Comment by mikro2nd | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mikro2nd | Hacker News Reader

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I find this attitude to be enormously, fatuously ableist. "We have control over fitness" except when we don't.

Many people live with restrictive medical conditions that limit or prevent any level of "hard" exercise. Those conditions are certainly not of their choosing, and the underlying implication that those people are "guilty" of a lack of "discipline and intellect" is offensive and deprecating. The unfortunate fact is that such conditions become increasingly likely as we all age, becoming a near certainty for most people as they approach and pass 60.

That the parent commenter has evidently managed to avoid (thus far) that sort of misfortune is wonderful for them. But it shouldn't be used to demean or belittle those who have not enjoyed that good fortune.

Many people do have conditions that restrict their ability to exercise and stay fit. However, in the US, the vast majority of people in poor physical shape have no such condition except for those caused by being overweight in the first place.

He's saying to exercise and eat healthy. He's not saying run a marathon every month.

Where did they demean those that weren’t able to stay fit? Not only does that seem like a small subset of people, but they’re obviously not the target of GP’s comment.

I see your comment as doing way more assuming. You’re policing the most basic health advice on account that it might not apply to everyone. Obviously.

I think it's fair to assume that gp meant "control over fitness" .. within physical capabilities.

The ability of a person (regardless of age) to manage their physiological or psychological limitations, against their capacity to do good or great things, is demonstrative of their ability to handle more complex situations in an executive or creative context, and is capably reflected in their demeanor on both video and audio interview calls. I'm willing to be convinced otherwise.

Out of all of the 60-70 year olds I know, I can’t think of one that has a condition that prevents them from exercising.

Also, the fact that you’re typing is ableist - think of the poor people without fingers that are also mute so they can’t use text to speech.

If we can’t talk in generalities then we can’t talk at all.

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