We live in an age of discovery and innovation. I would not be a bit surprised if it could be shown that such an age is just beginning. A professor of religious studies said last week that the ancient Jews had a special relation to the Roman empire and its government just because the Jews has such a long and recorded history. He said that in those days, what was old was by that fact alone, precious. But today, the new is the thrill: I have the latest model. It incorporates the latest methodology, the latest gizmo, is the latest concept.
I try to stay alert to silly pandering to excitement and reject it. Taking anything to an extreme seems a somewhat obvious way to 'kick it up a notch', to try for a proclamation of being even newer and more thrilling. If a movie is exciting with a car exploding, I will make a movie with 10 exploding cars. My flames will shoot much higher and the collateral damage will be far more extensive.
So, my first reaction on seeing the schedule at the gym includes "Insanity" is to put the class name down to typical, American, modern loss of moderation and good judgment. And I fully expect the class to be "over the top", too intensive to be inspiring, healthy or likely to be sustained.
I just looked up the series of DVD workouts by that name. I see that they have very high ratings. Maybe I will get a chance to look at one of the workouts to see what I think. I have faith in Gretchen Reynolds' book "The First 20 Minutes" and the extension of it called "The First 20 Minutes Trainer", where she carefully cites research that moderate exercise has been more beneficial in terms of longevity than either too little or too strenuous. So, for me, I am doubtful of the need or even value of doing much more strenuous workouts.
But, I am aware that new discoveries and new approaches to goals and problems may indeed strike us as extreme, or all wrong or misconceived, especially when we first hear about them. As I explore Michael Merzenich's ideas relating to our ability to retrain our brains, to actually extinguish abilities we have and cherish, to search through what we have seen as mental illnesses for places where erroneous thinking or fear or laziness have actually put some people on the path to schizophrenia or depression, I see again how some fully accepted ideas and methods may be modified very deeply, however much those changes shock and confuse us.
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Merry Christmas to all and wishes for a lovely, loving Christmas and New Year
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
