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The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

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Re: The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

#21

Post by joel_perl_prog »

shaunol wrote: post #12

It's nice to advocate healthy living but I really think you're looking too much into the reason why people may not have found your video particularly interesting. Though you raise a discussion on a topic that may be worth exploring, all you've done is stereotype an entire community - which you yourself are an active participant. Keep in mind, this is a tech community - people that want better living & health advice w…

Isolated quotation:

"We see our pasty, doughy, sickly selves in the mirror and somehow just deny the obviousness of the truth. We then armor ourselves against anything that might pierce our bubble of denial, so as to protect our inflated egos. I say "we" and "our" because I'm not so different, either. It's just that, for various reasons, years ago I saw the light re: health and fitness"

Isolated even further: "I'm not so different, either."

Re: The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

#22

Post by w0utert »

joel_perl_prog wrote: post #13
casca wrote: post #5

TL;DR: guy gets a comment downvoted on HN and responds by accusing the downvoters of having an unhealthy lifestyle. Is there any evidence that the average geek is less healthy than the average person? Here's a link to the comment in question: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7763106

Instead of seeking that "evidence," consider this: is the average geek not supposed to be smarter than the average person? (Is this generality more acceptable because it's flattering? For that matter, is there any evidence of this, either? But for now, let's assume it's true.) So on that assumption, which we grant temporarily, why then should we not expect these smarter people to make smarter lifestyle choices? Shoul…

Claiming some kind of magic smoothie will improve your health is the type of health-nonsense we need less of, not more, it doesn't serve any purpose improving anyone's lifestyle. That's probably why you got downvoted into oblivion, not because 'average geeks' don't care about their health.

Mind you: I'm not saying your smoothie is not healthy, or that it doesn't matter what you eat or how you live. Just that blanket statements such as 'my smoothie has improved the life of everyone I introduced it to' is about as scientific as astrology or tarot cards, and IMO has no place on a site like this.

Re: The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

#23

Post by slavoingilizov »

Liesmith wrote: post #16
mapleoin wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope you're being ironic, because this attitude is exactly what the article is declaiming.

Why would he be ironic? Consuming too many antioxidants have been tested and turn out to have some pretty ugly negative effects, just like too much of anything else at all.

Care to show us such a test or study?

Re: The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

#24

Post by thisone »

etfb wrote: post #7
casca wrote: post #5

TL;DR: guy gets a comment downvoted on HN and responds by accusing the downvoters of having an unhealthy lifestyle. Is there any evidence that the average geek is less healthy than the average person? Here's a link to the comment in question: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7763106

Logic says that someone who spends more time in front of a computer is less healthy than someone who spends less time in front of a computer. I think it's solid enough logic that the onus is on you to provide evidence to the contrary. But hell, geeks should be able to find actual evidence; that's what geeks do.

person A uses a computer for 6 hours a day, person B uses a computer for 30 minutes a day, ergo person B is healthier.

This logic doesn't seem to be very "logical"

Re: The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

#25

Post by donquichotte »

casca wrote: post #5

TL;DR: guy gets a comment downvoted on HN and responds by accusing the downvoters of having an unhealthy lifestyle. Is there any evidence that the average geek is less healthy than the average person? Here's a link to the comment in question: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7763106

Thanks for linking to the comment in question. It starts with "I've been helping my family and friends with this recipe [... and I'm going to help you too.]" This kind of behaviour is not dissimilar from religious groups that try to force their unproven believes upon other people. Even anecdotal evidence is provided. I'm pretty sure if he'd have written "I enjoy this kind of smoothie, and it makes me feel better." he would not have been downvoted.

Re: The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

#26

Post by mercer »

JelteF wrote: post #11

I would say I'm not very healthy myself. I drink a lot, eat lots of sugar, meat and fat. I have thought about eating more healthy and have tried for a little while a couple of times. However I always fall back to eating unhealthy. The reason for this is that I like eating unhealthy food. It tastes great and gives me joy. I don't mind not growing as old as I could when eating more healthy. This is because I wouldn't e…

one thing that has been working for me in my quest to at least slightly improve my health has been to try out fruits and vegetables and look for very simple 'recipes' that are delicious.

The reason is that I (and perhaps many other geeks) don't have much patience with 'physical' things. Eating is mostly an annoyance to me, I don't care about my looks that much, and I can often get so wrapped up in 'virtual' stuff that I forget how much I enjoy nature and the sun.

And at some point I figured rather than trying to 'cook properly' and give up, I should maybe start with simpler things. And that's been working pretty well.

Smoothies, for example, are quite easy to make. Or recently I developed an obsession with a very simple sandwich: bread, cheese, little bit of mayo, avocado, rucola and some salt and pepper. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but I love that stuff and eat it almost daily.

I'm nowhere close to having a proper, healthy lifestyle, but it's a start. And after three years of false starts it's quite a breakthrough!

Re: The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

#27

Post by DanielBMarkham »

Saddest part about that post was the implication that HN disavows self promotion.

Dude. HN is a hacker site. We build stuff -- build it, sell it, share it, talk about it. I've never threatened to leave HN but if I did, it would be if they had some policy banning self-promotion. This isn't some cute club of teenagers where you have to get a friend to submit a link and then the cool kids all have to like it. There are people, lots of people, who are supporting their families on the things they do and share here. Please. Self-promote. We'll downvote you if you get obnoxious, but that's about it.

I think the real problem was hinted at in the article: that sort of ranting I've-figured-it-all-out-you-bunch-of-fools attitude. Over the years, I've found the board very unfriendly to people who come in with a flame thrower laying waste to those they're trying to engage. Yes, you can certainly talk about how unhealthy we all are, been done a million times, but not so much on the miracle cures and how we're a bunch of ingrates who won't listen to reason. That's a good way to get a virtual punch in the nose.

Re: The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

#28

Post by [deleted] »

w0utert wrote: post #22
joel_perl_prog wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of seeking that "evidence," consider this: is the average geek not supposed to be smarter than the average person? (Is this generality more acceptable because it's flattering? For that matter, is there any evidence of this, either? But for now, let's assume it's true.) So on that assumption, which we grant temporarily, why then should we not expect these smarter people to make smarter lifestyle choices? Shoul…

Claiming some kind of magic smoothie will improve your health is the type of health-nonsense we need less of, not more, it doesn't serve any purpose improving anyone's lifestyle. That's probably why you got downvoted into oblivion, not because 'average geeks' don't care about their health. Mind you: I'm not saying your smoothie is not healthy, or that it doesn't matter what you eat or how you live. Just that blanket…

[deleted]

Re: The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

#29

Post by circlefavshape »

JelteF wrote: post #11

I would say I'm not very healthy myself. I drink a lot, eat lots of sugar, meat and fat. I have thought about eating more healthy and have tried for a little while a couple of times. However I always fall back to eating unhealthy. The reason for this is that I like eating unhealthy food. It tastes great and gives me joy. I don't mind not growing as old as I could when eating more healthy. This is because I wouldn't e…

Eating "healthy" doesn't necessarily mean your food has to be less tasty. In my bag for lunch today I have some leftover homemade vegetable lasagne, half a seabass, a nectarine, an apple, a banana and a handful of brazil nuts. I'd be very surprised if any of my teammates enjoyed their shitty sandwiches from the shop on the corner more than I enjoy what I have

Re: The Hacker News Sacred Cow: The Unhealthy Lifestyle of The Average Geek

#30

Post by arethuza »

[deleted] wrote: post #17
spingsprong wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, not ironic. But if your aim is to increase people's health, you're going to do a better job using accurate information. The initial studies showing anti-oxidants have health benefits have struggled to be replicated, and new studies have shown anti-oxidants may be having negative health impact. Edit: since a couple of people have asked, here's one fairly good source, there are others if you search. http://www.nc…

[deleted]

I can recommend Ben Goldacre's "Bad Science" - I read this in book form, any time I see "anti-oxidant" in the context of nutrition I also start to engage full skepticism mode.

Here is an article from Bad Science pointing to a Cochrane Collaboration review of the effectiveness of anti-oxidants:

http://www.badscience.net/2008/04/cliff-richard-gloria-hunni...

Michael Shermer, the author of Why People Believe Weird Things, also had an interesting direct experience with nutritional pseudo-science:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_People_Believe_Weird_Things

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