Weak economy is responsible for rampant swoleness: study

Local Daimyo Saturday 20 Aug 2016

A bold and controversial thesis

Longface Saturday 20 Aug 2016

I am mostly indifferent about this, but this is probably the only valid argument against "swoleness". From the life of Philopoemen:

Because he was naturally fitted to excel in wrestling, some of his friends and tutors recommended his attention to athletic exercises. But he would first be satisfied whether it would not interfere with his becoming a good soldier. They told him, as was the truth, that the one life was directly opposite to the other; the requisite state of body, the ways of living, and the exercises all different: the professed athlete sleeping much, and feeding plentifully, punctually regular in his set times of exercise and rest, and apt to spoil all by every little excess, or breach of his usual method; whereas the soldier ought to train himself in every variety of change and irregularity, and, above all, to bring himself to endure hunger and loss of sleep without difficulty. Philopoemen, hearing this, not only laid by all thoughts of wrestling and contemned it then, but when he came to be general, discouraged it by all marks of reproach and dishonor he could imagine, as a thing which made men, otherwise excellently fit for war, to be utterly useless and unable to fight on necessary occasions.

Alexander probably disliked professed athletes for similar reasons.

Random logic Saturday 20 Aug 2016

Look, I am not against exercise or lifting...I do these things myself and have been very active my whole life. Just this week I have been sailing, swimming in a Lough, weightlifting in the gym, playing a football match with friends, and I walked in excess of 50 miles as I have been visiting National Trust sites. I am not someone who scoffs and says how bodybuilders have tiny penises, and I have casually competed in both powerlifting and strongman from the tender age of 16.

I agree with the OP, however, and feel that there is a clear reason for this upswing in obsessive vanity lifting. Like my other "If Donald Trump were Black..." thread, I posted it disinterestedly, without any personal judgement on whether these things are good or bad. I don't exactly know how we got on to the plight of working class whites and so on, but whatever.

perkunos I don't know, have you not spoken to the people who have bought into this trend? Chubsters who go on the treadmill for 30 minutes and use the curling machine aren't doing anything productive, and they just waste their money on protein powder, supplements and sessions with broscientist personal trainers. I hope you are not insinuating that I am a pussy or shitlib for not being enthusiastic about this.

Longface Being an athlete, being strong and fit, caring about your body...this is not "swoleness", nor is it this recent fad about going to the gym and trying to become Zyzz. I am in no way opposed to athletic pursuits, though since you touched on it, I do think professional athletes earn too much, but that's just da free market, init.

kenshiro Monday 22 Aug 2016

I think the rise in swoleness also corresponds to the explosion of foodie culture, craft beer, and SJWism: they're all functions of "mimesis," and the ease at which people can share photos of themselves doing stuff on Facebook/Instagram/4chan/etc.. Peter Thiel was directly inspired by a French philosopher-theologian, who holds "mimetic desire" as central to his understanding of how human society works :

Billionaire Peter Thiel is as well known for being the cofounder of PayPal and the first outside investor in Facebook as he is for his free thinking.

He outlines many of his contrarian views, such as why successful companies should strive to be monopolies , in his book " Zero to One ."

Thiel has previously said that the contemporary French philosopher René Girard has had a tremendous impact on his life, and he told author and investor Tim Ferriss that he considers " Things Hidden Since The Foundation of the World " to be Girard's masterpiece.

Girard's main concept is "mimetic theory," which states that most of human behavior is based upon imitation. The imitation of desires leads to conflict, and when a buildup of conflict threatens to destroy all involved, they use a scapegoat to return to balance.

We've always been imitative creatures, and the rate of cultural transmission has been steadily increasing with the advent of mass media and later the internet. The imitative capacity the internet has managed to unleash is not fully under anyone's control (unlike movies, TV, and newspapers), which is why you see a proliferation of Tumblrites, nu-males, and other assorted problematic characters, as well as swole 80s-LARPing "reactionaries" -- although I'm sure the System would prefer it if all reactionaries became docile soy creatures who uncritically support the starkest premises of neoliberalism and its accompanying destruction of Western civilization.

Longface Monday 22 Aug 2016

I am 5ft8, I have woman hands, and my head is way too big, so I don't think having a great body would solve any of my problems...it will actually make me look even more weird. I am also not likable or funny...etc People I talk to irl actually have feelings of irrational total hatred towards me, especially women(I tried game, PUA, and that gorilla shit...I've tried psychic control last year too but it never worked, so the only thing to do now is wait for A Gleaming Leprosy to give me the brain control device he's working on.), and I am a total failure according to all human metrics of success. No one will like me if I started lifting, there will be no "positive outcomes". The only true positive thing I could do now is to continue smoking myself to death and drinking isopropyl.

Longface Monday 22 Aug 2016

Also Socrates was a jewish feminist. I forgot to mention this.

Weak economy is responsible for rampant swoleness: study

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