Did you know that the average caveman in the stone age, spent five times as much energy on physical activity as the average american adult today? And i mean our average caveman in the stone Age had to walk for up to 16 kilometers a day, had to chase his prey for days on end, so then when he finally made his kill.
So these numbers are the things you learn from text books, the facts everyone can look up on the Internet, but once i started working in the hospital as a junior intern, and met people who were struggling with obesity, i realized that it is often not these physical consequences that seem to matter most to those who are overweight themselves.
Let's Take a Look At The Picture Of This Girl As An Example. The Quote That Came To My Mind When i Saw This picture was " to lose confidence in one's Body, Is To Lose Confidence In Oneself". Because The Girl You See Is Only 15 Years Old, But Already Weighs Over 100 Kilograms, And Tonight She Is Going To Her High School Prom, and you can see she is all dressed up, posing for a picture, probably taken by one of her parents.
And yet, in spite of the brave smile she is putting up, you can also instantly sense her insecurity. You can see she is not really looking forward to the night. Only 16 years old with a whole life ahead of her, and already she has lost confidence in her self, this is only one example of people who are severely unhappy in their body, but still can not manage to lose weight. And it made me wonder why because there are stacks of books on how to lose weight, web pages full of tips and tricks and plenty of experts to guide you through the process.
So, if it is not for a lack of tools then why is it so many of us can not manage to lose weight or keep the weight off? And i ask myself all these questions, and then, as we are taught within the problem based learning system here ay maastricht University, i realized that the best way to find the answer was to go look for it my self.
So i stumbled upon some research on the science of complexity by two professors at york University in Canada. And i found their theory surprising applicable to the process of losing weight. You see, they proposed there are three types of problems in the world. The simple, the complicated and the complex.
So, simple problems are the ones like following are recipe. You Need Some Basic Techniques And Perhaps a Bit Of Practice, But Once You Get The Hang Of It, Following The Recipe Has a Very High Chance Of Success.
Complicated problems cover problems like sending a rocket to the moon, which does sound pretty complicated to me. However, complicated problems can often be broken down into a string of simple problems. So when coordinated well, these complicated problems still carry a high rate of success.
Finally, complex problems are the ones like raising a child. There is no recipe for success. And while raising one child may certainly provide experience, it doesn't guarantee success with the next child because every child is unique and my require an entirely different approach. So our caveman in the stone age did not have any notice of complexity, his life was simple, and basic, and as simple pretty much as it could be.
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