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James_Miller comments on Open thread, Jan. 18 - Jan. 24, 2016 - Less Wrong
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Other easy wins: The Squatty Potty, magnesium supplements, meditation, and donating blood if you are male.
I gave squatting a try a few months back. You can do the same thing by grabbing two cinder blocks and positioning them on either side of the toilet with the seat up. It felt slightly easier to defecate, but I couldn't figure out how to use it with pants as easily as regular sitting; you need to get out of one leg, almost, for it to work. And taking off my pants every time I need to defecate is a pain in the ass.
For many people who on their own homes it would actually be feasible to build or install a pit toilet. I do not know of anyone in America who has done so.
The cider-block idea sounds unstable... but I haven't tried it. However, it seems that it should be fairly easy to train your body to go just before you take a shower, assuming you take showers on a predictable schedule, thus solving the undressing inconvenience.
No, the cinder-blocks were very stable. That was not the issue. I also think it's a little unreasonable to schedule your defecations and showers for the convenience of your squatting toilet rather than the other way around. Bidets are a big improvement but I'm not convinced by squatting for people without problems.
An anecdote: it was easy to train myself to go before I went on to yoga-like exercises (at home) which lasted more than an hour, although admittedly I was a teenager, one should have an instructor at hand at least in the beginning, one should shower after the exercises, and I did it 3-4 times a week.
However, it also (seemed to) improve sleep quality.
My experience with giving people the data behind squatting to go to the dunny is that their awkwardness about it strongly outweighs, initially, their willingness to experiment.
Which leads to the thought that there are probably some provably life-enhancing things that people don't even consider doing because it is so far outside their social mores that the possibility doesn't occur. I have had an entertaining few minutes trying to think of some that my great-descendants will be bewildered we didn't consider.
Fecal transplants and cryonics.
Seth Roberts nose clips while eating for people who want to lose weight probably falls under strong awkwardness that doesn't let people consider it.
Could you elaborate on why squatting is a clear win? I took a brief look online and the evidence seems to favor squatting, but not hugely: https://skeptoid.com/blog/2015/09/26/squatty-potty/
Regardless, thanks for the list!
The cost of squatting is tiny, and part of the benefit is saved time so on net it seems like a clear win.