Fundamental Errors: the Case of Obesity

Fundamental errors are the conceptual ones which cause the most trouble and allow for the most profit when resolved correctly. Statnews, an excellent publication in the health arena, has a wonderful article about thinking about obesity. Here is the link: https://www.statnews.com/2021/09/13/how-a-fatally-tragically-flawed-paradigm-has-derailed-the-science-of-obesity

The essence of the article is that obesity is not a function of taking in more calories than expended. One of my friends, whom I will call BC, always derided overweight people as "simply not pushing away from the table soon enough." While he is bright enough, this is an example where things are not as they appear. Over time, I have had clarity on this issue because my weight has been stable whether I eat alot or a little. Logically, I concluded that people who are overweight are generally experiencing a body shape that declares itself.

The article states that obesity is a function of bodies that drive excess fat accumulation. Examples are provided where calorie intake is strictly dropped to the point of starvation and the bodies of certain individuals still accumulate fat. There are a number of reasons why this trait might have been beneficial from an evolutionary standpoint as it might have increased fat reserves during lean times. The article does not explore trait benefit or development. But the article highlights the insulin mechanisms that function towards this excess fat accumulation. The author posits that this is the underlying reason Keto diets work (but again does not declare whether this is healthy).

For me it confirms that the body shaming of obese people has been useless, heartless and cruel. Many people have treated obesity as if it were a choice or a defect in character. Instead it is a trait that requires understanding. For people who have this trait, they may or may not take approaches to modify it. Like other personal decisions, it's their domain and not an indicator of no discipline.

Cheers to China

In the early years of my business career, I viewed the US as the ideal place because our culture had generated a strong middle class, meaning relatively few rich and poor in terms of standards of living. Of course, there are a wide variety of methods for describing a "middle class," but we all know it means the ability to have a decent standard of living - house, car, job, college for children and retirement. However, during my business career, college costs skyrocketed, jobs became increasingly service oriented, houses have recently become prohibitively expensive and retirements diminished. At the same time, conspicuous consumption in terms of mansions and conspicuous poverty in terms of tent cities has shot up. No one really has the answer. Interestingly, the same dynamics have begun to plague China and China is responding.

The recent crackdowns on tech billionaires, the opposition to private tutoring and the housing speculation are all receiving regulatory and financial management. The goal in China is to drive a "middle class" solution. While this approach does have human rights issues, the widening disparity in the US does not seem to indicate a better approach. The challenge is that capitalism works, but many capitalists don't. Rare is the example of Warren Buffett, who energetically allocates capital while minimizing consumption and grandiosity. It does cause me to wonder if the "middle class" outcome early in my career was simply a fortuitous event or, as I had thought, the result of a certain kind of Protestantism with its obsession on deferral of gratification, disgust with consumption and the accumulation of capital.