It’s been a while since I mentioned The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter.  It was my favourite read of last year. 

Every now and then something that Easter mentioned in the book pops into my brain.

Like the fact that our ancestors, the hunter gatherers, were extremely fit.

Not only were they fit, but their fitness would put us all to shame.

The arms of the average prehistoric woman… were 16 percent stronger than those of today’s Olympic rowers.

The average person had the same endurance abilities as today’s elite athletes.

The average person!

Today, the average person is out of breath going up the stairs.

Their bodies weren’t different than ours.

But they had to be active.

Their lives depended on it.

Our day-to-day existence doesn’t depend on us foraging or travelling great distances.

We can “afford” to be inactive. 

We don’t need to lift heavy things.

And a lot of the food that we eat is processed.

The result is that are obesity rates continue to climb.

Chronic conditions like type-2 diabetes and heart disease affect more people.

Technology is a great boon.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love technology.

But every advance is also a step away from self-reliance.

The easier things are, the less we must work our bodies.

Our bodies need to work to stay in shape.

I was talking to some neighbours the other day. They were lamenting that no one uses a dictionary anymore.

Why would you need to?  Just google it on your phone.

No need to exercise our memories, either.

Everything is a few taps away on our phone.

With every advance, we become less reliant on ourselves.

We become less active.

Obviously, I don’t want to go back to the hunter and gatherer times.

But we could all do with a little more activity in our lives.