Why accomplishment, accolades in one sphere of life does not translate into common sense and sound judgement in another.
I’ve seen professionals spout nonsense with the confidence of godmen. And smart people not do squat or not literally squat for their health since they believe they don’t need it.
Here are few things people conflate or see as equal that skews their judgement. I am not going to call these myths. They are products of excessive confidence or worse yet poor logic :
1 Diminished physical and cognitive capacity is the norm.
Reasonable take:
You can’t fight time. But you can preserve physical and mental faculties to a much greater degree than you imagine. It takes discomfort, occasional embarrassment, time and attention. It helps to normalise the first two.
2 Longevity guarantees quality of life.
Reasonable take:
Longevity is a relatively new human condition. Atleast for the society as a whole. And we adapt to our environment. Our current attitude to activity, food and money does not reflect the reality of lengthened life spans.
3 Your joints deteriorate with age.
Reasonable take:
The body operates on a use it or lose it principle. You lose capacities that you don’t work to preserve. Sure wear and tear does occur with age. But capacities diminish much more slowly when you take the time to preserve intelligence and the ability to produce complex and forceful movement.
4 A human isn’t built for ‘x’ food or activity or lifestyle.
Reasonable take:
Part of human evolution involved eating anything and everything under the sun including animals and plants. And we moved a lot in all kinds of funky environments to get food. You might not have the same environment as your ancestors. But the same capacities exist in some form.
5 Women and men need dramatically different activity diets.
Reasonable take:
A respected doctor told my client ‘don’t build muscle like a man, focus on toning’. I really wish I was making this up. Overreach is very real. Especially among professionals who have been validated for their competence by paying clients. Knowing the limits of one’s competence is rare. And the ones who don’t know what they don’t know routinely spout silly things that derail rational and reasonable aspirations among people who look up to them. (Training choices and exercise selection may vary based on individual context, but that’s not what the good doctor is implying).
I’ve seen professionals spout nonsense with the confidence of godmen. And smart people not do squat or not literally squat for their health since they believe they don’t need it.
Here are few things people conflate or see as equal that skews their judgement. I am not going to call these myths. They are products of excessive confidence or worse yet poor logic :
1 Diminished physical and cognitive capacity is the norm.
Reasonable take:
You can’t fight time. But you can preserve physical and mental faculties to a much greater degree than you imagine. It takes discomfort, occasional embarrassment, time and attention. It helps to normalise the first two.
2 Longevity guarantees quality of life.
Reasonable take:
Longevity is a relatively new human condition. Atleast for the society as a whole. And we adapt to our environment. Our current attitude to activity, food and money does not reflect the reality of lengthened life spans.
3 Your joints deteriorate with age.
Reasonable take:
The body operates on a use it or lose it principle. You lose capacities that you don’t work to preserve. Sure wear and tear does occur with age. But capacities diminish much more slowly when you take the time to preserve intelligence and the ability to produce complex and forceful movement.
4 A human isn’t built for ‘x’ food or activity or lifestyle.
Reasonable take:
Part of human evolution involved eating anything and everything under the sun including animals and plants. And we moved a lot in all kinds of funky environments to get food. You might not have the same environment as your ancestors. But the same capacities exist in some form.
5 Women and men need dramatically different activity diets.
Reasonable take:
A respected doctor told my client ‘don’t build muscle like a man, focus on toning’. I really wish I was making this up. Overreach is very real. Especially among professionals who have been validated for their competence by paying clients. Knowing the limits of one’s competence is rare. And the ones who don’t know what they don’t know routinely spout silly things that derail rational and reasonable aspirations among people who look up to them. (Training choices and exercise selection may vary based on individual context, but that’s not what the good doctor is implying).