Science Forums 2

[HydrogenBond]

One reason people may be getting fatter is due to political correctness. It is not politically correct to call someone fat or use other derogatory terms, because that would hurt feelings. Hurting feelings had been the way to help restrict the over eating behavior.

Instead we need to use terms like weight challenged or big boned that are warm and fuzzy. Although you can't say fat or any number of derogatory terms that may hurt feelings, you can say obese. Obese has a connection to genetics. Although this is true, it creates the loose image that fat=obese= genetics and therefore is not subject to will or personal responsibility. When we combine this with a warm fuzzy label to spare feelings and censor the censor we get sort of encouragement and justification.

Say you had two people, who are not overweight due to medical reasons, but only due to the feedbag. One person we will treat with political correctness. To do this we need to filter language not hurt feelings. You can use logic, cite reports, etc., but you are dealing with an irrational impulse. So you may have to crank it up an notch and use studies to employ fear, such as of medical problems, diabetes, death, etc. This way you try to override one irrational with a stronger irrational. This can work while also sparing feelings and is the ideal way.

The other alternative is the old way, which is not rational at all. You have this nag calling names and hurting feeling. What you have is one irrational person fighting against another person with an irrational impulse, with the nagging directly proportional to the amount of fat. It creates an external barometer. This is a lot easier to do than cite science studies. It is childish meaning anyone can do this. The first way limits the number of helpers who could effectively get the desired result.

The sparing the feeling affect, because it is harder to do, tends to shift assistance to the free market where the experts collect. The other way is free, since people are rewarded by the fun of being a butt head. Nobody will charge to insult you, although there may be people who pay for that.

But the harder and better way, because it requires talent, has to be bought or leased. Not everyone can afford this constant warm and fuzzy coaching. If the poor people could afford a personal trainer, a nutritionist, the latest natural herbal supplements, a wellness program, the group therapy, hypnotism, drugs, etc., their number would come down, too. Political correctness took away the free and made the corrective measures not available to all. The irrational impulse to overeat is stronger than the volume of talent needed to do it nicely. That is why this industry is projected to balloon over the next decade.

We need to keep things in perspective. We are trying to save lives and avoid all the emotional effects of sickness. Sparing feelings so people can overeat does not spare the feelings down the line. The longer we spare up front, the more the fiddlers will cost done at the other end. Sickness does not spare feelings. Although there are mood enhancing drugs to take care of that so we can keep this growth industry open ended.