If every time we did
something that would bring eventual harm to ourselves, to society or to the
environment, we were given a convincing jolt of electric shock, most problems
facing humanity would be almost instantly solved. But that’s not the way things are. Other than sticking our hand in a fire or
falling off a cliff, or similar easy lessons in living, most choices require
intelligent foresight, a measure of potential consequences perhaps far into the
future.
Therein lies our
problem. We like to cheat, are lazy,
pleasure-for-the-moment driven, too clever with alibis and excuses and
particularly good at self-justification.
We continue whatever suits our fancy until eventually we are
sufficiently harmed, or the contrary evidence becomes so overwhelming that we
change due to the brute force of public opinion.
Although cigarette
smoking, industrial smog, water pollution, radiation, toxic gases emitted from
modern construction materials, and sedentary living are all proven to cause
harm, even grievous life-threatening harm, they continue because immediate ill
effects do not occur, or change would mean inconvenience or sacrifice. Then there is Uncle Josh, who is now a robust
ninety-four, and yet has smoked a cigar, chewed tobacco and swigged whiskey
since he was sixteen. There is the
brother-in-law who works in the nuclear plant and has never developed
cancer. There is the classmate you saw
at the recent reunion who doesn’t exercise, watches virtually every soap opera
and eats pounds of chocolates every week but yet looks more trim and fit than
you in spite of your tofu and jazzercise.
Or how about the NBA All-Star who eats greasy fast foods, additive-laden
soft drinks, and candy bars? Using such
logic to justify poor life choices is like pointing to people who drive drunk
habitually and have done so for decades without ever getting in a wreck.
Just because people can escape immediate harm
does not mean such a course is wise and that the odds are not against you.
Here is an even better
rebuttal to this myopic view of life choices.
The medical image here is a computed tomographic scan of the head of an
inebriated man admitted to the hospital.
In the side view, note an approximately 2” nail embedded in the back
part of the skull. In the front view,
see that this nail is in the center of the brain. The patient disclosed that some twelve years
earlier he had attempted suicide during a depressive episode, and had used a
nail gun directed between the eyes to end his life. Since that time, he has done just fine.
http://www.wysong.net/nail_head.htm
Everything is a matter of
odds. If you can shoot nails into your
brain and survive essentially unscathed, then certainly you might be able to
smoke, lead a sedentary life, breathe toxic fumes, be unfit, and eat almost
anything and possibly escape damage too.
For most of us, however,
it would be much smarter to weigh the odds in our favor and use our brain
(minus nails) to exercise judgment and foresight and make decisions now that
increase the odds for a better, longer, happier life.
