[extropy-chat] Failure of low-fat diet

Eliezer S. Yudkowsky sentience at pobox.com
Fri Feb 24 15:43:07 UTC 2006


Robin Hanson wrote:
> 
> Here is one explanation that has a plausible mechanism and isn't clearly
> contradicted by the data.   Mammals invoke the stress response in situations
> they consider stressful, which helps the devote energy to their muscles
> at the expense of other systems such as the immune system.   This reduces
> long term health.   As humans become richer they interpret fewer events as
> being stressful and invoke the stress response less often, and so are 
> healthier.
> There is a multiplier effect for contagious diseases, so that healthier people
> living near each other benefit each other.   So a theory is that our increasing
> health is caused by our feeling less stress as we have gotten richer.

But what about all the research showing that becoming richer doesn't 
decrease stress?

...you know, it's amazingly hard to help people, isn't it.

-- 
Eliezer S. Yudkowsky                          http://singinst.org/
Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence



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