That aside, I think it’s clear that this is a crux, as others have brought up the question of why we intuit that some forms of acute stress (i.e. stubbing a toe) are just bad, while others (i.e. exercise and maybe sleep deprivation) can be good.
FWIW, I don’t think the stubbed toe example is integral to the argument. The stubbed toe example was almost certainly just an analogy, not a knockdown argument, in regards to the more general point that the link between acute stress and health benefit seems to be weak.
I think a better way of phrasing this crux is that it’s unclear why this form of acute stress is beneficial, where this refers to sleep deprivation. It would be nice to get specific evidence regarding why sleep deprivation is the right type of acute stress to promote health, when the relationship does not hold in general.
I don’t think I’m objecting to your current summary of the debate necessarily, but I do think focusing on the stubbed toe example is mostly a distraction, and all parties are better off relying on different arguments.
I agree that stubbed toes needn’t be a central example of “acute stress,” and I would hope that most people are just using it as you suggest—a convenient analogy for a minor but pretty-clearly-bad form of injury, one that stands in contrast to plausibly beneficial stressors like exercise.
FWIW, I don’t think the stubbed toe example is integral to the argument. The stubbed toe example was almost certainly just an analogy, not a knockdown argument, in regards to the more general point that the link between acute stress and health benefit seems to be weak.
I think a better way of phrasing this crux is that it’s unclear why this form of acute stress is beneficial, where this refers to sleep deprivation. It would be nice to get specific evidence regarding why sleep deprivation is the right type of acute stress to promote health, when the relationship does not hold in general.
I don’t think I’m objecting to your current summary of the debate necessarily, but I do think focusing on the stubbed toe example is mostly a distraction, and all parties are better off relying on different arguments.
I agree that stubbed toes needn’t be a central example of “acute stress,” and I would hope that most people are just using it as you suggest—a convenient analogy for a minor but pretty-clearly-bad form of injury, one that stands in contrast to plausibly beneficial stressors like exercise.