(From Level One Training and Fitness, 8 October 2017)
“Belief that something is true without evidence is presumption.
Belief that persists despite evidence to the contrary is a myth.
Understanding supported by good evidence is fact.”
~Barbara Quinn
The Truth IS Out There.
FACT #1: The other day I was talking to a friend who revealed that she was having persistent stomach aches/issues.
FACT #2: The problem had been going on for at least the past week and she was growing concerned that something else might be going on internally.
FACT #3: She was 100%, unequivocally certain there was no chance she could be pregnant.
FACT #4: The conversation then continued to the point where she shared her desire to visit her local drugstore/pharmacy to pick up a pregnancy test.
Time out. Wait. What? 🤔
My next question was, “Why do you feel the need to check yourself for pregnancy if you just told me it’s not physically possible for you to be pregnant?” The response loosely followed something similar to the following: I talked to another friend and she said she had experienced the same thing and had done research and found out that it (the stomach pain) could be related to pregnancy.
Silence.
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION #1 “Is your friend a medical doctor?” No.
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION #2 “Is your friend an OB/GYN?” No.
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTION #3 “Is your friend a medical professional of any sort?” No.
“Do you see where my line of questioning is going?” Yes, followed by a laugh.
Granted, the possibility does REMOTELY exist for my friend to be pregnant, HOWEVER a series of other highly improbable circumstances would need to be met. Even then, a conversation with a Registered Nurse (at the very least) would need to take place to provide further direction. Simply relying on another friend’s thoughts as to what could be going on medically is foolhardy at best and quite possibly dangerous at worst.
This type of “blind faith” extends to the acceptance of misleading information or “facts” from individuals who label themselves as “fitness professionals” or “nutrition experts.” Despite the lack of any peer-reviewed research, studies, other data, etc. to bolster their claims, their statements are accepted as truth.
It’s natural: we ALL want to lose weight faster, burn fat faster, build muscle faster, get fit faster, and on and on. As a result, we have the tendency to latch onto those things which line up with what we want to believe is the solution to our problem; without any critical thinking, research, and most of all, without asking hard questions.
To see what happens (comedically) when we dumb ourselves down, see the film “Idiocracy” (truly under-rated, in my opinion). To see how to prevent yourself from “self-dumbing” behavior, please continue to read on about jellybeans (yes, jellybeans 😉) in Amanda Vogel’s post.
The truth IS out there, please just try to accept (even for a brief moment) that it may not line up with what you want to believe is true. You will save yourself grief, heartache, and maybe even a few bucks!
