Gut Bacteria
Scientists have recently discovered an interesting link between gut bacteria diversity and health.
People that are more sedentary, eat a lot of processed food and are overweight have much less diversity in their gut bacteria.
People that are more active, live a healthy lifestyle and eat much less processed food have a much wider diversity of gut bacteria.
CIA and Academics
Once their was a medieval historian that was recruited by the CIA.
The argument was that his whole career had been all about taking small bits of information passed down through history and creating robust narratives regarding societies of the middle ages.
This is essentially what the CIA does.
That take small bits of information from enemy countries, and try to piece together a much more robust narrative of what is going on.
So the figured this medieval historian would be a perfect match.
ROI Instinct
One common instinct all animals share is the ROI instinct.
We don’t do anything unless we are certain the benefits are going to be worth the costs.
For example, a monkey who thinks it’s a good idea to spend 200 calories to climb a tree and get a banana that’s only worth 100 calories would soon go extinct.
Monkey Banana Instinct
All that’s left now, after the relentless and unforgiving filters of natural selection are animals, including us, who won’t do anything unless all things considered, the benefit will be worth the cost.
For us humans, many of these costs and benefits are unknown and need to be imagined.
This can make decision making very difficult if you make some wrong assumptions about your future.
Good For A While
I had a friend once who had everything going for him.
He just started dating this gorgeous girl.
He just got a raise at his job.
Everything was going fantastic.
A few of his colleagues at work were talking about buying houses.
Ride The Wave Up
At the time, he lived in a nice apartment, but he’d been thinking for a while about buying a house.
He started shopping around, and he found a very nice one in a very nice neighborhood near his apartment.
Which meant he was already somewhat familiar with the neighborhood.
He didn’t consciously think about his buying a house as it related to his new relationship.
Hey, I’m Getting A House!
But he did start to talk about his new house on dates.
He also talked about his new position at work on dates.
He wasn’t bragging, or trying to build value, or send her any kind of message.
He just felt comfortable talking about things with her.
This Cool Thing
So he naturally talked about things he was excited about.
Only she didn’t interpret it this way.
She assumed he was trying to impress her with his income.
She assumed he was trying to impress her with his new house.
She also assumed he was covertly trying to convince her to become much more serious.
I’m In!
And she went right along with it.
She started staying over at his place more and more.
He enjoyed that very much.
Pretty soon, she started saying long lengths of time.
He gave her her own key, and she would be there in the morning when he left for work, and she would be there when he came home.
I’m Living The Dream
At first, he thought this was fantastic.
But as time went on, magical emotional feelings started to diminish, as they usually do.
Pretty soon, he would come home hoping she wasn’t there, only to find her waiting.
She’d made some assumptions, and he didn’t really argue.
I’ll Just Ride This Out
He was never the assertive type.
She canceled her lease, and moved in full time.
He didn’t like the idea, but the idea of both breaking up with her and kicking her out was too much for him to think about.
It turns out his company wasn’t doing so good.
Bad Decision
His promotion was actually part of a last ditch effort by upper management.
They’d taken on a lot of debt, and it wasn’t quite working out.
Not only was his job in danger, but the entire company was slowly going under.
To make matters worse, he’d bought at the height of a local real estate bubble.
Everything Is Upside Down
He’d only had his house less than year, and he was already underwater by 100 grand.
Trapped in a house worth much less than what he owed.
Living with a woman that he was growing less and less comfortable with.
With a job that might very well end soon.
Imaginary Profits
The capacity for the human mind to imagine is magnificent.
But this always has a very huge potential cost.
Because our ROI instinct is driven by our imaginations about our future.
And our imagination about our future is based very much on how we feel at any given time.
Better Sleep On It
Something that might seem like a good idea today, may seem like a horrible idea tomorrow.
Turns out they didn’t him because they valued his skills.
They weren’t really concerned with taking small bits of information from enemy countries and constructing a more robust idea.
They reason they chose this historian was because he was relatively famous.
At least in academic circles.
Because This Famous Historian Says So
They chose him because they could use his authority to shape the narrative however they liked.
They didn’t want to learn the truth.
They wanted to define the truth.
Of course, the historian didn’t mind.
Being able to shape the narrative is a very compelling position to be in.
Who Is Controlling Whom?
It’s much more interesting that letting the narrative shape you.
Of course, correlation does not mean causation.
It’s very likely that exercise and a healthy diet is a cause of having more robust gut bacteria.
And that leading a sedentary life and eating a diet of processed food is a cause of less robust gut bacteria.
Lose Weight With Probiotics
But truth never stopped anybody from selling things to make money.
It is, after all, a very compelling argument, to simply take some supplements to re-calibrate your gut bacteria.
And then sit back and watch the fat melt away.
Almost like magic.
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