Your body is god, your body is king.
Why have there not been that many philosophers who have philosophized and praised the virtues of the body, our human body?
Some theories:
First, the superstition of this notion of the “immortal soul“, that after you die, the cognizant mind soul of yours will continue into perpetuity.
Second, the nonsensory of this new Silicon Valley notion that you could somehow one day, “upload your consciousness to the cloud“. The idea that somehow, your mind can exist without your body. It cannot.
Third, notions of shame culture around the body, whether Asian, East Asian, Confucian, even American. Considering that we Americans descended from Quakers and Puritans, and also have these antiquated Victorian notions of shame in regards to the body, the body is a weird thing; we got it, but we shouldn’t become too proud of it, and we should only maintain it to the minimum, in order to promote other virtues.
Also, let us consider that America is a Christian protestant nation. According to Protestantism, which is essentially Catholicism 2.0, the body is a thing of shame.
For example, the notion of the “immaculate conception” of Jesus. The reason why this idea was promoted was that there was this idea that somehow sex is shameful. It isn’t. The ancient Greeks and Romans deified birth, procreation. Back then, sex was simply a normal part of life, a necessary path to be getting offspring and children.
I think what has changed in modern day times is notion of sex for the sake of sex, sex for the sake of pleasure, or pleasure for the sake of pleasure. Certainly pleasure is just a means to an end, not the end itself.
For example, if sex did not feel good and did not promote pleasure, the human race would have died off a long time ago. Biologically speaking, we humans want to continue to procreate.
Consumerism?
It is my personal thought that most modern day consumerism is built around shame, fear, and capitalizing off the insecurities of people. For example, I don’t think anybody out there is actually proud of their body, or deifies their body. Even Jesus said that your body is a temple.
I think it is because in modern-day times, most people do not have a sense of philosophy. Many people in modern day society are not quite certain what they really want out of life, and instead, they fall into the same means of desiring to travel and see the world, eat good food, bed beautiful women, eat and drink exotic foods and drinks and alcoholic beverages, and promote pleasure, and purchase objects of desire, etc.
I think it was Nietzsche who said that the Englishman only desired two things, which was fashion and comfort. It seems that the modern-day American only cares for comfort, pleasure, and fashion. Also novelty.
Your body as an instrument and a tool
In order to think, philosophize, make art, innovate, create and publish things, you need a body. Your body is the whole package, all of the things in between your toes and the top of your head. Your bones, your sinews, your blood, your muscles, your fat, your brains, the electricity running through your body, etc. Also all of the hormones.
It seems that most people today desire to become more productive, in order to make more money, purchase more things, obtain more things, and “become successful“. Ironically enough, if you want to become more productive, spending more time energy and money and resources to build your body and strengthen and further your body might be the best strategy.
For example, working out at least twice a day. Isn’t this the ultimate luxury? To be able to go to the gym and lift weights, and then later in the evening, do yoga? Also, no need for breakfast or lunch, only one massive dinner a day. Using your money to just buy beef ribs at the Costco business center, insanely cheap, Only $10 for a whole rack of ribs. I could barely finish two, and I think I could eat at least five times more meat than the average human.
Also, it seems that the bias in today’s world is to work out the minimum necessary, and spend more time being “productive“, or “working“. Shouldn’t the opposite be what we do? To do the minimum amount of work necessary to support our lives, and then just spend maximal time to strengthen and build your body?
Tasty vs demigod building?
It seems in today’s world, the only thing people care about is taste. Taste as unquantified by just adding sugar to things and making it sweet.
For example, almost all modern-day cuisine involves some sort of sugar, sweetening agent, starch, etc.
Also let us consider alcohol, which is essentially pretentious sugar beverages. Wine is just alcoholic grape juice, replete with sugar, same goes with white wine and rosé. Cocktails are pretentious ways to seem cultured, but once again, all you’re doing is drinking a sugary beverage.
Even with modern-day cuisine, there is always some sort of starch, breading, sugar, sauce, involved.
Who runs all of the thoughts on health diet and fitness?
Essentially the whole fitness industry is revolved around selling products. Products as personified through protein powder, creatine, pre-workout powder, lifting straps, lifting belts, protein shakes, protein bars, etc. Also fitness programs, fat loss programs etc.
A thought:
Trust no lifter who uploads their workout videos to Instagram or YouTube.
Also,
Trust nobody on YouTube, Instagram, or any form of social media in regards to diet health and fitness.
The only person you could trust with 100% certainty is yourself. Why? It is impossible to know with 100% certainty whether person XYZ is on steroids, testosterone, or some other strange performance enhancing drugs. For example, do not trust Rock the Dwayne Johnson, he is juicing his eyeballs out. Also do not trust Chris Hemsworth, who also probably juiced eyeballs out for his initial act in Thor.
Also, put zero faith in anybody who has muscles who appears in any Hollywood film. Why? There is always a hidden incentive for them to enhance their physique, either through steroids, testosterone, performance enhancing drugs, etc. Why? Their livelihood is dependent on the grandeur of their physique, and essentially actors are all just slaves.
Everyone would benefit from weightlifting
Cindy told me something very beautiful today, after just a few weeks of my mom being here, and working out at the gym with me weightlifting every single day, and also doing yoga with Cindy, she said for the first time in her life, she feels confident and proud in her body. And she is 67 years old.
There is a lot of misconceptions when it comes to the human body, especially with women, or if you’re over the age of 40. I think all of these thoughts are misled; anybody irregardless of their age sex gender, race, etc. can benefit from weightlifting. And fitness.