Doing – Part 2

There are other considerations, possibly lower levels in the process of decision-making, but I think not. Habit controls a lot of what we do. We're not conscious of the role it plays, even as we act according to our own long-standing patterns. You may think of it as a personal tradition, but it probably lacks the literary or historical “justification” of a tradition.

Additionally, it's not really habit, but a good deal of control is placed on those of us (and that means me) who are compulsive. It's control exercised by our own brains. Whether it means straightening pictures, picking up pieces of paper from the floor, or, more productively, putting away what we take out, there's a lot to be said for a compulsive personality – and it's not all bad.

And there are community expectations. Many of the things we do are in response to what is expected of us. We may not agree with them or even understand them, but we know that those around us will judge us on their basis. For example, the person with whom you are walking may chide you for not crossing against the light when there is no traffic coming. And you may wonder, as well, whether your actions make sense or if they're simply reflexes.

(Reflexes themselves may be the cause of some of our actions, but I won't address them here.)

But there's another reason. And it has no explanation whatsoever. In fact it's almost embarrassing to discuss and I'm completely unable to vindicate it, but it's probably the best explanation for all my actions. To a degree it's a combination and a distillation of all the other rationales: I do things because that's what I do. I can't always justify what I do, but I know that if I do otherwise I'll have the feeling that I've done something wrong. It doesn't make much sense, but a lot of what I do is aimed at preventing me from feeling guilt.

I've omitted any direct language regarding “right” and “wrong.” A discussion of absolutes is likely to make the problem worse rather than help in its solution. Many would argue that they don't exist – that there are different norms in different societies and all are right. Isaiah Berlin writes (in The Power of Ideas – cited by Sacks)

Herder laid it down that every culture possesses its own centre [sic] of gravity; each culture has its own points of reference … The world was a great garden in which different flowers and plants grew, each in its own way, each with its own claims and rights and past and future. From which which it followed that no matter what men had in common … there were no universally true answers as valid for one culture as for another.

That, however, cannot be completely true. The flowers may look different but they all require water and nutrients. Because they differ morphologically, we should not attribute different needs to them. Nor to societies. There may be differences, but no matter what particular groups may claim, rape and murder are wrong. And the Bible makes it clear that human sacrifice is unacceptable. And whatever the practices of a particular group, cannibalism is condemnable. Some absolutes cross religious and ethnic boundaries, irrespective of practice. And when we try to show our tolerance be adopting a “live and let live” attitude – wen we let our society divide itself in the names of diversity and multiculturalism, we sacrifice both the flower and its nutrients.

The absolutes are the taboos of individual societies. They're negative – like five of the ten commandments. And while there are differences in the religious/ethnic codes that contain them, there are some that seem to be universal, even if the societies that follow them have never had contact with each other. So although there are many who ignore the taboos, and there are many who don't punish the violators, almost everyone seem to agree that it is wrong to commit murder.

But there are positives as well – positives that seem to apply in every society. Among them are socialization and cooperation. For a society to work its members must work together. So just as there are things we don't do, there are things we do. And both groups control our actions.

One final note. As those of you who read these essays (and I can count you on one hand) know, I am ill. So it is fair to ask how my medical condition affects my behavior? To what degree are the factors which I've already mentioned in play?

To understand the answer, it's necessary to understand me. I don't want to know what's happening. I don't ask my doctors very many questions, trying only to do what they say. So part of what I do is what I'm told to do. It's another layer of law added to the ones I've already discussed.

Time, in various forms, has taken over my thoughts and my actions. I'm likely to act more quickly when something comes up – not to put it off but to take care of it immediately. I live one day at a time – as if there's no difference from my previous experiences. Still, however, I plan for the future in certain ways. One of those ways is to make lists for others (I've always made lists) of what needs to be done, and to make sure that all economic, legal, and insurance issues are covered. Simultaneously, however, I look forward to planned events. I have goals – events I want to attend. I plan as if the future is unending.

But that's all background for me. It is more involved in how I do things than in what I do. And the “what” hasn't really changed. Denial is strong (fortunately) and I pretend that nothing has changed. That's not reality, but it allows me to do what I do because it's what I do. I'd like to think that it's all logical and well thought-out, but that's not the case. I do it because it's what I do. It's all that I know.

I don't know what else to do.

December 21, 2016

Food For Thought

                                                                         

Most diets work. Most dieting doesn't. Because most dieters can't stick to what they're doing. For example, a while backⁱ I suggested an important advance in the field of dieting: “Lessay Fare: Sir Oracle's Five-Percent No-Exercise Guaranteed Twelve-Step Weight-Loss Diet.” There's no way that you wouldn't lose weight if you stuck to it, but no one did.

So no one did.

And that's the problem with dieting. People don't stick to their diets. I gave them a guaranteed diet that didn't even require exercise, and no one lost weight. I have to admit that much of the fault was my own – it wasn't in a book, and it wasn't widely publicized, so people weren't aware of it. I'm sure that it would have raised a stir if more people knew about it. With a title like that it couldn't miss having a big impact. Not that anyone would have lost weight, but I'd have made a fortune. Why would people use my diet anyway. The only motivation that I offered was that overweight was a serious problem. And I told them that no spirituality was necessary. Not very inspiring. Reading over it I can see why I didn't get rich. Some of what it said is worth repeating, but there are several points on which I have to reverse myself, not because they're wrongⁱⁱ but because they didn't achieve the desired result.ⁱⁱⁱ So what follows is a different plan to lose weight, only the approach will be different. No one has failed to lose following this advice.^iv

The two basic principles governing the construction of my new diet are

1. The dieter has to be motivated, and
2. The dieter can't be bored.

If there's one thing that motivates people, it's money.^v Make a financial commitment to your diet, buy in, and you're hooked. And the simple way to use this reality is by making the dieting process expensive. Another motivation is the simple truth that most of us are lazy. And the ones most in need of a diet are the laziest. Their dieting will be helped most by using this characteristic. Let the couch-potatoes sit. In fact, insist that they do so.^vi You'll tell them where. It's easy to convince people that there is a free lunch^vii and you have just the recipe(s) for it. And as far as recipes go, the ideas you'll reveal to them are vital to their good health and to feeling good about themselves. It's expensive but they're worth it. (A free or inexpensive program is, in the long run, a disincentive. “How good can it be if it's so cheap?” After all, you get what you pay for.^viii) And don't forget how important it is to brag about your project.

One more motivator is success. It's easy to achieve, and I'll tell you how. Soon.

As for the second principle, it's boredom^ix that sinks most diets. I noted earlier, most diets work. Early on, perhaps during the first week, it's common to see the dieter shedding pounds.^x It doesn't matter if it's a low-carb diet, or high-fat, or low calorie, or high-carb, or liquid diet, or whatever. But it soon begins to pall. And sooner or later the initial enthusiasm wears off. So the weight comes back on.

Bearing all these points in mind, however, you can construct a program that will initiate a major loss of weight – or sour you on the whole idea for life. Either way you're a winner. So here's what you do:

1. Prepare the environment.

a.  Designate a dieting room. The room should have a very comfortable couch, preferably one that's difficult to stand up from. There should also be a very wide-screen television set connected to a service that provides at least five-hundred channels none of which is a food-channel. Install a small refrigerator. Fill it with lots of water to take your appetite away.

b.   Put up “NO FOOD” signs. No eating or drinking (except water and zero calorie drinks) is permitted in that room. It should be as far as possible from the kitchen but close to a bathroom. Going to the kitchen from that room, or for thirty minutes thereafter, should be prohibited.

c.   Install an exercise machine. That machine should be expensive and should exhaust the user. Nonetheless, despite the fact that the user will be very hungry after a half-hour of exercise, no food or drink should be permitted for the next thirty minutes.^xi

d.   Designate an eating area such as the dining room. Make sure all of the chairs in it are narrow and uncomfortable.

e. Give the entire contents of the refrigerator and food cabinets to a soup kitchen.

2. Further preparations.
 

a.    Purchase eight diet books.^xii Each will have the best plan, recommend the best foods, and specify why it is better than all the others. Also join one weight-loss program or another. It doesn't matter which, as long as it's expensive and provides you with a buddy who'll suffer with you and keep you busy talking over watercress and rice crackers when you'd prefer to be eating real food.

b.  Buy all of the foods recommended by each diet book and restock your refrigerator and larder^xiii food cabinet. Buy foods of the highest quality at the highest prices. To determine this, comparison shop in several stores until you're sure you've paid the highest prices. Be sure to include large supplies of expensive bottled water.^xiv

c. Keep plenty of salad (no dressing) in the refrigerator at all times. Eat lots of it and drink plenty of water every time you feel hungry. If that doesn't make you sick of eating, nothing will. But remember: “No pain, gain.”

 

d. Post on your refrigerator and food cabinet pictures of yourself at your fattest.ⁱ

e. Dispose of all clothes larger than you are and buy new and expensive ones. And each time you get to be a size smaller, give away all those that are now too large for you as you get new and expensive ones.

 

By now you've an idea of what I'm suggesting.  The goal is to waste money. Spend as much as you can – especially on the discomfort foods (preferably ones that make you throw up) – before getting to anything you really want to eat. Once you've spent all that money and replaced your clothes, you'll be motivated to keep your diet rather than admit you wasted your money. Everyone knows about your diet. Failure will be a major embarrassment.^xvi It's true the bottom line for your expenses will expand, but your bottom, itself, may contract. And change diet books once a week to avoid boredom. Most diets work the first week, so if you rotate them it will always be the first week (of whatever diet you happen to be on at the time). It would probably be prudent to take a vitamin pill daily to compensate for the fact that your new diet will be anything but balanced, but it will be different.

Next episode:  "'Reality' And Belief" – On creative thinking.

i       November 7, 2010.

ii     I'm never wrong, even when I disagree with myself.

iii    Especially my request to send me money. No one did.

iv    Remember, however, “Past performance is no indication of future results.” (I don't want to get in trouble with unsuccessful dieters.)

v      Or, as Governor Bill Clinton put it (in the words of James Carville), “It's the economy, stupid.”

vi    And you have just the seat for them. First you convince them that they must exercise and you know just the way they should do it – with an expensive exerciser like a exercise bicycle. They'll quit soon enough. But we'll come to that presently.

vii    Even though by the time you're done with them they won't be able to afford it.

viii   I hope you don't really believe that.

ix     By the way, “boredom” and “bedroom” are anagrams. This diet does not require you, however, to get the two confused.

x      Or kilograms. It's unrealistic to expect the loss of stones during the first week. (Even Lorena Bobbitt didn't go that far.)

xi      Don't worry though. It won't be long before you lose all taste for exercise.

xii    Full disclosure. I get no kickback from all the books sold. But if you want to send me money (perhaps a dollar for each pound lost) I'll make good use of it. Crumpled, unmarked bills. The UCDC hasn't been established yet. (You'll know what that means if you've read previous blogs.)

xiii   Lard's out. Fattening.

xiv    It's no better for you than tap water (and may, in fact be worse) and the plastic bottles will certainly be bad for the environment, but the fiscal disbursement will contribute to the conviction that the diet is a serious one.

xv    Pregnancy not included.

xvi   How's that for motivation?