It's an absolutely truism that we don't know what we don't know, but i also think that some don't know what the phrase properly means.
The problem is partly the Dunning-Kruger effect -- for various reasons, the "incompetent" tend to overestimate their competence. A few of the reasons might be that the person is simply stupid and they CAN'T register their degree of mental inferiority, or their psychology is such that clues of their ignorance fall on defensively-deaf ears, or they're so insulated they don't know what the range of possibility is, and self-esteem (a branch of the biological imperative to survive) forbids them to place themselves in a non-esteemable category.
WAAAAY back in the '80s, i read the book "Dress for Success" because ... well, i knew someone who didn't. One of the points made, which has stuck with me all this time, was that when looking down the social scale we see very clearly, but when looking UP it, we're definitely myopic. Seems to me this happens a lot in the diet-and-fitness world, when some young "undamaged" person or pushy musclehead knows what EVERYONE needs to be strong and healthy.
I've found it extremely illuminating that even people with the same gender, age, and symptoms don't react similarly to certain foods/supplements/pharmaceuticals/exercises -- hell, i find that i sometimes don't react as i did LAST WEEK, let alone ten years ago. So even though i'm a believer in the idea that one should start looking for answers to one's problems amongst the experiences of one's true peers, it really is ONLY a starting point.
No matter how much we read, no matter what our own experiences have been, we DON'T know what is going to be the magic bullet for somebody else. For Joe Bro to claim that he knows the answers because he's known an example of the demographic who succeeded on his plan only shows how out-of-touch he is. We can all see DOWN the river to our pasts in the valley below this hill we're climbing, but looking UP the river, our view is obscured by the mists coming off the rough water ahead. Somebody else's path, around the shoulder of the hill, may not be visible at all.
then again, some people are just insensitive, narcissistic cads. Don't let the turkeys get you down.
ReplyDelete:-D forgive me for venting yet again.... i could happily ignore the jerks, but they obviously lead the newbies astray. it seems to be the word-of-mouth advice that makes a lot of people do badly on LC diets -- they can't be bothered to actually READ Atkins or Phinney/Volek, so they make easily-avoidable mistakes, then claim that LC let them down. GRRRR...
DeleteHow anyone can believe, a diet based on a wide range of non starchy vegetables, quality fats such as butter, cream, cheese, olive oil, avocado etc. high quality meats and fish is dangerous, boring and cannot be adhered to long term, does not have a grip on reality. The carboholics never ever offer an argument based on honest science or common sense. You will never cure a drug addict with more heroin, you will never help an alcoholic with more booze. You will never help a person with a broken metabolism, with the same food that made him ill. Drugs will never be the answer. It’s Jan’s 60th birthday today and our wedding anniversary. Bring on the fillet steak and lobsters, dripping in fantastic cream and butter sauces, if we die, we die, we like to live dangerously.
ReplyDeleteRegards Eddie
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAN! :-D. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO YOU BOTH!
DeleteSlightly OT, but this reminds me of my party place, where dancers who've won national championships come out to play. Occasionally, some newbie who's had one or two classes will tell a professional dancer or serious amateur what they should be doing.
ReplyDeleteTrying to hire good admin help--same thing. So many people think that if they can open Word and type a letter, they're qualified for secretarial work. Or if they like to run around giving orders, they must be management material.
There's nothing like experience! That's why fine craftsmen used to start out as apprentices, then graduate to journeymen, then finally be qualified to claim their expertise. Now, it seems, a couple of junior-college classes allows some dumb kid to work on equipment costing tens of thousands of dollars....
DeleteI agree with the above! It kills me to listen to people/patients day after day, telling me a successful LC-er that my diet is wrong and unhealthy. They are fat and unhappy with themselves and cannot give up their favorite foods to lose the weight and give their aching joints a break.
ReplyDeleteDoes one thing work for all..no but like you said read the books and do the diet correctly and it does work. EGAD!
:-) thanks for the +1, Larcana! ...in fact, the more "extreme" i am -- excluding MORE THAN ONE FOOD GROUP [gasp!]-- the better i feel and perform. somehow i manage to get plenty of glucose to my brain, somehow i don't trash my already-wimpy thyroid, somehow "dry eyes" and constipation are NOT a problem.... OMG, i should turn my body over to a museum when i die, because i'm obviously a medical curiosity! (not)
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