My Favorite Hypothetical Question

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longri
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Re: My Favorite Hypothetical Question

Post by longri »

limpingcrab wrote:Looks like about 1.5 people that realize how much time, money and effort you would save with option two.
Everybody understands what you would gain by giving up what is a primal, integral source of great pleasure, for most people anyway. It's just a question of valuation. You would still (presumably) be limited by the constraints of your musculature, genetic biomechanical fortune, and joint health. It's not as if giving up eating would allow you to fly like a bird 24 hours a day. Or give you three wishes from a genie in a bottle. You'd just have a lighter pack and would be able to do longer backcountry trips.

Would you trade your penîs for an equivalently larger brain?

I think one could pose endless silly questions like this. I'm mostly disappointed that this is your favorite one.
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limpingcrab
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Re: My Favorite Hypothetical Question

Post by limpingcrab »

Ha! My head is already too big for most hats so I think I'd opt out of that.

In my defense, I'm on the upper end of the "super taster" category for taste sensitivity so most foods are overwhelming and not very enjoyable.

Still stands that if you like being outdoors then the time, money and effort saved would be awesome. You are correct that it's a question of valuation, it's such an obvious choice for me that I've always been surprised that I'm relatively alone on option two. Especially among backpackers!?



Sorry, too much time spent in cars discussing random stuff with mountain friends.
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Wandering Daisy
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Re: My Favorite Hypothetical Question

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Not needing food and water is not just pertinent to backpacking. OK guys, I bet you get food placed in front of you more often than you have to raise it in the garden, or buy it, wash and all the prep, plan meals, shop for decent prices, bake all bread, cook from scratch, clean up, on and on! And for an entire family. Non-stop 50 years. In fact at one point in my life I had to even find, shoot butcher it. You may be of an income that you can pay for convience foods (the nicely washed and cut packets of salad) or eat out a lot (I really do not like resturant food). I am a bit fed up (no pun intended) with all the work involved in the end product, so the idea of not even needing food and and water is really appealing! I do not even like water that much. My addictions- coffee and wine; those are the sticking points. Can I cheat a little? :wink:

So my reasons are more because the work outweighs the pleasure for me, at this point in my life. I like food all right, just a matter of "opportunity cost". Rather be doing other things all that time.
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mrphil
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Re: My Favorite Hypothetical Question

Post by mrphil »

No question about it, A.

Food and eating is about so much more than just taking in calories and sustenance. If you ever want to create a strong bond with and get to know someone, share in preparing and enjoying a meal with them. One of the greatest coming togethers of people and society that mankind has ever known. Always has been, hopefully always will be.
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longri
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Re: My Favorite Hypothetical Question

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limpingcrab wrote:In my defense, I'm on the upper end of the "super taster" category for taste sensitivity so most foods are overwhelming and not very enjoyable.
Huh. Really? Maybe it's a more interesting question than I thought.
I wonder how many people there are out there like you.

If food were mostly unenjoyable I would also happily give it up for the freedom you're talking about. Even if I weren't a backpacker. Eating is expensive, time consuming, messy, potentially dangerous. There are social aspects to it but that's not a good enough argument. If there were no pleasure it would be a chore, like shaving or trimming your toe nails or using toilet paper, just a lot much more time and cost consumptive.

But it's so incredibly pleasurable to me that at times I've felt like my life is composed of meals and the waiting between meals. As it is, I could easily give up backpacking and get on with my life without any sense of loss. There are just too many other things that could replace it. But if I had to give up eating it would be a profound loss, a devastating one.
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Wandering Daisy
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Re: My Favorite Hypothetical Question

Post by Wandering Daisy »

No doubt about it - almost everyone socializes around food. I would perfer to socialize on a nice hike WITHOUT fussing with food; so far no takers. Realistically we are programed to desire food, so hard to say if I did not need food I would miss it, after a few months. I think you would still have to have an alternatve means to use your sense of taste- perhaps tasty drinks. Then there is that sticky issue of your gut. What results from an unused digestive system? Could be ugly. Like you say, totally "hypothetical". This might be a case of "be careful of what you wish for".
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Tom_H
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Re: My Favorite Hypothetical Question

Post by Tom_H »

A.........unless I could substitute the ability to savor food with a return to my 23 y.o. body, along with the ability once again to ski 4-diamond chutes like a bat out of hell, to carry a hundred lb pack all day, and to have again the libido I had at that age. Yea, I'd make that trade. 'Specially for that last part. :D
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rhyang
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Re: My Favorite Hypothetical Question

Post by rhyang »

I have a unique perspective because of esophagus surgery in 2016: I actually could not eat or drink anything by mouth for long periods to let the surgical wounds heal. For most people who develop this condition the post-surgical healing period is fairly short, but apparently I am one of the unlucky ones. This is probably related to spinal surgery in 2007 (I had a plate and six bone screws put into the front of my neck because of cervical spinal fractures suffered in a car accident). The swallowing problems are probably a complication of the spinal surgery.

While I was in the hospital I had a feeding tube through the nose. Afterwards they punched a hole through my abdominal wall for a feeding tube that I could use myself without needing skilled nursing help. In a word, it sucked.

That said, I tried to make the best of it. I did manage to get out on several nice hikes and bike rides while on the tube. I just had to carry a cleaning syringe, spare water, and liquid "snacks" to put into the tube. But for backpacking the logistics would be pretty daunting.

Fortunately after a few months I was able to start drinking and eating again, but the surgeries did not resolve my swallowing difficulties. These days most of my nourishment is still in the form of liquids, smooth solids, and soft foods. The surgeon relocated some of my swallowing-related muscles and it's gotten a little bit better over time, or perhaps I've just gotten better at working around the difficult foods. Getting older is a pain in the butt.

But the tl;dr version is definitely (B) for me !
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Re: My Favorite Hypothetical Question

Post by balzaccom »

limpingcrab wrote:
In my defense, I'm on the upper end of the "super taster" category for taste sensitivity so most foods are overwhelming and not very enjoyable.
Not sure this follows. I'm in the wine business and also have a fairly high supertaster sensitivity---but that just means that I avoid bad food. Good food tasted even better to me than it does to other people....
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limpingcrab
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Re: My Favorite Hypothetical Question

Post by limpingcrab »

Not sure this follows. I'm in the wine business and also have a fairly high supertaster sensitivity---but that just means that I avoid bad food. Good food tasted even better to me than it does to other people....
Hmmm... That's surprising, have you had your taste buds counted and tested? I believe you, it's just that I read that most people in the wine/stinky cheese/food industry have a moderate number of taste buds. However, they can still taste the same variety of flavors and are very highly skilled in identifying and distinguishing them, but the overall power of them is tolerable. Skilled and extremely sensitive with variety, but not overpowered by excess amplitude, if that makes sense. With way too many taste buds bitter flavors are usually the harshest for supertasters, like alcohol and leafy greens for example. I can barely handle light beers and taco bell nacho cheese makes my face sweat.

Taste buds die faster than they are replaced, hence the difference in food preferences of 4 year olds and 40 year olds. For me, it's essentially like having the palate of a 4 year old, but it has gotten better over time.

Even if all of my food options were the one's I enjoy (plain things, no ketchup on fries), I think I'd still choose B and the reasons were well summarized by WanderingDaisy:
So my reasons are more because the work outweighs the pleasure for me, at this point in my life. I like food all right, just a matter of "opportunity cost". Rather be doing other things all that time.

It's all about time!
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