Pythagoreans and Beans

We are covering the presocratic period right now in my science and civilization class. Today I learned something about the Pythagorean brotherhood that I thought was too funny not to share. The Pythagorean's legacy includes beneficial discoveries such as mathematical ratios and musical theory. It is also rich in the ridiculous. For example, one of the rules of the Pythagorean brotherhood is to not eat beans (my little brother Freeman and my sister-in-law Marissa may see this as wisdom). They believed in reincarnation and the bean was thought to be a living reincarnated soul. This belief came about and was reinforced by the bean's effect on the body. You know what I'm talking about right? Once eaten you can feel the bean moving around in your stomach. Occasionally this living entity will even lead to small bursts of flatulence :-). Awesome belief.

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