It is amazing what people are willing to pay for. (Don't focus on the circus stunt. Instead, pay attention to the business lesson :)
In this day and age of cheap video games, movies, and pornography... there is not much of a market for this anymore.
100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.
91–100 of 140 posts
Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're at least partially confusing individual survivability with group survivability. Absolute cowardice, while beneficial to an individual, is ultimately so problematic for the group that it will result in everyone's death. Dumbly repeating procedures that are known to work without analysis will not only cause stagnation, but also likely cause industrial and environmental collapse unless a system is so tightly cont…
"Absolute cowardice, while beneficial to an individual" If this were actually true then evolution would go ahead and make everyone absolutely cowardly. Evolution works because traits that are helpful to an individual become more common; because the individuals with those traits reproduce more. Nothing stops evolution going down paths that are bad for the species. (Of course, if it gets so bad that the species goes ex…
No, it does not. To understand why lets compare it to another situation. Cancer cells vs normal cells. Cancer cells are "selfish" so if you wait long enough every cell on earth would become a cancer cell, right?
Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I think the fast food industry gives a false impression because they started out with fattening food. But all the current fast food places were founded a relatively short time ago (McDonalds: '55, Burger King: '53, KFC: '52, Taco Bell: '62, Pizza Hut: '58) and as they've evolved their menus have become healthier. Beyond that technology is paving the way for a less fattening diet. Diet…
* they've evolved their menus have become healthier.* Have you looked at the nutrition facts lately? Or seen the new commercials for KFC heart attack of two pieces of fried chicken with bacon and cheese in between? I wasn't around when the fast food places you mention were founded, but if this is the trend towards healthier then I am amazed people survived for any length of time after they emerged. (Granted, many hav…
The double down isn't that bad. The grilled one would be the perfect sandwich to have after lifting weights.
Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
* they've evolved their menus have become healthier.* Have you looked at the nutrition facts lately? Or seen the new commercials for KFC heart attack of two pieces of fried chicken with bacon and cheese in between? I wasn't around when the fast food places you mention were founded, but if this is the trend towards healthier then I am amazed people survived for any length of time after they emerged. (Granted, many hav…
I can walk into any McDonals in america, order a grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo, a bottle of water, and have a legitametly healthy meal any time I want. You couldn't do that in in previous decades because they only had fried chicken. So the tools are out there, people just choose to continue ordering the triple quarter pounder.
Does it come with vegetables? Does it come with some kind of energy source other than meat?
Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Populations do indeed evolve along with individuals" Individuals don't evolve at all. Evolution is changes in gene frequency over time. What I think you're trying to talk about is macroevolution, where species that happen to have certain traits survive longer than other species. Sure, this sort of thing happens. But I was responding to the claim that "absolute cowardice [is] beneficial to an individual" and noting w…
What it looks like you're not paying sufficient attention to is that selection happens at the level of the gene, not the level of the individual. It is absolutely not beneficial to the individual to put energy out to try to have sex, put energy into offspring, or to take risks for others. However all of those behaviors have tended to be beneficial for the genes that the individual has because the others who are helpe…
The truth is that the truth you allude to is only one of many truths, and I consider it my duty as a mansplainer to point out that there are other truths you failed to incorporate into your paragraph in such a way that makes me feel as if I have a bigger and more complete collection of truths because then I won't feel so bad that my pants make me feel ugly.
Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.
#96Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.
#97Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.
#98I had to call the US last night for webhost support (this host needed a call to cancel a domain from being hosted, and an email to add a new one - a paper trail), and as she had to pause between sentences for labored breath, it was then that I felt a little bit sorry for her, but at least she was employed. That was my trip to the circus.
She could have asthma or emphysema. No reason to assume breathing issues are weight related.
Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
If humans survive long enough to become highly advanced technologically, we'll almost certainly have a high degree of control over our bodies. Tall, thin and handsome is probably to be expected. See Iain M. Banks's Culture novels for a fictional depiction of this pushed to the extreme (people there can even chose to switch from one sex to the other whenever they feel like it).
if we can manipulate neurological details like gender, why not lock ourselves into a happy-loop and be done with history?
Re: 100 years ago, people paid money to see a fat man in a circus sideshow.
#100So, 100 years ago, this kind of weight was sideshow-worthy (and remember the other things one would see in a circus sideshow...); today, it wouldn't turn heads on a subway. However: the US has become _more_ health-conscious in the past 100 years, not less. We must have something wrong, if concern for exercise and good nutrition goes hand-in-hand with this kind of obesity. I think this is due, at least in part, to the…
People here are exaggerating the fatness of the average American. Yes, obesity is an unsightly problem, but the man in that photo would still be a stand-out today-- just less of one. Instead of being someone we'd only see in a circus, he's the noticeably obese fat guy in the line at McDonalds. He's definitely not sideshow-freak material today, but he'd definitely be the fattest person on an average subway car. I'd ey…
You also have to remember that the guidelines for what is considered obese was changed in 1998. It changed 30 million people from being considered normal weight to obese.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/guideposts/fitnes...