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Ahh, if only I were at a real keyboard. I'll just say that 1) you make a fantastic point in the discussion, 2)there is evidence that even when the fat person fa

Ahh, if only I were at a real keyboard. I'll just say that 1) you make a fantastic point in the discussion, 2)there is evidence that even when the fat person fails to eat that additional bacon, metabolism and activity levels drop to compensate, and 3) you have failed to refute Taubes' primary point, which is that "we get fat because we eat more calories than we expend" does not satisfactorily explain why we maintain a calorie surplus in the first place.

yummyfajitas 16y ago
Taubes' primary point, which is that "we get fat because we eat more calories than we expend" does not satisfactorily explain why we maintain a calorie surplus in the first place. Is that really his point? That's true, but tautological. Similarly, the theory that "the apple I dropped falls because of gravity" also doesn't explain why I dropped the apple. All it explains is how (and not why) the apple falls.
- billjings 16y ago
  Exactly. Every search for truth must have some aim. In the case of the apple, saying "everything falls down" doesn't get at what newton was really interested in, which was the laws of motion in general. In this case, it is silly to stop at the second law of thermodynamics when you're really interested in homeostasis in the human body.
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    ...saying "everything falls down" doesn't get at what newton was really interested in,... I know it's tangential, but this is precisely what Newton was interested in. The entire point of Newtonian gravity is that everything (including the moon and other celestial bodies) falls down in exactly the same way. (Before this, you had one set of rules for celestial bodies, another for apples.)
    - billjings 16y ago
      My apologies for not being precise enough. "Everything falls down" fails as an explanation for Newton's purposes because "down" and "falls" as we use those terms on earth don't apply to stars. As a description of a phenomena, though, it points right at what Newton was interested in, as you say. Something similar would apply here to the statement, "People are getting fat because they are overeating." As an explanation, it falls short for someone who wants to know why they overeat, but their neighbor does not.

yummyfajitas 16y ago

Taubes' primary point, which is that "we get fat because we eat more calories than we expend" does not satisfactorily explain why we maintain a calorie surplus in the first place. Is that really his point? That's true, but tautological. Similarly, the theory that "the apple I dropped falls because of gravity" also doesn't explain why I dropped the apple. All it explains is how (and not why) the apple falls.

billjings 16y ago
Exactly. Every search for truth must have some aim. In the case of the apple, saying "everything falls down" doesn't get at what newton was really interested in, which was the laws of motion in general. In this case, it is silly to stop at the second law of thermodynamics when you're really interested in homeostasis in the human body.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  ...saying "everything falls down" doesn't get at what newton was really interested in,... I know it's tangential, but this is precisely what Newton was interested in. The entire point of Newtonian gravity is that everything (including the moon and other celestial bodies) falls down in exactly the same way. (Before this, you had one set of rules for celestial bodies, another for apples.)
  - billjings 16y ago
    My apologies for not being precise enough. "Everything falls down" fails as an explanation for Newton's purposes because "down" and "falls" as we use those terms on earth don't apply to stars. As a description of a phenomena, though, it points right at what Newton was interested in, as you say. Something similar would apply here to the statement, "People are getting fat because they are overeating." As an explanation, it falls short for someone who wants to know why they overeat, but their neighbor does not.