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Jun 12, 2023 29 tweets 9 min read Read on X
Today on the Lindy Newsletter

It's 2023 and we still haven't solved the Exercise problem. The mismatch between our environment and our body.

The number of people who regularly exercise is still low and 90 percent of people hate doing it.

lindynewsletter.beehiiv.com/p/exercise-pro…
Apple, one of the biggest and most visionary companies in the world recently announced their first product in 10 years. Goggles. Screens in front of your eyeballs. Ok. I'm sure it'll be good.

But it isn't a real problem that we're solving.

There's gyms on every corner, the television ads have athletes. You'd assume everyone is exercising. Wrong

Only about 20-30 percent of Americans get minimum government required exercise. And since it's the government saying this, we probably need more.

Of those 20-30 percent, half hate it.

That means about 10% of Americans actually enjoy exercising. That basically means exercise is a fetish

who's to blame?
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It's a tough problem to solve.

We didn't evolve to want to exercise. It was just a byproduct of life and living.

You had to travel somewhere. you have to hunt. you have to work the fields. you have carry something. You have to have sex, go to war, or play.

Today we can live a completely sedentary life and be wealthy
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We've gotten so good at automating life that even farmers today have worse health outcomes than city people

Which is a reversal of a historical norm Image
We have to exercise every day, or most days. Consistently and throughout our life. It doesn't stop

It's just part of living.

If you look at the Hadza, a modern hunter-gatherer tribe. They have very low rates of cardiovascular disease. Image
Since there is a mismatch between ourselves and our modern environment

Who are some of the groups that are part of 10% of exercise lovers?

It should attract an odd group. And it does.

1) The C-Suite consistent cardio white collar workers

2) The Bodybuilders

3) The men who fear death


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If we're serious about solving real problems of modernity. We need to focus on the exercise problem.

There is hope. I outline a few ways we can address it.

We can either focus on fun and stimulation (NOT DISCIPLINE OR MOTIVATION)

or we can change our environment back to a more lindy time where we NEED to exercise to get things done.

2 paths...
Playing sports is great. I love tennis. I have done martial arts for years. But unfortunately, the sports as they exist now are not doing the job or we wouldn't be having this problem.

New sports may be something we should work on. Like the rise of pickleball Image
Or maybe technological solutions can be a way to help solve the exercise problem. Put fun sedentary games on cardio machines. GTA on the elliptical.

Currently, technology isn't helping the exercise problem very much. Image
The other pathway is completely change the environment

To do your daily life you need to exercise

This is a radical solution that many people may not be ready for

You're going to have to walk or ride a bicycle everywhere.
There's this rowing machine type of guy who loves doing them. I never got it. I never liked the rowing machine

My guess as to why it attracts some people is its a full body cardio exercise so you can feel it more intensely than running or biking. Image
I hope it doesn't have to come to this. It seems too excessive when we can just think about it differently Image
It's really a testament to the power of music that it can single handedly make exercise the least bit tolerable

Everyone you see running or at the gym has earbuds on.

You read about Plato or Islamic scholars wanted to ban music. It's because its powerful. It holds up the exercise regime today
One fitness motivator is self defense.

Lots of MMA/BJJ gyms have opened up in America during the last 20 years. This seems to work for a minority of men.

But it's tough taking a punch in your 30s and 40s or getting choked 3-5 times a week
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Getting in shape is painful and takes a lot of time. Most people hate that part of it.

But ancestrally, you wouldn't ever get out of shape. Your environment would always demand you to be moving for most of your life.

"getting in shape" and then getting out of shape and then getting back in shape is a modern thing.
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Creating new sports is a good example of trying to solve the exercise problem Image
A new trend has emerged trying to solve the exercise problem

Rucking

Walking with a huge weight on your back. Let's see if it works for the masses or if it will fade away
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All this money in tech and video games and no one has figured out a way to exercise for fun

Exercise being essential to human life Image
So much AI hype. So much technological progress

But no one has figured out the exercise problem yet

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More from @PaulSkallas

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But that's not the whole story.

We see unexpected changes with reduced pleasure-seeking and risk-taking behaviors.

It modifies your personality

lindynewsletter.beehiiv.com/p/the-hidden-r…
These drugs are being tested at a massive scale right now. Turns out people have lost interest in their previous interests, like gambling or drinking alcohol or sex drive.

We don't really know what's going on. These were unexpected side effects Image
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but it brings up an interesting philosophical question.

How much do you want to suppress your Pleasure Drive?

The same neural pathways that make you overeat also make you start companies, chase lovers, create art, take risks. Ozempic doesn't distinguish between those
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Useful employees are susceptible to being fired depending on company health.

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lindynewsletter.beehiiv.com/p/the-art-of-n…
The useful vs value frame belongs in the classic workplace text library alongside Parkinsons law, peter principle, the gervais principle and the 4HL Image
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The Useful Employee Image
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Oct 9, 2024
How did humans conquer the world? People mention fire, bigger brains, and tools, but no one talks about the real reason—our evolved shoulders.

Our Shoulders are the most unique in the animal kingdom, they’re the reason we survived and thrived.

lindynewsletter.beehiiv.com/p/in-praise-of…
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That's become we sacrificed stability for mobility

our shoulders evolved to throw. Not to swing from branches Image
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Our ability to throw changed everything. We suddenly became a projectile species.

Effective for both hunting and defense Image
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Read 20 tweets
Sep 17, 2024
Relationships Have Changed A Lot Recently

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lindynewsletter.beehiiv.com/p/relationship…
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We still don't know the consequences of assortative mating yet Image
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Lana Del Rey's new boyfriend reminds me of the enduring appeal of humor and charisma that has been written about since the earliest literature Image
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Read 12 tweets
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"our hostages"

There is a big attempt at merging America and Israel into one country. It suits the Israelis since it gives them an empire with unlimited money and military arms.

Does it suit the USA? I'm not sure. But it's really weird. I've never seen anything like this before.
This is the logical endpoint to a situation that started decades ago

It just seems to be accelerating toward an explicit union after the Gaza war.
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2) the US use of the veto in the security council is just for Israel. Image
Read 4 tweets
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The World is Divided into Nations with Thin Cultures and Thick Cultures.

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lindynewsletter.beehiiv.com/p/thick-thin-c…
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If you speak another language or have been immersed in another country it is obvious.

But if you grew up here you would think this is what the entire world is like

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Anyone can be American

but anyone can't be Japanese Image
Read 11 tweets

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