[Unna]

I was just reading an interesting anthropological-philo text from the 17th century. I found a few words of wisdom:

"The very impulses that are blamed as the causes of vice are good in themselves, fulfilling their function as abilities implanted by nature."

Most of the time, on this forum, we talk about our simple impulses as leading us astray, as something that is bad, causing us to cave. Really, they shouldn't be blamed or thought of as vices. In fact, they are there to keep us alive.

They are there because we need them.

I'm not sure why I am posting this - just thought it was a refreshing thought.

Word.

[ArtyKay]

That's a very good point...and I think its the thought that eating is a vice that has prevented me from keeping weight off in the past. That whole restrict-binge-restrict-binge thing.

Something that this made me think of...our instinct to gorge ourselves...I wonder if this is something ingrained in us from hunter-gatherer times. Like, there is food in front of me, I need to eat as much as possible.

I read something once about dogs. They're animal instinct tells them to eat what's in front of them so that they can store fat for times of famine. Humans did the same, the hunter-gatherers went through periods of fasting and compensation.

So when we deprive ourselves (fasting instinct) we feel the need to gorge (compensation instinct). but there's no need in the modern world...so its a deprivation/overeating cycle that's more instinctual than we realize.