One of the most famous documented disputes between these two opposing ideologies came about in the early 1600s when Galileo, Italian astronomer and polymath, was persecuted by the church for his theory of heliocentrism—well his continuation of Copernicus theory of heliocentricism. Heliocentricism is the scientific theory that the earth revolved around the sun, whereas the church took a geocentric viewpoint that stated everything revolved around the earth.
The clear lines between scripture telling the way to heaven, while science attempting to prove the way of the heavens was a clear divide—divide of subjective morality and objective truth: How you feel vs. what you know.
Fast forward over 400 years, and we have a serious blurring of the lines between these two camps (not heliocentricism and geocentricism, the catholic church definitely took an L on that one).
But feeling and truth are no longer separate. They have become one.
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You know, get to choose what truth makes you feel good, and that’s turning into a big problem.
Enter nutrition, a science-backed field of health and fitness with huge emotional undertones.
Just as scripture attempted to tell us the ways of the heavens, science attempted to tell us how the heavens go. There is a fundamental wedge dividing the passionate identities that are backing diet trends, and the cold scientific truth behind the scenes.
If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. If you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. And every diet identity that is yielding results seems to hold true to this underlying principle. From cabbage soup to carnivore dieting, this seems to be an inescapable truth.
But, here we are 400 years later and we’re still arguing like popes and polymaths.
Rather than understanding the need for each field of belief and thought, we’re just yelling over each other, not trying to be helpful, but trying to be heard.
Dieters, you need to understand the fundamentals of thermodynamics and how macronutrients and caloric intake are going to be the biggest drivers to weight gain/loss.
Scientists, you need to understand people’s need for identity. Above survival and shelter, identity is one of our most fundamental needs to survive as humans.
With the speed of information and the lagging nature of context, we’ve ended up in a dangerous place.
A communal understanding of where each border draws its jurisdiction will help clearly show both sides that there is a harmonious overlap where belief and fact can thrive.
Stay strong,
A number of high-profile figures in the strength community are disputing the science (i.e. the facts) about the pandemic and disseminating conspiratorial bullshit to their social media followers.
These idiots are putting people's lives at risk. I wish that the real leaders (who got to where they are because they are NOT idiots) would speak out, even if it means alienating some people by hurting their "identity".
When we look back at this in five or ten years, history will judge people harshly for what they chose to say, or chose NOT to say.
This is a good article and it's a shame that you had to bring politics into it.