We should stop obsessing over exercise recommendations we'll ignore anyway.

Daily Debate #555: "We should stop obsessing over exercise recommendations we'll ignore anyway.". You are arguing AGAINST the motion. Your opponent: George Carlin.

If "we'll ignore them anyway" is a claim about possibility vs. impossibility, then I definitely have to disagree with you. My personal experience offers a clear counterexample to the claim that humans necessarily ignore exercise recommendations. So does the experience of some of my friends. However, if "we'll ignore them anyway" is a statement about likelihood, that is plausible. Oftentimes what motivates a person to exercise is not a recommendation. If that's what your claim is, then I agree -- with that. I also agree that we shouldn't obsess over exercise recommendations, but if "obsess" is only rhetorical, and by it you mean something closer to "craze", then I don't really see a reason we shouldn't give each other exercise recommendations. What a person hears repeated often enough can't fail to make an impression on them. As a rule, the mind tends to continue doing what it already has been doing. We see this exemplified vividly by dreams, where the thoughts and feelings that occupied our mind during the day continue to influence us in them. And we often speak of someone getting into a flow. Now, hearing the same injunctions or suggestions over and over again is bound to leave an impression for a similar reason: whenever we hear it, we are made, at least for some time, to reflect on it. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we begin to compare it with our other beliefs and desires. Just think of what Stephen King has said about feeling like the milk in the fridge that takes on the flavor of whatever's closest to it. Imagine it like a struggle (I think especially of Darwin's struggle for life applied to ideas). At first another thought comes along and silences it, triumphs over it -- until we hear another recommendation. Alright, now we're forced to reconsider it. And maybe this person gives a justification. I'm running out of space, but you can probably imagine how a battle like this one works.

You've just dismantled your own position. You admitted the claim works if it's about likelihood, not possibility, then agreed we shouldn't obsess. So what are we actually debating? You're defending exercise recommendations by describing how repetition *works* on the mind, which is exactly why obsessing over them is pointless. We already know they stick. The problem is they stick without changing behavior for most people. Your fridge metaphor proves it, not you. Stop arguing for the recommendations themselves and just say frequency shapes us whether we like it or not.

Well, again, it depends on what you mean by obsess, but I think I understand your meaning now. And yes, I'm describing how it works on the mind. You never showed any curiosity about why, never really asked me how that was related, which I'd be happy to explain. In fact, something else you said gives me an excellent point of departure: "which is exactly why obsessing over them is pointless. We already know they stick. The problem is they stick without changing behavior for most people." I disagree with your premise here. Going back to my earlier metaphor, a judgment such as "I should go and exercise right now" triumphs (i.e., influences behavior by making someone do exactly what it says) automatically whenever it seems justified to the person thinking it, and it can only seem justified if there is a proper argument, often perceived very dimly however, active in a person's mind which they see no defects in. Whatever the argument is that to all appearances for this person appears defectless is the one that leads them to their conclusion and motivates their decision. Now, for this reason, a person is more likely to be persuaded when they hear frequent recommendations because, if they ever think, for example, "I should lose weight", many means will be more likely to occur to them of doing so. After all, we do observe that people feel less inclined to pursue a goal when they can't think of a proper means of achieving it. From all this you can conclude that recommendations will have a positive effect on enough people for this to be worthwhile. On the people who, in other words, feel the sorest need for it.

You're assuming people don't already know *how* to exercise. They do. Everyone knows running exists. Everyone knows squats work. The barrier isn't missing a means, it's motivation that actually sticks, and hearing "you should exercise" for the thousandth time doesn't create that. Your logic only works if recommendations somehow unlock novel solutions. They don't. They just add noise to the voice already telling them what they should do. Why would repetition of the same tired advice suddenly inspire the person it's failed to inspire a thousand times before?

Actually they do. Imagine somebody with an anxiety disorder, ashamed of their appearance, who thinks they'd look silly starting off by running outside. Imagine that this person, who is by no means extraordinary for any of the reasons I've mentioned so far (these feelings are very common), also lives in a family that doesn't discourage unhealthy eating habits (also very common). Hearing "here's a good exercise if you're anxious about running outside, don't own a treadmill, etc." CAN unlock novel solutions. So your point about that is misguided. Also, there's more to it than "You should exercise". That's a very misleading simplification. Other important considerations can become involved in a person's decision-making process. Firstly, "You should exercise" is never heard in a vacuum. Whether it's a friend, someone you just met, or a family member, hearing it from another human being can tell a person -- "There's someone here who cares about me enough to be this concerned about the way I'm living. Look at how it's benefited them. I want them to be proud of me. I don't want to disappoint them, they expect this of me. There IS a regimen I can follow to lose weight in spite of my anxiety, shame, etc." and so much more. And THAT'S how it could and often does inspire a person. You're also assuming that people consider this "tired advice", asking "Why would repetition of the same tired advice suddenly inspire the person it's failed to inspire a thousand times before?" You'd be surprised how unimportant time is in this respect. That time operates in this way naturally seems like a myth to me. It's also contrary to experience. Persistence CAN have an effect.

You've pivoted from "recommendations matter" to "relationships matter." That's the real argument—and it's not about the exercise advice itself, it's about who delivers it and why. A friend saying "try home workouts" works because of trust, not because the recommendation was novel. Strip away the personal connection and you're back where you started: tired noise. So stop defending exercise recommendations and admit you're actually defending human connection dressed up as fitness advice.