Contradiction

 "...man's unlimited capacity for thinking contradictory thoughts, without even making a feeble attempt to become aware of the contradiction." Eric Fromm, The Sane Society (1956).

Today's training session was, following Dan John's Easy Strength format, six singles increasing the weight/difficulty each set but, also following the precepts of Easy Strength, always make the lift. If I had a favourite day of Easy Strength it would be the six singles day because you feel like a hero. Who does not feel like a strong (wo)man doing pushups with their feet elevated on a bench?

After that, I took a spin on my bike along our paved sea-side bicycling track to the Post Office to mail my rock shoes off for a resole. I must have been climbing more than I think, or I could be climbing worse than I think, but my shoes are almost down to the last. It was a glorious winter day with clear air and brilliant blue sky. Out at sea, however, it was blowing and lumpy looking.

I also called in at the chemist to get some 1% hyrdocortisone cream. As I spend way too much time thrashing around in the bush, I am always getting minor skin irritations from spiny/spiky/toxic plants because I also spend way too much time in shorts thrashing around in the bush. Every time I buy a tube of this cream I get asked 20 questions: "Have you used this before, what are you using it for, how much do you use per day....." and on it goes. I try to patient with these questions as I am pretty sure the shop assistant would be happy enough to fling me a tube and get on with his/her day, but they are obviously mandated by some anonymous professional body to ask these questions.

But really, is anyone mainlining hydrocortisone cream? Can it be mixed in a spoon, heated and injected to give the ultimate addicting high? Is it an essential ingredient in crack cocaine? Hydrocortisone is a steroid, but not an anabolic steroid so even if I lathered my body in hydrocortisone cream day and night I could not reasonably expect to get instantly jacked and win the Ms Universe Competition: Older Athletes Edition. In fact, absorption rates of topical hydrocortisone are under 2%, so the chances of me using enough to develop some sort of Cushing Syndrome are so low as to be inestimable.

However, should I go into any grocery/convenience/food store in Australia and buy a shopping cart full of ultra-processed food no-one will blink, and I certainly will not be asked any questions. In fact, a shopping cart full of junk food is a routine purchase. Why are we not asking 20 questions, such as "Do you understand that consumption of these foods will result in diabetes, alzheimers disease, cardiovascular complications, reduced life-span, significant comorbidity?, Are you insulin resistant? Hypertensive? Have high triglycerides? Have metabolic syndrome? Do you intend to eat all this food yourself? How much exercise are you doing and of what type?"

These would all be reasonable questions to ask before we allow someone to ingest items with known toxicity. But that would be rational, and man is an irrational species.