the calories of raw carrots, as do tomatoes and celery (veggies we often eat uncooked.) Many foods are inedible raw and become pure calories when boiled: grains, beans,
tubers and soy. The invention of fire created a plentiful source of calories from the same environment that had few.
The interaction of the invention of fire and human development must have been fascinating; it created more leisure time. There may be parallels to the invention of the Sabbath which helped create more inventions by making leisure time a formality.