003 Chew It Twice
Hey Cow, you swallow your grass quickly, then bring it back and chew it again, slowly, for hours. That second chewing is what lets you take in all of it.
Do we chew on what we learn, or just swallow it?
How much of what you learned last week do you still remember?
A cow lies in the grass under the morning sun. Her eyes are half closed. Her jaw moves slowly, side to side, side to side.
She is not eating. She finished eating an hour ago. So what is she doing?
What really happens
A cow eats fast. She swallows her grass with very little chewing and stores it in the first part of her stomach.
Later, when she rests, she brings it back up, a little at a time, and chews it again, slowly and thoroughly. This is called chewing the cud. Without that second chewing, she could not get the goodness out of grass at all.
How we know: Rumination is basic animal science. Dairy cattle spend several hours a day chewing their cud, and farmers watch it closely as a sign of a healthy cow.
The turn
We swallow more than any generation before us: posts, videos, articles, advice. Most of it passes straight through.
The cow knows something we forget. Taking it in is only the first step. The goodness comes out in the second chewing.
Three takeaways
- Consuming is not the same as learning.
- The real benefit comes when you go back over what you took in.
- Rest is where the second chewing happens.
Swallow less. Chew more.
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.