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Comment by sinsterizme | Hacker News Reader

1. Ok sorry, I’m not trying to rigorously define what an illness is, I’m just saying obesity is categorically different because it’s self inflicted and reversible

2. It isn’t wrong in every situation, just in this particular one the motivating factor is lack of willpower, prioritization and education. There isn’t an “easy way” as of right now. If one comes along it will also likely carry side effects

3. Its usually ill-informed because the difficulty of dieting is a known one and steps can be taken to alleviate or bypass these issues. Usually medication with outsized effects have proportional side-effects. And we don’t always know what they are. I don’t leave out the possibility that someone could invent a pill that causes huge weight loss with little side-effects, but I would bet a lot of money against it

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"I’m just saying obesity is categorically different because it’s self inflicted and reversible"

I encourage you to examine the implicit judgement and bias within this statement. When you say "self inflicted," are you suggesting that people should simply exercise willpower and change their behaviors? What if they cannot, either because they do not know how, or because there are related psychological problems intersecting with their weight issues?

Is depression self-inflicted? What about depressive eating patterns, resulting in weight gain? We know that being overweight is almost universally disliked. We know that most people expend great amounts of time and money on ineffective solutions.

Saying "it's self inflicted" ignores that most overweight people are not able to solve their eating disorder. It's inaccurate, in exactly the same way that it would be inaccurate to dismiss depression as "self-inflicted." Food is tied to very deep motivators within the human brain. Empirically we can very clearly see that most people are not capable of resolving these issues on their own. Generally speaking, it's a symptom of a psychological disorder.

You’re right it’s a bit harsh. I admit I don’t fully understand the reason why obese people can’t climb out of the hole they’ve dug. It’s psychological like you said but also societal (food is becoming less nutritious, as well as readily available empty caloric foods). If people lack the ethic to revert course then we need to start fixing the underlying issues causing people to overeat to such an extent in the first place.

I still think it’s helpful for people to know that their weight issues are usually fixable as long as they have the determination and desire, there’s people that do this every day and share their journey

Sure, finding the right method to solve an issue is important. I agree fixes with their own problems (medication) shouldn't be viewed as a panacea.

Hey, have a good one!

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