Every time I pass one of them, some part of me wants to swoop in and save the day, to grab them by their shoulders and shake them until they finally see the bubble of ignorance they've been languishing inside of for so long. But alas I've found that the Red Pill can only be self-administered, not force-fed. Part of what drives me to keep trying is how recently I was plugged into the Matrix. Up to about 2012 I was more or less your typical American kid (albeit with a funny accent). Then came what I like to call my very own "Year of Shocks". Here's a brief history of that term:
Historically the mid-late 40's were the beginning of America's golden years. We had just come out of the most brutal war in human history with a roaring economy and a profound sense of invincibility. From Japan to Western Europe we were the undisputed masters of the Earth, second to none! That is, until this rosy picture came crashing down in 1949. First Mao Zedong's forces took over all of China except for a tiny island enclave (Taiwan) and then, as if that wasn't enough for one year, the Soviets detonated their first atomic bomb, blasting our nuclear monopoly to bits. Suddenly the famous postwar jitters set in as Americans watched the skies anticipating sudden annihilation. Doubts spread, arms factories churned, and the world's leaders fought like rabid dogs– the Cold War had really begun.
Reality came crashing down on me in more or less the same way. One day, as I was browsing through some shelves at a bookstore, I saw a book with out of the corner of my eye that had an interesting silhouette of a running figure clutching a spear. The Primal Blueprint. Curious, I opened it up and started reading. In the space of about a couple dozen pages the author, one Mark Sisson, ruthlessly hacked apart all the dietary wisdom I had believed in since I was a kid with a series of simple biological arguments. That was my first shock, that what the government and my teachers had taught me to believe in was not only wrong, but also actively destructive to my health.
In retrospect I can't help but wonder how I didn't realize that something was "off" on my own. After all, even though I would never admit to myself that I was fat (I was) I still couldn't ignore the painful heartburn I suffered from despite following the standard diet to the letter (eating plenty of pasta, bread, margarine; shunning butter, oil, meat...) It wasn't until I read the opening pages of The Primal Blueprint that I had the realization that yes, something was wrong with not only my health but also that of the fatasses around me. Though I was sceptical about this particular diet at first, I decided to go for it anyway; I figured I'd never fix my health if I was too scared to even give it a shot. Sure enough, as the weeks passed I noticed I was becoming slimmer and fitter. Then- thank God almighty- at about the one month mark the heartburn ended. Though happy with the results of my little experiment, I found it very distressing to realize just how flat-out wrong the usual health advice actually is. Now every time I see one of my classmates shoving greasy pizza down his bloated throat I can't help but feel a sense of pity and an urge to help, to educate. Having tried many times to intervene, I've learnt the lesson that no amount of reasoning or pointing to scientific studies will get someone to change their dysfunctional ways (as I hinted before, that kind of motivation has to come from within). Seeing the plain, ugly truth was painful, but I preferred finally acknowledging it to languishing in ignorance and inaction like the rest. Veritas vos liberabit indeed.
Soon after my discovery of Paleo came shock number two: finding a corner of the web dedicated to helping social misfits understand the nature of human interaction to better themselves. Imagine my surprise when I, as a lonesome, antisocial introvert, started looking at the testimonies! As I read the "before" parts of their success stories I felt like the authors were writing about MY life, so similar were their miserable experiences to mine. Up until that point I had honestly thought I was a unique case, that nobody else had to go through the same ordeal of social isolation. They described in excruciating detail about suffering from the same anxiety and sense of helpless resignation I felt as a bitter outcast, but also their ultimately successful efforts to climb out of that awful pit. That inspired me to get off my ass and start talking to and befriending my classmates. Along the way I often fumbled and embarrassed myself, but I wanted to break out of my social ineptitude so badly that I kept trying regardless. At the same time I decided to fix my relationships with my parents and relatives (whom I had alienated for a long time) by speaking to them with candor, helping them around the house, pushing harder in school, and doing a hundred other little things that have made both them and me much happier with each other. A year later, I'm comfortable in my own skin and have a large circle of friends I go out and keep in touch with. It's amazing what you can do with even a little bit of knowledge provided that you have has the motivation to put yourself to work!
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