SPORTS?

What this episode covers

Diversion? https://erickimphotography.com/blog/2024/08/18/sports-set-yourself-free/ Audio: https://erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SPORTS.m4a --- # NEVER SIT What is the weirdest and most bizarre thing in modern-day life? Enclosed spaces, sitting? ## Achilles One visual I really like from the movie *Troy*, with Brad Pitt as Achilles, is when he’s in his little hut, sleeping with his beautiful babes, and he’s woken up by the kid who tells him that he needs to fight this really steroided-out barbarian fighter. The first thought… I think the reason why people love camping so much is that it is far more natural and naturalistic; essentially, all day, you’re outside, and even in the evening, you’re al fresco by the fire… hanging out! And this is the bizarre thing… what is modernity? The *preference* to be indoors, with weakening air conditioning, or the preference to sit, instead of the preference to be out and about, traversing the outdoor terrain? ## Ideas I’ll give you examples: the enclosed modern-day gymnasium. Now, about a year without a gym membership… I’ve discovered how bizarre it is. First, if you think about the naturalistic gymnasium of the ancient Greeks, it was an open-air gymnasium. Pretty much like a huge massive plot of dirt or sand, and a bunch of naked dudes working out, doing bodily combat exercises, training, hanging out talking shop, etc. I think the problem in today’s world is that we have commoditized everything. We’ve even commoditized the human body, and we have applied both capitalistic and consumerist notions to the body. For example, weight. Weight, like calories, is the most insanely foolish idea. For example, let’s say that you are 6 feet tall and 300 pounds. Now this is different if you are 80% body fat, a morbidly obese man, or if you are 5% body fat, and you look like a demigod. Imagine someone like Ronnie Coleman without the steroids. This is very pernicious with women; I think this is the bizarre contradiction: men are always trying to gain weight, while women are trying to lose weight. If we think about this from a modern-day capitalistic productivity perspective… with money, we are always trying to gain it, never lose it. But if we thought about money like weight, the analogy starts to change a bit. There is nobody on the planet who likes to lose money. Nobody. Also, almost universally… Everyone likes to gain money. Also... it seems that people also like to *spend* money. But the bizarre irony is that **the moment you spend money, you lose money**. Then the thought is, that is OK… I’ll just keep working harder, in order to earn more money, in order to spend it more. ## White people make money don’t spend it I almost feel like Kanye West almost figured everything out. Of course, not everything, but a lot. --- This portion explores themes around modern society's norms and behaviors, particularly the contradictions in how we live, exercise, and manage our resources like money and health. There's a critique of indoor living and a comparison to more natural, outdoor activities, along with an analysis of the commodification of the body and the absurdities of modern economic behavior.

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