02-20-2005, 02:59 AM
How do you feel about what this guy is saying?
People say that exercise will improve longevity. This post wants to be so bold as to say that "as for longevity, less movement is better than more movement."
If you look at turtles, they usually can live for 100+ years. Why? Because turtles move very very slowly and is very very silent. This is determined by their biological structure, even if it wants to be fast and vigorous, it cannot. Compared to humans, turtle is surely the champion of longevity.
If you look at a car. The the longevity of a car depends very much on its engine. Similarly, a person's longevity depends very much on his heart. The heart is the engine of a person. There's a theory that says every person's total heartbeat in life is fixed. So if your heart beats quickly, then you'll die sooner than if your heart beats slowly.
People have calculated that if a regular person's heart rate is 70/second, and if you can reduce that to 50/second through exercise/sports, then you may live longer. But this is only a theory. There's been no supporting statistic. We all know that athlete's hearts beat very slowly, yet there's no data showing that athletes live longer than others. In fact, I'm willing to bet that there is data showing athletes on average have a shorter life-span than non-atheletes, precisely because of the over-vigor of their movements.
I believe people with long lifespans are not athletes, but those who lead a very calm life, such as scholars or artists. The reason is that scholars/artists usually have very peaceful minds, and do not have big emotional changes, and have very little psychological burden in life. In my childhood, I knew a teacher named Teacher Gong. In the 70's, Teacher Gong lost his job because of his "family background", and he had a huge psychological burden and spent all the time bemoaning his life, and as a result, even his face looks very unhealthy. But as the 90's came, he was politcally rehabilitated. And now, his mood/psychological state has been going up everyday. He just had his 80's birthday and had a very sumptuous and healthy face. Yet he almost never excercises, he spends most of his time in his study room reading books, painting, doing caligraphy, studying chinese chess games etc etc. So it seems that longevity actually has less to do with exercise/movement, but more to do with your psychological health.
Of course there should still be exercises. But I believe truly healthy exercises are things that are not very vigorous. Such as fishing, dancing, skating, swimming, singing, strolling, etc. Those things are all actually very peaceful and improves your mood. So I'd like to call them "mood improving" actions. And those "mood improving" actions are the real key to
longevity. It improves a person's psychological state, and makes your mind less intense and more calm, and you'll act very peacefully even to big disasters in life.
In the US, I am often baffled by Gyms. I think it is very bizzare and strange that people would drive 15 minutes, find a parking spot, just so they can spend 1 hour on a treadmill machine. Don't you think that is too utilitarian? I believe the alienation between people in the modern society is most actutely displayed in gyms. Why can't you jog in your own backyard? Are you not collecting fat when you sit in the car for 15 minutes driving to the gym? Of course, I'm only talking about the relationship between longevity and movement, if you go to the gym to develop big muscles and seduce young girls, then that is another issue.
People say that exercise will improve longevity. This post wants to be so bold as to say that "as for longevity, less movement is better than more movement."
If you look at turtles, they usually can live for 100+ years. Why? Because turtles move very very slowly and is very very silent. This is determined by their biological structure, even if it wants to be fast and vigorous, it cannot. Compared to humans, turtle is surely the champion of longevity.
If you look at a car. The the longevity of a car depends very much on its engine. Similarly, a person's longevity depends very much on his heart. The heart is the engine of a person. There's a theory that says every person's total heartbeat in life is fixed. So if your heart beats quickly, then you'll die sooner than if your heart beats slowly.
People have calculated that if a regular person's heart rate is 70/second, and if you can reduce that to 50/second through exercise/sports, then you may live longer. But this is only a theory. There's been no supporting statistic. We all know that athlete's hearts beat very slowly, yet there's no data showing that athletes live longer than others. In fact, I'm willing to bet that there is data showing athletes on average have a shorter life-span than non-atheletes, precisely because of the over-vigor of their movements.
I believe people with long lifespans are not athletes, but those who lead a very calm life, such as scholars or artists. The reason is that scholars/artists usually have very peaceful minds, and do not have big emotional changes, and have very little psychological burden in life. In my childhood, I knew a teacher named Teacher Gong. In the 70's, Teacher Gong lost his job because of his "family background", and he had a huge psychological burden and spent all the time bemoaning his life, and as a result, even his face looks very unhealthy. But as the 90's came, he was politcally rehabilitated. And now, his mood/psychological state has been going up everyday. He just had his 80's birthday and had a very sumptuous and healthy face. Yet he almost never excercises, he spends most of his time in his study room reading books, painting, doing caligraphy, studying chinese chess games etc etc. So it seems that longevity actually has less to do with exercise/movement, but more to do with your psychological health.
Of course there should still be exercises. But I believe truly healthy exercises are things that are not very vigorous. Such as fishing, dancing, skating, swimming, singing, strolling, etc. Those things are all actually very peaceful and improves your mood. So I'd like to call them "mood improving" actions. And those "mood improving" actions are the real key to
longevity. It improves a person's psychological state, and makes your mind less intense and more calm, and you'll act very peacefully even to big disasters in life.
In the US, I am often baffled by Gyms. I think it is very bizzare and strange that people would drive 15 minutes, find a parking spot, just so they can spend 1 hour on a treadmill machine. Don't you think that is too utilitarian? I believe the alienation between people in the modern society is most actutely displayed in gyms. Why can't you jog in your own backyard? Are you not collecting fat when you sit in the car for 15 minutes driving to the gym? Of course, I'm only talking about the relationship between longevity and movement, if you go to the gym to develop big muscles and seduce young girls, then that is another issue.
