I’m owning it.
I’ve peddled the teachings of a QUESTIONABLE PERSON.
It started a couple years ago when I was editing a newsletter. In it, a respected doctor quoted a book. There was a photo of the book. It had a cool cover.
Lo and behold, its author, Peter Attia, MD, appeared on Chris Hemsworth’s Limitless series as Chris’s “healthspan” sherpa. Unintentionally, my newfound wellness awakening started with that show.
The gist of the book: We currently live in a Medicine 2.0 world, where doctors diagnose problems and prescribe solutions. However, we want to embrace Medicine 3.0: prevention of disease through healthy habits.
The ideals are something I am aspiring to, and they have fundamentally changed the way I treat my body.
Fast forward to the past few weeks.
I mentioned something Dr. Attia said about food dyes to my wife.
“I read he was in the files,” she said.
“NO!”
I ran off to see what was up.
Not great.
Oh wait, he put out his own response…
Not great.
So then. Where does that leave me?
Mine for what is essential.
I knew this day would come, when the irony of this idea would make its way to your inbox. It comes from master word-salad tosser Jordan Peterson. I don’t have time to get into him right now, but basically the idea is this:
When dealing with questionable sources of information or inspiration, take the good parts. Reject the bad.
For example: Isaac Newton, my guy.
For all his advances in physics, the man was cuckoo:
- He blinded himself for three days looking at the sun through a mirror.
- He practiced alchemy and transmutation, trying tap into the forces of nature.
- He had wild theological claims, such as the Pope being the anti-Christ and the apocalypse coming by 2060 (still time on that one).
But we’ve got Newton’s sweet, sweet Laws of Motion. We kept the theories that served us and mankind for the greater.
So, too, must we do when the great minds that gave us even one morsel of useful knowledge turn into grifters, demons, or worse.
I will look after my health by focusing on prevention. I will mine for what is essential in all mediums. I will hide my tears to “I Believe I Can Fly” whilst watching Space Jam. I need no more from those people.
But, for goodness sake, let’s hold them accountable.
