One strange aspect of the response to COVID was how vaccinated people blamed the unvaccinated for the vaccine not working. As far as I know, 2021 was the only moment in human history where people blamed the failure of a product on the people who didn’t buy the product.
More recently, you also see this kind of misplaced anger when it comes to the cold plunge phenomenon. For example, the comments section below cold plunge demonstration videos include people who are genuinely angry that cold plunges exist. I personally don’t care if anyone beyond myself makes cold exposure a part of his or her health routine. But the critics, unable to refute the science of cold thermogenesis, instead attack the cold-seekers for behaving in a way that the critics feel is reckless and self-absorbed.
I believe the critics’ anger is driven by two factors.
First, the critics lack the courage or discipline to lower themselves into a cold tub of water. It’s far easier on the ego to lash out at people striving for self-improvement than to reflect on one’s own limitations.
Second, the critics are frustrated (subconsciously) that when it comes to health, the universe rewards adversity — a reflection of the challenging environment in which humans evolved. You can think of health as a line graph, with outcomes improving along the X axis, and pain increasing along the Y axis. Eating your broccoli starts you out on the lower portion of the graph. Doing sets of uphill sprints moves you to the center of the graph. Finally, cold exposure, with benefits for cardiovascular function, immunity, insulin, weight, hormone balance, and mitochondria, puts you in the upper right.
The other health hack that causes nearly as much rage as the cold plunge is intermittent fasting. When doubters encounter someone who eats just one meal per day, the doubters imagine how they themselves would feel if they skipped a meal. To the doubter, the faster’s ketone high and turbo autophagy are irrelevant. The primal part of the doubter’s brain, focused on starvation and survival, simply registers indignation.
In any event, I didn’t design human biology to be devastated by our modern lifestyles of thermoneutrality and drive-thru donuts. If you don’t like the rules of human health, please take it up with the manufacturer.