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Born to Rest

harvardmagazine.com

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Re: Born to Rest

#81

Post by jessaustin »

It is odd for a piece like TFA to fail completely to mention the role of internal combustion engines. Harvard has many shuttle buses, which might make sense when the snow is deep but seem actively harmful while serious consideration is being given to a phys ed requirement. A less coercive and cheaper solution might be to scale back the shuttle buses and introduce some sort of bike-sharing scheme. They could make uphill rides like Mather to the Yard free, and charge a nominal fee on the fun downhill rides. (Otherwise all shared bikes would end up in the river forever.) I guess they'd want to subsidize both directions for those poor souls stuck in the Quad.

[EDIT:] It occurs to me that this is the sort of amenity that would be basically free for Harvard to provide. Because it would be a highly visible part of students' lives, hordes of donors will line up to sponsor individual bikes (with donor nameplates), pay stations (likewise), named chairs for bike mechanics, or even the whole program.

Re: Born to Rest

#82

Post by leodeid »

cpr wrote: post #70
helloworld wrote: post #61

Harvard "needs to reopen a discussion about…a physical-education requirement." It's been said that "love is a better master than duty," and requiring college students to take a physical education course sounds like a duty. If you want people to exercise without coercion for the rest of their lives, I think you have to tap into intrinsic motivation, i.e., the unique things that get you excited. Depending on your perso…

Well, at least Harvard has the swimming competence requirement to graduate, installed as a condition of the Widener Library family bequest (since their son Harry Widener died on the Titanic). At least they did in 1976. ;-) I wonder if they still do?

Seems that the requirement being due to the Widener family donation is apocryphal[0], but still an interesting idea. Also, that source suggests that there was a swimming requirement for all students only from fall 1970 to spring 1975. It wouldn't surprise me to hear that it wasn't officially required in 1976 but was effectively compulsory for anyone without a "legitimate" dispension.

[0] http://asklib.hcl.harvard.edu/faq/81791

Re: Born to Rest

#83

Post by Jtsummers »

thesmallestcat wrote: post #51
Jtsummers wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A brief skinny manifesto: I hate how the world caters to the obese. Thermostat turned way down in the winter/up in the summer because of fat insulation. Replace high calorie options with high fiber so their overworked/stretched system feels "full." All diet/nutrition advice biased towards losing weight. The list goes on... and things geared towards losing weight/being comfortable as an obese person naturally are us…

More specific than oppression. As obesity and its effects are seen as acutely unhealthy, quality of life for underweight people is sacrificed for the health benefit of the obese. Clearly there is not some cabal of fat dudes stroking their bellies plotting ways to stick it to the skinny man.

Assuming access to quality foods, but activity and metabolism keep them skinny (that is, this is a healthy skinny, not a malnourished skinny), in what ways are below-average weight people's quality of life sacrificed?

Re: Born to Rest

#84

Post by kazinator »

striking wrote: post #34
Jtsummers wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And remove cheap, high calorie, low nutrition foods. No reason schools ought to provide students with tons of mac & cheese, they can do that to themselves. Give them healthy, nutritious options with the meal plans, and let them spend extra on the unhealthy stuff if they really want it.

Isn't college where people are supposed to be responsible for their own actions? Or have we extended the hand-holding that far out?

Yes, and the cafeteria is run by people who take actions.

Re: Born to Rest

#85

Post by Floegipoky »

Jtsummers wrote: post #10
BasLeijdekkers wrote: post #6

If 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 aroun…

You left out probably the biggest culprit- modern, highly-processed foods

Re: Born to Rest

#86

Post by kazinator »

Jtsummers wrote: post #80
Fifer82 wrote: post #67

Let me die in peace. For some reason, it is always assumed that everyone wants to live as long as possible. If you don't have a cola each day, you can dribble into a towel for another 3 years when you are older.... No thanks, Ill take the coke. put it on the reapers tab.

There are better ways to die young than deliberately harming your health. Take on riskier hobbies (while still remaining physically active). Refuse to wear safety gear while riding a motorcycle or never wear a seatbelt while in a car. A coke a day, probably not a huge problem if you're moderately active. But, smoking, excessive drinking, excessive time spent physically idle, etc, will all reduce your health. They may…

> Refuse to wear safety gear while riding a motorcycle or never wear a seatbelt while in a car.

Not wearing a seatbelt somehow doesn't compare to a juicy burger, fries and Coke.

Re: Born to Rest

#87

Post by justinator »

kornish wrote: post #75
justinator wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's false. While exercising, we socialize, we can explore our immediate surroundings as well as provide a useful function, like getting to work. Are you saying my commute by bike isn't exercise? Do you think dancing isn't now seen as a form of exercise?

You seem to be contradicting yourself, confusing "things which happen to be exercise" with "things which are intentionally exercise." Your argument was originally that the ancients performed the latter, but you've supported yourself with examples of the former. Hunter-gatherer tribes certainly did and do activities which happen to be exercise all the time, and that (and other reasons) are why they didn't need to set…

I'm really not. What I'm disagreeing with is the idea that exercise is defined as physical activity without productive value. It certainly could be that but only because that's what we now frame it as, which itself is a purely contemporary idea. No wonder "exersice" today seems so pointless. Much of the modern world is without the ritual it once possessed. And then we defend our new ways as more pure. For me, it's a head scratcher.

Re: Born to Rest

#88

Post by kazinator »

Jtsummers wrote: post #10
BasLeijdekkers wrote: post #6

If 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 aroun…

> 3. Food was relatively scarce, and harder to transport.

Plus: no refrigeration.

Re: Born to Rest

#89

Post by logfromblammo »

thesmallestcat wrote: post #51
Jtsummers wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A brief skinny manifesto: I hate how the world caters to the obese. Thermostat turned way down in the winter/up in the summer because of fat insulation. Replace high calorie options with high fiber so their overworked/stretched system feels "full." All diet/nutrition advice biased towards losing weight. The list goes on... and things geared towards losing weight/being comfortable as an obese person naturally are us…

More specific than oppression. As obesity and its effects are seen as acutely unhealthy, quality of life for underweight people is sacrificed for the health benefit of the obese. Clearly there is not some cabal of fat dudes stroking their bellies plotting ways to stick it to the skinny man.

[stops stroking]

...Yes! Clearly!

That would be ridiculous. Obviously. I mean, why would fat dudes even do that? Ha ha ha ha... ha ha. Ha.

[whispering] Drop the thermostat another 2 degrees in zone 4-1831A/N and put 5% more cellulose powder in the cafeteria meatloaf.

/s

This sounds to me like yet another form of tribalism. I get that people may become annoyed when the world appears to be shifting its loyalties away from their tribe towards someone else's, but no good will come of deciding that the skinnies and the fatties are natural enemies, and are responsible for the others' ills.

Re: Born to Rest

#90

Post by Floegipoky »

Fifer82 wrote: post #67

Let me die in peace. For some reason, it is always assumed that everyone wants to live as long as possible. If you don't have a cola each day, you can dribble into a towel for another 3 years when you are older.... No thanks, Ill take the coke. put it on the reapers tab.

It's so strange to me how people in this country seem to share a common expectation that an adult should be a productive member of society, but have no expectations about being a healthy member of society. The amount of taxpayer money spent on providing treatment for type II diabetes alone is staggering, and even the amount that isn't paid by the government is paid by insurance, so still amortized across the population: "The total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2012 is $245 billion" "Most of the cost for diabetes care in the U.S., 62.4%, is provided by government insurance"

http://www.diabetes.org/advocacy/news-events/cost-of-diabete...

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