81–90 of 176 posts
Comparing Jack Dorsey to Gwyneth Paltrow is unfair because she made money by recommending Goop products. Dorsey, on the other hand, is being open about his lifestyle because people ask him about it.
As someone with a firmly blue-collar perspective on the world, these weird sacred cows of the city that people elevate to the status of guru are as mysterious for me as they are asinine. I read up on Gwyneth Paltrow after reading the article, and checked her website where I found idiotic products that made my heart stop with some of their claims. When my heart finally started again I cursed god for letting me live to…
Never understood the disdain for people for trying wacky sounding self-improvement techniques. Just like I wouldn't make fun of the 17% of Americans who take antidepressant pills to feel happier, I'm definitely not going to make fun of people fasting or using sauna to feel happy.
As someone with a firmly blue-collar perspective on the world, these weird sacred cows of the city that people elevate to the status of guru are as mysterious for me as they are asinine. I read up on Gwyneth Paltrow after reading the article, and checked her website where I found idiotic products that made my heart stop with some of their claims. When my heart finally started again I cursed god for letting me live to…
This doesn't seem all that different than say typical celebrity culture followers (Paltrow falls into that category) who adapt it to a sort of lifestyle. I find it a bit weird as I've not found any folks who I want to emulate what they eat or emulate their lifestyle in general. Granted I'd like to be healthier but that's a thing, not a person.
Are being healthy and not unhealthy the same thing? For example not smoking is "not unhealthy" in the sense it does not hurt your lungs, but I would not consider standing around not smoking as being healthy. Similarly drinking water is not unhealthy compared to the harms of soda and dehydration. The traditional form of healthy is avoiding harm; avoiding less than normal health. Ice baths and fasting seem like an atte…
I'm firmly of the opinion that a lot of wellness fads spring up fields like tech because its a field where traditional religious views are rarer. People latch on to these new belief systems that are like religion in most ways beside name. They all have a set of rigid rules to follow and rituals to perform, and they all have some type of self-denial or sacrifice as one of their core values. Fasting, temperance, Whole3…
this is kind of flippant, but I suspect that a big part of it is that remaining rational and skeptical, and trying to be belief-free is exhausting. Rituals - even things like having morning coffee or an after work walk are things that I can say calm me down because they require little mental effort. The more you aim for variety the more effort it takes. Beliefs are like the mental equivalent to acclimating to consist…
All of these fads center around one fundamental trait: the sense of having control over your life. It doesn't matter whether they work; they sell you on the experience of "I'm successfully doing this hard thing to make myself better". And it just so happens that Silicon Valley is full of people who are addicted to the sensation of improvement. Eating disorders stem from the same psychological mechanism, just a differ…
But that's not something out culture really allows for or encourages. So we look to miracle cures so we can continue feeling productive.
While Dorsey is rather extreme, his lifestyle is a lot healthier than the average American’s or most everyone’s in the developed world. Eating junk food around the clock is really bad for you. Note that Dorsey isn’t fat and diabetic like so many people these days.
cnahr, it's the average American that is extreme in the opposite direction. You can be extremely healthy following some basic and well tested advices (the HN crowd have contributed to great threads on this) without eating iridescent Himalayan thunder berries juice every full moon like Dorsey could sooner or later recommend.
This is really a perfect title. As somebody who grew up in Michigan not far from Battle Creek, I've always been interested the history of wacky self-improvement regimes. (You may remember "The Road to Wellville" as one look at that. [1]) E.g., the inventor of Graham flour believed in all sorts of self-harshness: "Graham created a theology and diet aimed at keeping individuals, families, and society pure and healthy -…
Ah, Battle Creek! Also where the Kellogg brothers got up to their weirdness. John Harvey Kellogg was involved in the weird dietary movements of the era as well. Ran a sort of spa / psych hospital thing, recommended people eat super plain food and chew each bite 45 times, that sort of thing. Tried to make "pre-digested" food which led eventually to Corn Flakes. Lots of weird health anecdotes out of there. Anything fro…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Read the article and ask yourself which one of the things described would seem out of place in one of those sad gossip magazines targeting low-income housewives. E.g. water mixed with Himalayan salt and lemon in the morning. And since I'm mentioning it, Himalayan salt is not better than normal salt. It could also contain more contaminants and it has no iodine (that could not be desirable in some countries).
You can call it bullshit if you want, but when you drink that combination, you're gonna be in the bathroom almost immediately emptying out. I speak from personal experience...
I drink just water in the morning and I am out to empty my bowels right after. I don't think that has much to do with Himalayan salt.