Developments in intelligence in causal relation to nutrition and consumption?
As a coach and educator, I work — or have worked — extensively with adolescents and young adults.
My observations probably sound very similar to those made by my parents’ generation, and even by the generation before them.
“Young people are lazy, spoiled, show no interest, no discipline,” and so on, and so on.
That young people are rebellious — and that they need to be — seems to be an unwritten law.
Interests also change as society develops. How could young people have been interested in video games at a time when such things did not even exist? If the youth of the 1960s had had the opportunity, would they have been sitting in front of a PlayStation as well? Certainly.
So perhaps this is not really a question of youth at all, but of society — and of societal developments. And who drives these developments? Ultimately, it is we adults. Driven by the desire for convenience, we research and develop things so that we no longer have to move, no longer have to decide, no longer have to think. That is not done by young people. It is not done by children.
We adults set the example: consumption. Convenience. We pass on what we have learned. The move towards convenience in every aspect of life is perceived by us as “progress”.
Switching back from plastic bottles to glass bottles would be seen by many as a step backwards into the 1980s. And yet, that would be true progress: reducing plastic production.
Capitalism knows only consumption. People are more likely to consume when they do not have to make an effort — when they can take the path of least resistance and remain within their comfort zone.
In marketing, it is a psychological principle to condition consumers through habit. A bond with a product works best when the consumer can be satisfied as easily as possible.
Nutella, for example, is a product that reaches consumers already in childhood. The entire sugar industry — and sugar-processing industry — is geared towards the taste “sweet”. With slogans such as “extra portion of milk” or “healthy breakfast cereals”, children are pushed into dependency at an early stage — not least because parents fall for it.
Nutella is now so firmly established that the company was able to withdraw from the volatile and increasingly expensive nut market without any real difficulty. The nut content was reduced, while sugar and palm oil were increased. Since a “new recipe” would have had to be introduced anyway, marketing strategists took the expected outrage out of the equation by proactively promoting a “new recipe” with “improved taste” — and simply released new labels with different designs onto the market. Temporarily changing packaging like this is known as a so-called “edition”.
Consumers fall for it. They now have a colourful jar, eat the product, notice that it tastes the same (today, food designers can recreate almost anything), and the initial resistance to opposing the company melts away. Well then… buying it and continuing to consume it wasn’t so difficult after all.
What has happened? It is harder to rebel through refusing consumption because of something that is wrong than it is to remain within habit. That is comfortably convenient. And people do not want to leave this comfort zone.
Imagine water were once again sold in glass bottles and you had to carry crates.
Your back! Your legs! How on earth did people manage this in the 1980s and 1990s? How was a woman able to carry a crate of water — or even a crate of cola (in one-litre glass bottles!) — from the car into the house without suffering a slipped disc?
Imagine beer were sold in glass again. Instead of five cans, only three bottles would fit into a backpack — and they would clink! Instead of cans, beer is now even being sold in plastic. Cheers.
Imagine having to carry your kebab wrapped in aluminium foil in your hand, rather than carrying one, two or even three of them in a thin plastic bag.
Imagine having to take a basket, a bag or something similar with you to the discount supermarket. First and foremost, you would have to remember it. Think!
The comfort zone also includes the fact that people no longer have to think as much, no longer have to organise as much, and no longer have to make as many decisions.
Imagine that whenever you leave the house, you would always have to carry a shoulder bag or a backpack with you — for shopping, or simply to take along your stainless-steel or aluminium cup so that, at bakeries offering coffee to go, you would use your own cup instead of the foil-lined paper cups… again and again.
A lot of change does not mean comfort. Change… the word alone already frightens many people.
Better not change anything! Behaviour, consumption, diet. You would have to keep thinking about it all the time… Exactly. THINKING.
The other day, my girlfriend and I were sitting in a beer garden and told two acquaintances that we had collected woodruff in the forest the day before and soaked it in white wine to make woodruff punch. Well… at the age of forty, you don’t necessarily have to know what woodruff looks like anymore. But you could. It’s simply more convenient to pour in syrup instead.
Instead of using many individual spices, you can just buy ready-made seasoning salt. Chicken seasoning… right… let’s have a look at what’s in it… third on the list: “yeast extract” — another word for glutamate. But… who even looks at that? If you want to know, you can.
What does coriander taste like? Cumin? Rosemary? Many people in their thirties don’t know. And apart from Maggi Fix, salt, pepper and perhaps curry, there’s nothing else on the spice shelf.
Everything somehow comes with meat — it’s cheap, after all (why is it cheap? Think about it!). Minced meat, Maggi Fix, pasta. Chickpeas? What are those? Do they giggle?
Plant-based protein is better than animal protein? Never heard of it. Which plants are rich in protein? No idea…
Die Welt wird vereinnahmt von Handy (Medienkonsum), Zuckerplürre (Energy und Co), Salz, Glutamat, Weichweizen mit 10 facher Menge Klebereiweiß (Gluten) als früher, Glyphosat und anderen neonikotinoiden verseuchten Gemüse, Nitrate im Gemüse und Trinkwasser, Antibiotika im Fleisch, und Schwermetallbelastungen sowie Mikroplastik im Fleisch und Fisch .
Zucker wirkt wie eine Droge, dies ist wissenschaftlich bestätigt, und macht abhängig. Zahlreiche Reportagen gibt es auf YouTube zu sehen.
Es gibt in der Tat einen Unterschied zu der heutigen Jugend und der damaligen, in meiner zwischen den 80er und 90er.
Es gab bereits Umweltgifte, zahlreich. Ob Eternit (Asbest), light Produkte mit Aspartam, Baugifte wie Formaldehyd, oder Plastik mit PPA etc….Diese Dinge hat man eingedämmt, aber…….irgendwie sind trotz Erkenntnisse und Forschung die Belastungen nicht weniger, sondern mehr geworden.
Die Baugifte mögen abgenommen haben, die Ernährung jedoch ist das krankmachendste Übel geworden. Hinzu kommen Bewegungsmangel, Entscheidungsabnahme, Handykonsum.
Lehrer die in den letzten drei Jahrzehnten unterrichtet haben bestätigten meine Beobachtungen:
Sie sagten dass Klassenarbeiten die sie vor 15-20 Jahren geschrieben haben so nicht mehr inhaltlich abfragen, da der Notenspiegel um gut 2 Noten (!) sinken würde. Die kognitiven Fähigkeiten, also die Gehirnleistung hat abgenommen. Darüber gibt es keine Studie, und wird es wahrscheinlich auch ganz bewusst nie geben. Um eine Gesellschaft zu lenken, ist es besser sie vor Bildung fern zu halten.
Nicht nur Bildung durch Schule beeinflusst unsere Denkleistung, sondern auch die falsche Ernährung (Thema ADHS bspw, durch Zuckerreduktion fast Symptomfrei in vielen Fällen), der Medienkonsum durch Handy (auch eine Sucht!!), und unsere Bequemlichkeit. Sie machen uns Denkfaul.
Profan gesagt ist es auch nicht dienlich wenn Menschen bis 80 oder gar 90 fit und leistungsstark sind. Wenn man dafür sorgt dass sie ab 60 krank werden belastet dies die Krankenkasse, aber nicht allzu lang die Rentenkasse.
Schelm wer jetzt Verschwörungstheorien entwickelt….
Aber…Jeder Einzelne kann sich dem entziehen, indem er sich auf den Weg macht sein Konsum zu ändern. Meidet Plastik. Meidet Wurst, Esst weniger Fleisch. Esst Bio Gemüse. Bewegt euch, macht auch mal Sport, also den Puls auch mal auf 160 oder drüber bringen. Fangt an euch schlau zu machen. Lesen hilft.
In diesem Sinne
Euer Gregor
