Cyan comments on Procedural Knowledge Gaps - Less Wrong

126 Post author: Alicorn 08 February 2011 03:17AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (1477)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: komponisto 09 February 2011 04:28:07PM *  6 points [-]

Some questions from someone who is genuinely curious and has almost zero domain knowledge (I've never commented on this topic before, I don't think):

  1. It seems to me that any social stigma would be based not on being overweight per se, but rather on the visual appearance of being overweight, i.e. being "fat". However, I don't find that your visual appearance is outside the normal variation that I expect to see among people in the contemporary United States. (In fact, I never would have guessed that you had an interest in this topic if you hadn't discussed it here.) So I'm quite curious about what evidence you've seen that you're suffering a social stigma.

  2. Turning back from the social to the medical: given that you seem to naturally tend toward a certain "high" weight (I presume it doesn't actually increase without bound!) to what extent have you considered the possibility that the medical establishment's definition of "overweight" is wrong, or doesn't apply to you?

  3. Do you think you would be experiencing the same phenomenon if you were living in the ancestral environment? Why or why not?

  4. Have you tried eating less (e.g. only one meal per day)? If so, what was the result? If not, what do you predict would happen to your weight?

Comment author: Cyan 09 February 2011 08:34:54PM 3 points [-]

EY describes what happens when he eats less here:

...a skipped meal you wouldn't notice would have me dizzy when I stand up...I can starve or think, not both at the same time.

Best wishes, the Unofficial Guide to Less Wrong (take that, Zack M. Davis!).

Comment author: komponisto 09 February 2011 09:20:23PM 0 points [-]

Yes, but I was asking specifically about the effect on weight.

(And notice that this also reinforces the relevance of my question #2 above.)