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3MM: Ozempic, Getting Laid & Memories
3 MINUTE MONDAYHi friend, I’ve been thinking about the public drama around the widespread adoption of Ozempic and GLP1s. Unsurprisingly there has been a lot of pushback from the body positivity movement. Headlines say that anorectics (the broader class of drugs like Ozempic) confirm society’s “anti-fat bias” and claim that “a future without fat is a dangerous idea”. Basically that appetite-suppressing drugs are a removal of fat people’s identity and a denial of their right to exist. All the usual stuff. But much more of the pushback online seems to come from people who are not fat, but ones who are in shape - which got me thinking about why that would be the case? Why would someone who isn’t going to use a drug be so critical about its introduction? Here’s my bioscience theory… People who have managed to get in shape and stay in shape without pharmaceutical assistance have used some amount of effort, willpower and discipline. Because there are limited “easy” ways to lose weight, anybody who is in shape has status associated with having achieved it. It’s a reliable, costly signal - a behaviour that is so expensive for the sender that it can be used to communicate honest information about them. The introduction of “easy” ways to get in shape derogates the prestige of this signal. It basically lowers the status of being in shape. It also makes it harder to work out the underlying fitness signals that someone’s outer appearance usually indicates. Is this person hard working, reliable, trustworthy and able to master their impulses by using their willpower to not overeat? Or did they just get a prescription for Ozempic? TLDR: Fat people should not be worried about Ozempic denying their right to exist but thin people may be worried about it hiding their fitness signals. MODERN WISDOMI do a podcast where I pretend to have a British accent. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. This week’s upcoming episodes: Monday. Thursday. Saturday. THINGS I'VE LEARNED1. “Adolescents with an IQ of 130 are 3-5 times less likely to have had intercourse than those with average IQ. Boys with an IQ that would qualify for intellectual disability (60) are still more likely to have had sex than those with a very high IQ (130).” — Journal of Adolescent Health via Rob Henderson 2. “The last execution by electrocution in the United States was done in 2020, in Tennessee. The last firing squad execution was in 2010, in Utah. The last hanging was carried out in 1996, in Delaware.” — Bryan Klaas 3. “Somewhere in the future, your older self is watching you through memories. Whether it's with regret or nostalgia depends on what you do now.” — Gurwinder Bhogal LIFE HACKYou might not need more caffeine or sleep, you might just be dehydrated. The more I learn about the role of salt and electrolytes in alertness, energy and function, the more certain I am that this is going to be one of the next big health revolutions. Proper hydration is not just about drinking fluids, it’s about having sufficient electrolytes in your body to actually use those fluids properly. Drinking LMNT Salt first thing in the morning is the way I’ve started my day for over 3 years now. It tastes delicious and contains zero sugar or any other junk. I keep harping on about it because it really works. Try it and feel the difference. And if you don’t like it for any reason, they offer an unlimited duration money-back guarantee where you don’t even need to return the box - so you can buy it 100% risk-free. Try LMNT Risk-Free with a free sample pack. (US only) Big love, Try my productivity drink Neutonic. PS |
3 Minute Monday
Podcaster with 1bn+ plays. I write about the most important lessons from the best thinkers on the planet. 300,000+ people read my free newsletter. Press subscribe to join.
3 MINUTE MONDAY Hi friend, The brand new Modern Wisdom Reading List Vol. 2 is live, featuring 100 more books to read before you die. Download it now - https://chriswillx.com/morebooks/ I saw a comment on one of my videos this week that really struck me. I wish I could remember who posted it but I can’t. Thank you for inspiring this essay <3 “Why is it that when I mess up it’s my fault but when other people mess up it’s also my fault?” Let’s call this The Atlas Complex. If you care too much...
3 MINUTE MONDAY Hi friend, We live with a quiet superstition: that beneath the noise of our habits, mistakes and contradictions lies a truer version of ourselves - a self that is fundamentally good. An alcoholic who gets sober is “becoming who he really is”, a sober man who starts drinking again has “lost his way.” In Scrooge, Dickens didn’t just write about a man who swapped stinginess for generosity; he wrote about a man who discovered his real nature. When Richard Nixon fell in disgrace,...
3 MINUTE MONDAY Hi friend, Humans have an asymmetry of errors. We over-index exceptions - we use things that break the pattern we’ve come to expect as a serious learning opportunity. But we tend to only learn much faster from errors of commission (things we do), not errors of omission (things we don’t do). You only learn the sting of misplaced trust when someone betrays you, but when you refuse to trust and miss out on love, partnership, or help, the loss leaves no scar to remind you. It’s...