Objectivism

Ayn Rand addressed long held beliefs of the US society and questioned them, abused them, and in the end turned some of them on their head. She was not a nice person. Some was part her, some was her first language thinking does not politely translate into a diplomatic conservation. She did not back down, and was often quite correct in her assessment. 

She beat altruism into the ground, and established that self interest is the best foundation for moral conduct, that and not making slaves of others or allowing us to make slaves of ourselves. Her morality stands up to Aristotle, the Stoics, Buddhist, Confucius, and beats our familiar Christian by a long stretch. It is rationally derived from reason, perceptions, self-interest and similar foundations.

It appears that some of our long held beliefs in regard to live, food, and similar are OCD tough, and are just wrong. So once we (I) understand and correct these misconception, will the problem reduce. So note this foolery going on, and ask, "how much of this bullshit is there in real life?", and conclude, enough to cause all sorts of problems. And statins, the crap the drug companies peddle.

And then there the silent scream of climate sciences. We cannot engineer ourselves out of that problem. It is too late. I expect that some of the obesity problem is climate change. We humans have a issue with overeating when we are tired. We get tired as we run out of oxygen, and as Co2 goes up, we get tired. So at 300, we were ok, 400 not so much. There is a correlation, but is there causation?    

Relationships

Is there a relationship between the religion/philosophy and the general overeating issue we have in Canada/US? Being an atheist, I have kicked the supernatural parts, but is there still other values/concepts/behaviors that are part of the problem?

So the greatest vice we can have is allowing our mind to become unfocused. This implies that we should always be on. Well, how about when we are doing repetitive jobs? Yes. That is mindfulness. Thinking about what is important. OK. Thinking not eating. What is the digest thief of mindfulness? TV, radio, electronic background noise. Split attention.

So it take effort to stay focused.

Now how about all the virtues that we have been sold by religion. Altruism for example. Ayn Rand makes a good case for abandoning much of altruism. The highest value to my life is life it's self. That is not in doubt, so putting others in front of me is not right in traffic, for if I have the right of way, I should take it. I have seen others waste my time by giving up there right of way, and wasting my time. It is unsafe to proceed in front of a goof ball. So what is one to do? Objectitism, my objective is to live well myself, and let others take care of themselves. Do not allow slavery, or be part of being a slave. It is not right to give up the right of doing, nor to allow others to walk over me. I am the most important person to myself. If I do not look out for myself, who will?

So down with altruism, it is up to me to produce, and not be part of using others nor allowing me to be used... much. Enough. 

OCD Disinformation

https://www.harleytherapy.co.uk/counselling/managing-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd.htm

A person with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) experiences irrational thoughts which create high levels of anxiety. They then engage in compulsive behaviours to gain temporary relief from these anxious feelings.

Wrong.  A high level of anxiety exist in the youth for whatever reason, a behavior reduces that anxiety, and that behavior becomes the compulsion. If the stress remains, obsession, wrong thinking remains, and it becomes a disorder when the non intended consequence become a problem.

I grew up isolated and mostly alone in a rural setting. My social skills were essentially non existent. At that time, we children were taken/sent to school in the spring for a few weeks before starting in grade one in the fall. As a child I was small, and when I went to school the first time, I was picked at. I vowed to grow big and end that, so I started eating, with the idea that if I ate, I would grow big, and could then beat up on my teasers/abusers. By grade one picture, I was obese, and still being picked at/on. The stress remained. The eating was OCD by then. I remained obese, or on a severe diet the remainder of my life, well until now anyway. 

Conventional wisdom holds:   "Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a treatment for OCD that uses two scientifically based techniques to change a person’s behavior and thoughts: exposure and response prevention (ERP) and cognitive therapy. CBT is conducted by a cognitive-behavioral therapist who has special training in treating OCD."  But there is a second treatment that when done is effective, well, as long as one does the treatment and that is the Schwartz method, which is more of a management of the problem method. The problem just keeps coming back, Schwartz is not a cure, but is an effective method of management. In that way, I can die with the issue, but not die of the issue, just as long as I have the motivation to do the method. With food it is not easy, as food is everywhere, and others keep pushing it in front of me. So that explains why I like to be a recluse.

Redirection is a big part of the treatment. We must keep busy doing other things. In the AA twelve step process, they provide many activities to keep on busy, all the while avoiding alcohol. Mind you, their whole program is based on the concept of a god, and some of us find that repulsive, as we know that religions also depend on gods, which there is absolute no evidence of.

So what is the solution? Perhaps to hold the body in a philosophy of stewardship.  We provide for it's needs, not for it's wants and keep it busy. The problem of body's desires, or lack of desire to do is a separate problem. Motivation or more likely, the lack of motivation is a big problem for everybody. Well, in the end we all just die anyway.