Prediction which follows from that hypothesis: People should be similarly worked up about exercise? (High intensity vs. low intensity, aerobic/anaerobic ratio, etc). I don’t run into nearly as many people with strong opinions about this topic, so I think that this can’t be the only factor at play...
But I think that you’re right, and the reason people aren’t concerned about exercise is that fewer people exercise. Everybody eats, and so a large number of mildly-nerdy-people have done at least a little research on diet, formed an opinion, and (to some extent) base their diet around that opinion. It’s one of the few scientific topics that laypeople are deeply interested in, and one of the few topics that can make media headlines....and perhaps exercise makes fewer headlines because the market is smaller and thus it’s harder to profit from it.
I think there’s other driving factors too—why does the topic of vaccination enjoy similar polarization in some circles? Why the large number of people worried about GMO, pesticides, water fluoridation, drugs, etc? I think putting things into your body somehow inherently ties into our “purity” sense...thinking about threats to human bodily integrity instinctively sets off strong emotions. However, at least many of those topics have some public policy ramifications, while the impact of the the carb vs. fat debates on public policy is limited.
...and that’s before you consider the whole problem of using conscious animals and of environmental impact, which I’m sure creates a negative halo effect by giving a few individuals instrumental incentives to believe that certain diets are bad for human health in addition to being bad for the environment / hurtful to animals. (Though I’ve got to say, every time I’ve talked about this with a LW crowd no one had that particular problem, which is impressive.)
You may be on to something with the “putting things into your body” theory, though I think another piece is that fat% has a fairly clear effect on appearance, while people can be quite athletic without showing it.
There may also be accidental historical factors which can’t be derived from grand theories. How combative people are about religion varies a lot by time and place. For that matter, nutrition is a much hotter topic now than it was mere decades ago.
You may be on to something with the “putting things into your body” theory, though I think another piece is that fat% has a fairly clear effect on appearance, while people can be quite athletic without showing it.
People who are fat and sedentary don’t look quite like that (e.g. worse posture).
Hypothesis: For reasons which are not entirely clear to me, not being fat has become evidence of virtue, health, status, and sexual attractiveness.
At the same time, there is no known reliable method of stably enabling the majority of people who are fat to cease to be fat.
Prediction which follows from that hypothesis: People should be similarly worked up about exercise? (High intensity vs. low intensity, aerobic/anaerobic ratio, etc). I don’t run into nearly as many people with strong opinions about this topic, so I think that this can’t be the only factor at play...
Fascinatingly, diet is not on wikipedia’s list of controversial topics EDIT: nm, corrected by /u/Nornagest here
But I think that you’re right, and the reason people aren’t concerned about exercise is that fewer people exercise. Everybody eats, and so a large number of mildly-nerdy-people have done at least a little research on diet, formed an opinion, and (to some extent) base their diet around that opinion. It’s one of the few scientific topics that laypeople are deeply interested in, and one of the few topics that can make media headlines....and perhaps exercise makes fewer headlines because the market is smaller and thus it’s harder to profit from it.
I think there’s other driving factors too—why does the topic of vaccination enjoy similar polarization in some circles? Why the large number of people worried about GMO, pesticides, water fluoridation, drugs, etc? I think putting things into your body somehow inherently ties into our “purity” sense...thinking about threats to human bodily integrity instinctively sets off strong emotions. However, at least many of those topics have some public policy ramifications, while the impact of the the carb vs. fat debates on public policy is limited.
...and that’s before you consider the whole problem of using conscious animals and of environmental impact, which I’m sure creates a negative halo effect by giving a few individuals instrumental incentives to believe that certain diets are bad for human health in addition to being bad for the environment / hurtful to animals. (Though I’ve got to say, every time I’ve talked about this with a LW crowd no one had that particular problem, which is impressive.)
But obesity, nutrition, and, interestingly, high-fructose corn syrup all are.
thanks, parent edited
You may be on to something with the “putting things into your body” theory, though I think another piece is that fat% has a fairly clear effect on appearance, while people can be quite athletic without showing it.
There may also be accidental historical factors which can’t be derived from grand theories. How combative people are about religion varies a lot by time and place. For that matter, nutrition is a much hotter topic now than it was mere decades ago.
People who are fat and sedentary don’t look quite like that (e.g. worse posture).
I believe you, and I should have been more exact.
From what I’ve read, most people can’t tell the difference by looking between a fat person who exercises and a fat person who doesn’t.