Ticking Away Wellbeing
The family of my wife's colleague spent a few hours here tonight and the husband and I got talking about the company he works for as a CFO. It is an institute that specialises in health research to improve wellbeing outcomes in various areas, from the entire population, down to a small subset, like people who are recovering from heart surgery.
Right up my interest alley!
While we talked a little about the business itself, most of what we were discussing was society at the moment, and how so many of the poor health outcomes are due to the way we have set up our culture, and economic incentives. As I said to him today, someone who is very aware of finance and economy and deals with public sector often, the role of government has been lost, or perhaps never there. As I see it, a government is like a company whose main goal is to increase shareholder wealth, but the governments role is to increase shareholder health, meaning its wellbeing. All activities should push toward this overarching agenda.
This can take many forms, not just in the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing components, but all the areas that aid a better human outcome for the population. I think that for far too long, the indicator for success of a population at a government level has been the macro economic situation. Essentially, if a country is making lots of money, things must be good.
Perhaps there was some kernel of truth to this once upon a time, because in order for companies to make money, they had to provide practical value of some kind to the customer. However, in the current environment, the companies that make the most money are the ones that can grab our attention and influence us into consuming more, even if it is harming us as an individual, and a society. The corporations are making a huge amount more profit than earlier with fewer people, but what they are offering is not influencing us to improve, but degrade.
This product will make you slower, stupider, fatter, and less skilled.
Not a very good sales pitch, is it? But that is what the outcome of most of the products from the trillion-dollar companies. TikTok, Facebook, Apple, Google... none of them improve you. You might feel better using them, you might get a lot of enjoyment from it, but are you better?
Finland has compulsory military service for males, and the guy was talking about how the average result from the Coopers Test (running test) for recruits has fallen by over 400 meters in the last twenty years or so, with most coming in the last ten. That is a fall of around 20% of males who should be in the prime of their physical condition. There are many factors that influence the decline and I assume that it isn't only in Finland that this kind of thing is happening.
Are you in better shape than your parents at your age?
You should be.
Because, we know more than they did, and have access to things they did not. Effectively, we should have learned from their mistakes, and improved upon them, improving the outcomes of us, the next generation. And our kids should be in better condition (mentally, physically, emotionally) than us, because they would learn from our experience and benefit from our advancements, and build on them. But, this is not the case. In fact, the majority of people are in worse condition than their parents, with many children even looking more like middle-aged drinkers, than kids.
Most, not everyone.
Some people are in better condition than their parents across most factors, but I would posit that the majority of those who have "evolved" further, are not those who have spent their time consuming a huge amount of entertainment. I would also predict that the majority of people whose habitual entertainment model is digital, likely are in a less stable economic situation than the people who have maintained a more analogue entertainment life. I don't have any numbers on this, but I have my suspicions.
While I believe that a government's job is to facilitate the improvement of the population as humans, I also believe that the lion's share of the work has to be done b y the individual themselves, not the government. Just like maintaining a healthy diet and consistent physical activity, it is up to us to improve ourselves in all kinds of skills and functions. But, the more we sit getting entertained, the less attention gets paid to doing what we need to do to improve. Our opportunity is seeping away and converted into profits for corporations that are only interested in shareholder wealth, not consumer health.
Putting on a wearable to track steps and sitting watching the TV doesn't help you improve yourself. It also doesn't matter what you believe about yourself, or what you believe you are. Beliefs are useless, if they aren't matched with your behaviours. But as I mentioned to the guy tonight, a lot of people believe they are something, or they do something, but if they were to actually monitor their real actions, they would find that they are lacking. Just like how the people who self-report penis size have larger dicks than those that are measured by a doctor, independent verification is required to really see what is objectively happening, not what is subjectively being felt.
Do you do enough?
No, I am not talking about running yourself ragged with work, I am asking if you do enough of what you need to do in order to improve yourself adequately. Are we doing the right things to promote our own wellbeing, or are we picking and choosing based on what feels good or is convenient, even if it gets in the way of our improvement?
What you do matters.
No matter what you think about it.
Taraz
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This would have been an interesting topic to be part of and I am sure he enjoyed the chat as you kind of go deeper in how you think than most people I know. You are right we should be fitter and healthier than our parents which I would definitely say yes for myself, but what about our kids? I shouldn't be ,but I would say it would be close if I had to be tested against mine.
And what happens when they reach your age now? It worries me for a lot of kids. One of my daughter's friends is quite large already, and only nine. No limits on her at all by her parents it seems, and while she is a great kid in many ways, what happens when she is 19, or 29? If on the current trajectory, she isn't looking like she will have a healthy life.
Yes it is worrying. I played competitive sports into my 30's and even with a back problem I an still in fairly good shape. When I start training again which I will do then I will hopefully drag them into doing the same. You are what you eat and yes I could eat better, but I know it is only 3 months to get back into shape. My son lost weight recently which was good to see and is looking fit yet fitness wise I am on a par. Parents need to help their kids help themselves and there are many over weight kids today that have no chance of ever being healthy.
Over a decade ago, my dad was visiting for his 75th birthday (he has passed now) and challenged one of my brothers (not here on Hive) to a sit up competition. My brother wouldn't take the challenge. My dad was in far better shape at 75 than his son at 43.
I could take that challenge and I am 46 now.
Great! Your point about how modern entertainment often pulls us away from improving ourselves. It’s so true that companies profit by grabbing our attention, not by making us better. I’ve noticed I feel sharper when I limit screen time and focus on real-world activities like reading or exercising. It’s tough to balance, but I’m trying to be more intentional.
Thanks for the thoughtful discussion—definitely got me reflecting on my habits and what I’m doing to grow as a person!
Are you or will will you make any changes to improve your health outcomes? Will you focus on mind or body?
Yes, I already go to the gym 4 days a week and also try to work on mindfulness and learning for my mind.
Indeed, it would be correct to say that I am at a better level than my parents at my age. Due to technological advancement, changes in values, higher educational teachings, theoretical and practical activities, and social relationships, we should be at a higher level. At the age of 4, I did not know anything about the functioning of a mobile phone. But my daughter, at the age of four, is downloading games on her smartphone and playing games, not because anyone told her. As generations go by, physical and mental development increases. It continues to improve. But due to the decline in values, as generations go by, good qualities decrease, and spiritual development is declining.
Do you think that this will help her when she is 20?
If she hopes to advance in the technical field, it can be accepted as a positive ability. But if she misuses online gaming as an addiction, her skills can be hidden. Therefore, it is my responsibility to explain the reality to her through discussion and examples, more importantly.
I spend a lot of time on the internet and playing games, but I think I am taking good steps in improving my well-being. I was conscious of the things that I eat, work out, and not long ago, picked up running as a hobby and participating in running events. I try to keep a balance between things I do purely for entertainment and things I do to keep myself in good health.
I don't know about the rest of your life, but I know that it is easy to prioritise the things that make us money, or that we enjoy - often to the detriment of what is good for us. Being aware is the first step, doing something about it is the next :) Glad to hear you are running. I am hoping that surgery on my legs will help me start again.
Hope that your surgery goes well.
Yes, I'm in better shape physically and mentally. But not financially. In their time, consumerism wasn't as rampant. They had seen difficult times and, inevitably, wanted to take precautions. My lifestyle is more conscious.
I distinguish Google from other companies. People have used Google consciously for a long time, and it has been very beneficial for them.
For sure. People can't live today, without what our parents never even saw.
Google is one of the worst imo. They throttle so much development externally and milk inventors. Every gateway is a google funnel on the internet and they use it to control information.
Just yesterday I and my friend talked about the future of next generations. We both think they won't have better conditions than us as challanges in life will be much harder, particularly in the workfield due to AI/robots.
And I don't think they will be in very good condition to handle it. Double trouble.
Hypodynamia and poor nutrition come from excessive sitting in gadgets and the fashion among young people for fast food chains. My children know that this is harmful. They very rarely go to KFC and Burger King. They very rarely buy Coca-Cola and flour sweets. We have a rule - to walk in the fresh air every day.
There are many factors to go into it, but parents definitely need to step up.
Looking at your analogy about governments being like companies, the issue is who the shareholders actually are. At one point, it might have been like a co-operative with the citizens as the shareholders. Then it was just an elite of citizens, but they still recognised they had to work for the good of the whole at least enough to keep their status.
But now the shareholders are extra-governmental unelected organisations and global corporations, and the citizens are just another resource to be exploited. If that means creating a culture that is unhealthy both mentally and physically.... well for the shareholders never mind, citizens can be replaced once they're bled dry or if they get uppity.
I see that the shareholders are all citizens, not a subset.
Precisely. The world is a mess. Even the corporations should only "profit" when they add value to our quality of life, not cost it, like now.
Most of the products currently being made do not provide the best quality products and only think about sales after gaining a good reputation. Although the consumer gets a lot of pleasure from it, there is no substance in it. The situation in many countries is like this. In the days of our elders, the quality of the products released was not at a high level, but natural ingredients were used. Now, products are being marketed at a high level using chemicals. As human evolution progresses, so does the evolution of products, but the quality of the past seems to be going down.
I have read somewhere that something like 400 new chemicals are registered daily. It is insane.
I am actually XD (only because I didn't have the same levels of stress or need to work at the same ages otherwise we're probably comparable) The only major area sibling dearest and I fell down in was eyesight. Both of us needed visual aids from fairly young and reading too much/in the dark was blamed; I don't remember a time where I couldn't read and I definitely did that a lot, whereas I don't think Mum really got into it a lot of reading outside of what was required for school til adulthood, and Dad only reads the news (as far as I'm aware, I don't recall seeing too many if any books on his bedside table whereas Mum usually has one).
What I don't have is the sheer guts the grandparents had.
How about you? :D
Probably why a lot of people can't be bothered tracking their diet/exercise or don't find it useful or don't have time?
In specifically anything? XD Purely on the health front probably, I have a physical job. Diet less so x_x and not nearly as much time as I want on my projects which is what I want to put more time into -_-
Nah. My dad was in great shape well into his 60s and well, my mum died of cancer before she was 60. I was born when my dad was my age now - so he was in pretty good shape :) Better than all of the kids at comparable "middle" ages at least.
In whatever it takes to improve in areas that matter! There are lots of them. A well-rounded balanced life, should take care of us adequately, right?
I had to cut back because there wasn't enough time fo everything hence asking XD
And now I'm down to a literal handful of things.
I like to think I am in better shape / condition compared to my old man, but he is still pretty active at 80 y/o. (he wakes up everyday and takes a walk at 6 am)
My son is in great shape.. like me at my peak, but he is just 16 now and he has abs! something I have yet to see. :P
Me too. I was once at 9-10% bodyfat percentage - still no abs.
yup. even when i got sick and was down 60 lbs. (140lbs) still, no abs..
Yes, always working on myself. Sometimes with more, sometimes with less success, as always, but the linear equation symbolizing my personal growth is definitely a positive one. How steep, that's a different issue. Maybe somewhat polynomial.
And yes, I am in better shape than my parents, at least meta-physically. They're both physio-therapist, so they were always doing a lot of sports when they were my age, so I'm not sure if physically. But I'm pretty healthy, and I'm fine with my physics :-D
The thing with governments is that they're almost exclusively career politicians. They don't really have a background in medicine or education or military or whatever ministry they get appointed to. Miss-management is a likely result. It can be different, if the politician is also a good learner and really interested in improving and growing into the position. But that's rare.
I'd be the first to admit I probably don't do enough, but I am doing more than most people and I think that is worth something. The fact that I was able to recently come off high blood pressure meds tells me I am doing at least something right.