Too cushy

Hedonism, sadly appears to have become the organising principle for Western society. We feel we can have it all, immediately with little effort. All we need to do is borrow some money and purchase the latest consumer goods and life will be perfect. No opportunity for natural stressors such as cold, heat, germs, sunshine to intervene.

We live in temperature controlled homes and work environment, we have a plethora of machines to replace the need for physical effort (we don’t even need to turn a key to open our car doors anymore!), we use antibacterial cleaning products to keep us “safe” and we have a never‑ending supply of calorie-rich food to digest.

From a biological viewpoint we have created a very unnatural environment for our bodies to live in.

We no longer are fighting to survive scarcity…now we are fighting for survival in times of plenty! Average calories per day have increased from 2100 to 2800 over the past 60 years, whereas energy expenditure from physical activity has reduced by 46% over this period.

Humans evolved during times of challenge, where intermittent food scarcity and need for frequent bursts of intense physical activity to catch and avoid becoming prey were regular occurances. The expectation of these challenges is indeed imbedded in our physiology.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book Anti-fragile-Things That Gain From Disorder examines the concept that economies and living organisms tend to fare best when exposed to small, irregular external shocks, which inoculate them against bigger crises. (Some of you will be aware of his term “The Black Swan Event” referring to excessive bailing out of financial institutions by governments which only sets the stage for future strife.)

Taleb explores the term anti-fragile to health and biology, taking aim at modern interventions such as sunscreen, antibiotics and air-conditioning, which all serve to deprive the organism for the chance to adopt to stressors and challenges to the environment.

This is really the science of hormesis, or “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger”.

Indeed a little calorie restriction, a bit more strenuous exercise a little more sun exposure and less intolerance to being a bit too hot or cold are worthy considerations, not only for well-being, but also for life extension.

Let’s pay attention to the sadly now innate desire for the need to be comfortable every minute of the day. A little hunger, a slight shiver, a bit of sweat is good for us!