The decline of the modern human: homo-sapiens or homo-medicatio?
- Oliver Marcell Bjerregaard
- Oct 16, 2017
- 3 min read
The following points are bits and pieces from my notebook regarding the decline of the modern human's health, the lack of will power, the psychotic need for comfort and more. It is outlined in short notes.
1. In modern day society there's an almost psychotic need for comfort - to feel comfortable. This tendency has been a destroying factor for the concept of "self-control" or "self-discipline". Everyone wants to feel comfortable, but they refuse to work for it. Feeling stressed? Take some sort of soothing stimuli such as alcohol, a pharmaceutical drug, etc. How about headache? Take an aspirin. How about social anxiety or social restraint? Well drink some alcohol, amigo, and you'll blend in with the sheeps. The problem though, is that you're only tackling the symptom, not the disease. You're taking a quick fix to get past the wall of discomfort and climb into the sensation of comfort.
How about looking into the nature of headaches such as oxygen deprivation, inflammation, oxidative stress, lack of water, etc. The same goes for another common issue: joint pain. Instead of jumping head into the Ibuprofen, why not try some basic natural remedies that has been around forever? Fish oil, cold therapy, reducing inflammation through diet, better sleep, fasting, joint mobility, etc.
2. In relation to point (1) there's another problem i'd like to address, which is the ratio between comfort and fear. If you fear heights? You stay away from it. Fear of public speaking? You stay away from it. Fear of social acceptance? You go towards the social norms; whether you like them or not. Suddenly you find yourself in a situation where the ratio between comfort and fear is out of balance and you lose control. You are no longer able to work with your fear (note: work with your fear, never lose the fear) and you cling to comfort as if your life depended on it. One of many important aspects about the Wim Hof-method is addressing your fear and in the case of the Wim Hof-method it's the 'cold' (=cold temperature). People avoid the cold as if it was the devil incarnated. The cold is one of the best tools when it comes to working with your fear in an uncomfortable environment. It will build up self-control like nothing else (and a huge variety of physical benefits). To quote Wim Hof: "The cold is my teacher. Hard, but righteous."
3. Now, am I saying that comfort is a bad thing? Absolutely not. But life is made up of variety. If fear and discomfort is never explored or worked with, then you'll pay the price.
4. You are homo-sapiens, not homo-medicatio. Your body will take care of you, if you take care of it. This is meant symbolically, of course, since you are your body. When someone says: "Your brain is toying with you" or "Your gut is craving carbs" you should only see this as a symbol. The real meaning of these statements are: "You are toying with you" and "you are craving carbs". You are your brain and you are your gut. It's about self-control. Another common saying is: "Your mind/brain likes to take shortcuts" - no, it's you who likes to take shortcuts. Now, I'm not trying to sell myself as a saint, I too lack self-control in many aspects, but it's important to reckognize that it's you and me, not your brain or my brain. (I'm not disregarding the fact, that there's a lot of external processes working in our body, beyond our 'self', but self-control is one of the must underrated and neglected aspects of our existence; and yet one of the most important)
You are not only in control of your mental self, but also your physical self (Wim Hof, the Dhammapada, Ido Portal, etc)
5. Is psychotherapy a dead end? As psychotherapy is progressively getting bigger, more and more people are diagnosed with various anxiety-disorders, stress and other mental illnesses. Is it about time to reset the concept of psychotherapy and maybe be the alchemist of our own chemistry? More research points to the fact, that many people's poor mental health is controlled by the lack of physical health; bad gut, poor cognition, lack of movement, etc. Is it time for a new Copernican-revolution or reverse the process of reverse-engineering our bodies (Another post will be devoted to this topic with various references and backed up by modern research)
