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Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Self-deception Perhaps the most amusing is the way people are always fussing about their diet. There is a constant stream of talk about what food is and is not good for you. And what is good for you today will almost certainly be bad for you in ten year's time -- and vice versa. Wicked Thoughts often reports such ups and downs as part of his coverage of humorous items in the news. But regardless of the details, almost everyone is convinced that eating "healthy" food and exercising more will make you live longer. Except that it doesn't. All the longditudinal studies of lifestyle change (including diet change) show no effect of such change on longevity. See here for just the latest such study. Fussing about your food is unlikely to add one extra day to your life. But people like to feel that they have some control over their health so the fussing will go on forever as far as I can see. And, sadly, some well-intentioned dietary changes are actually bad for you -- e.g. salt restriction. Another example of blinkers being desperately clung to is the influence of upbringing on child personality. For at least 4,000 years, people have believed that how you bring up a child has a big influence on his or her "character". Except that it doesn't. All the twin studies of personality variables show that family environment has negligible effect on how a kid turns out -- with genetics being the main influence and with peer influence being a distant second. Even political attitudes are largely genetically inherited. So that's another little illusion of control that the facts snatch away. A third example is the importance of IQ. In the Frank Ellis affair (much commented on by Chris Brand) loud and confident public assertions have been made in the media by practically everyone to the effect that IQ does not exist and if it does it is not genetically inherited. Yet all those who know anything about the academic research on the subject (e.g. here) know that IQ is highly measurable, highly influential in one's life and that it is at least two-thirds genetically inherited. So again we have to accept the hand we are dealt. Our lives are strongly affected by things over which we have no control. A pity, isn't it? ******************************* A QUIZ! In case that post above was a bit depressing, let's have something more entertaining. Go here to read what seems to me like a fairly typical anti-Bush rant. Your job is to guess where it comes from. You may be surprised. ******************************* (For more postings from me, see EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and DISSECTING LEFTISM. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.) Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by JR at 3:55 PM |
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