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Comment by fatherzine | Hacker News Reader

possible, but uncomfortable -- nailed it. life is not supposed to be 100% comfortable. traditional spiritual practices bake in periods of discomfort for a reason.

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Remember, this is the country that found wearing masks in public for public safety was too onerous a burden and having to inconvenience yourself to help others was met with anger and violence.

We can philosophize about what life is suppose to be, but at the end of the day most people do not want to be uncomfortable and will consistently make decisions that reduce their discomfort.

the ability to withstand temporary discomfort for a higher end is trainable. most people do not know any better, and telling them to not even try is rather not charitable.

I'm not saying we should avoid discomfort, but we already encourage lots of forms of discomfort that encourage obesity, such as stress, and discourage the healthy sorts of discomfort like walking to places.

Baloney. I've been skinny (too skinny for my preference) my whole life. While I used to get a lot more exercise in my youth, I'm (again, unfortunately for my preference) quite sedentary these days.

And for me to stay skinny, I never have to think about my food intake. I don't diet, I simply never get that hungry. I'm not saying this as some sort of weird internet brag, it's the opposite in fact. I fully recognize that my genetics (and also possibly my childhood upbringing) basically have full control over my weight level and hunger level. This idea that we all should be some sort of Zen ascetics to maintain our weight is horse shit.

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