Born to Rest
harvardmagazine.com
Born to Rest
1–10 of 156 posts
Re: Born to Rest
#2It's been pretty normal for me.
Re: Born to Rest
#3Quite interesting that Harvard Magazine would publish something like that. Doesn't that pretty much imply that Harvard is unnatural and abnormal
Re: Born to Rest
#4No shit.
Re: Born to Rest
#5Delightful cause behind muscle atrophy.
Annoys me on a daily basis because I have to keep working out to maintain my shape, but makes so much sense once you see why it is the way it is.
Re: Born to Rest
#6If we have always been lazy, why is there now an obesity epidemic? It seems to me that means the cause of obesity lies elsewhere.
Re: Born to Rest
#7If we have always been lazy, why is there now an obesity epidemic? It seems to me that means the cause of obesity lies elsewhere.
All other things equal, I imagine people used to eat a lot less calorie-dense food...?
Re: Born to Rest
#8If we have always been lazy, why is there now an obesity epidemic? It seems to me that means the cause of obesity lies elsewhere.
Because we haven't always been sedentary. I thought the article covered this point pretty early on.
Re: Born to Rest
#9If we have always been lazy, why is there now an obesity epidemic? It seems to me that means the cause of obesity lies elsewhere.
We were poorer, less healthy, shorter and no one was actually measuring obesity.
Re: Born to Rest
#10If we have always been lazy, why is there now an obesity epidemic? It seems to me that means the cause of obesity lies elsewhere.
Prior to the 20th century (depending on where you live, but this is for the areas hit with obesity epidemics):
1. You had to walk most places (often miles a day).
2. You had to physically labor. Most people didn't have desk jobs or the period's equivalent.
3. Food was relatively scarce, and harder to transport.
4. Social activities (we are social creatures) required physical effort (walking to, dancing, walking around). We can now be social while being remarkably physically passive.
5. Entertainment options were more scarce, so boredom meant you did something. Now, you can entertain yourself by sitting on a couch or at the desk playing a video game or watching a movie. You could make a case for books being similarly physically passive, but that requires widespread literacy and access to books which wasn't true of the general population.