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I'm not an anthropologist of biologist, but I think modern life is basically incompatible with how humans evolved. I mean, we are hunters. If we do not spend th

I'm not an anthropologist of biologist, but I think modern life is basically incompatible with how humans evolved. I mean, we are hunters. If we do not spend the the energy to hunt what we eat, it seems clear that we get obese. Our natural instincts tell us to eat as much as we can whenever food is available. This is because we evolved without any guarantee of frequent meals. Post food-scarcity society seems basically against our natural instincts.

retzkek 6y ago
> If we do not spend the the energy to hunt what we eat, it seems clear that we get obese. > Our natural instincts tell us to eat as much as we can whenever food is available. Compounding the problem, we've identified what activates these instincts (fat and sugar), and hyper-optimized food to target the reward centers and cause people to eat _even more_ food that they don't need. Then we use what we've learned about psychology to trigger people's desire for food even when they're not eating. Then we invent expensive drugs (see TFA) to help people lose the weight (and throw commercials at them for _those_)...
philipkglass 6y ago
Obesity rates started soaring only in the later 20th century. I'm suspicious of explanations for recent and rapid upward obesity trends that cite our evolutionary history from before the Neolithic Revolution. Human genetics did not undergo a massive shift in the last couple of generations. We did not just recently transition away from nomadic hunting lifestyles either. No single factor seems to line up with increasing obesity rates well enough to be blamed as The Cause. I think it may be a combination of small nudges that form strongly obesity-promoting environments.
- 93po 6y ago
  Marketing for unhealthy foods is a 20th century thing. And marketing something as healthy when it's actually not (fat free craze of yesteryear). To me it seems this is one of the major problems. Lack of education on healthy eating, damaging advertising, and a lack of regulation around food labeling.

retzkek 6y ago

> If we do not spend the the energy to hunt what we eat, it seems clear that we get obese. > Our natural instincts tell us to eat as much as we can whenever food is available. Compounding the problem, we've identified what activates these instincts (fat and sugar), and hyper-optimized food to target the reward centers and cause people to eat _even more_ food that they don't need. Then we use what we've learned about psychology to trigger people's desire for food even when they're not eating. Then we invent expensive drugs (see TFA) to help people lose the weight (and throw commercials at them for _those_)...

philipkglass 6y ago

Obesity rates started soaring only in the later 20th century. I'm suspicious of explanations for recent and rapid upward obesity trends that cite our evolutionary history from before the Neolithic Revolution. Human genetics did not undergo a massive shift in the last couple of generations. We did not just recently transition away from nomadic hunting lifestyles either. No single factor seems to line up with increasing obesity rates well enough to be blamed as The Cause. I think it may be a combination of small nudges that form strongly obesity-promoting environments.

93po 6y ago
Marketing for unhealthy foods is a 20th century thing. And marketing something as healthy when it's actually not (fat free craze of yesteryear). To me it seems this is one of the major problems. Lack of education on healthy eating, damaging advertising, and a lack of regulation around food labeling.