I just finished reading The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. It was a fairly good
book, good story ontop of learning a few things. Below is not meant to be a summary of the
book by any means. It was anything I found important or useful to rereference later.
Also as a note for future book notes. This is something I am just starting. I always highlight
in non-fiction books so I can rereference important points later. But I decided taking notes
this way as well would be easier to look through and allow me to post them here in case anyone
else is able to derive value from them.
My Notes
Part One
33 Days (Ch.1)
Most people never step out of their comfort zones, they live sheltered lives with modern day comforts and this limits their ability to enjoy their life
There has been some scientific evidence to show that experiencing the same discomforts that our ancestors did can make us stronger and protect us from physical and psychological problems. And also give us meaning and purpose
35, 55 or 75 (Ch.2)
The author discusses his struggles with alcohol. And how after he stopped drinking he realized he is in a constant state of comfort with lots of luxuries and every ounce of boredom is erradicated with his smartphone
0.004 percent (Ch.3)
Constant comfort is so new to humans. Our modern luxuries such as climate control and computers have been around for 0.03% - 0.004% of our existance (depending on what you count as "human")
Early humans were always hungry. Food was not constant. They had to search for food or fight against animals that could kill them. Today we can click a button on our phones and have food show up at our door
When these early humans were not finding food, they were often bored. Their minds would wander, their imagintations strong. Today boredom is dead for most people. Anyone can get a constant stream of overstimulating content anytime they want
Early humans also experienced a much different kind of stress than us. We are stressed about first world problems while early humans were worried about being mauled, finding food and other things of the like
Because of our comfortable lives we deal with many more problems that our ancestors did not have to deal with.
Our lifespans are up but healthspans are down, people are very sick. Many of these medical issues are "new"
Deaths of despair (such as suicide, overdose etc) are ever increasing
We don't deal with the same discomforts our ancestors did but we end up dealing with physical and mental health problems
It is easy to numb the pain from these with our modern comforts
800 faces (Ch.4)
Humans don't see black and white, we see things in shade of gray, and it all depends on what we saw before
This can lead to "comfort creep". When new comforts are introduced, we adapt to them and move on to other things, the old ones become unacceptable. We are "always moving the goalpost"
50/50 (Ch.6)
Going out into nature for periods of time and doing "challenging" things there may lead to improved mindfulness and clarity. This is called a "misogi".
We never push out of our comfort zones. These "misogis" are challenges that mimic what our ancestors would have faced. They really push our comfort zone and allow us to see our potential
These misogis are not about the physical goals, they are about pushing yourself mentally moreso
There are 2 rules for these misogis. 1. It has to be really hard. 2. You can't die
They recommend having about a 50% chance of success at the misogi
Many older cultures have "rites of passage", often including touch nature surivival challenges to prove themselves. There seem to be 3 key elements, seperation (exciting society), transition (entering the challenge) and incorporation (reentering society an improved person)
In modern culture the opposite happens, "helicopter parenting" is a thing. This is thought to cause many modern mental issues in children
They recommend not sharing these misogis with many people, don't do it for the external validation, its all internal
There has been some research saying that facing some challenge, although not an overwhelming amount improves psychological well-being
50. 70. or 90. (Ch.7)
"Who needs to chat up a $100/hr therapist when there are long, quiet, empty trails waiting to be walked on"
Exercising in hot weather (ex: 100°F) is better for the heart. Also it activates inflammation fighting proteins and BDNF
When we do the same things over and over we end up on autopilot. We stop being present and aware
New experiences can combat aganist living on autopilot and allow one to be more present
150 people (Ch.8)
As population density increases peoples happiness tends to decrease. Dunbars number is 150, this is the "ideal size" for a community
101 miles (Ch.9)
"In solitude you can find the unfiltered version of you. People often have break-throughs where they tap into how they truly feel about a topic and come to some new understanding about themselves..."
"Building the capacity to be alone probably makes your interactions with others richer. Because you're bringing to the relationship a person who's actually got stuff going on in the inside and isn't just a connector circuit that only thrives off others"
Part Two
11 hours, 6 minutes (Ch.11)
Boredom is practically dead for most people. Any down time is filled with screentime or other distractions.
It takes lots of mental effort to kill our boredom with stimulation as our brain is in "focused mode"
This causes high levels of mental fatigue, we aren't designed to have this much focus/mental stimulation
Stress and anxiety are up and attention spans are down. This may be caused by the mental fatigue
20 minutes, 5 hours, 3 days (Ch.12)
"Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and even spiritual satisfaction"
Studies have been done on the effect being in nature has on humans. It has been shown to have numerous physical and mental health benefits, even after just being out in a forest for a few hours (biophilia)
Going out into nature is free and has no side effects. One should try this before other solutions
It seems that the wilder than nature, the better
"Nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is necessary..." - John Muir
12 places (Ch.13)
Many people do not get enough quality sleep because they lack full darkness, silence and they do not fully exert themselves during the day
The lack of quiet and loud sounds in our modern environment may lead to us being stressed. As noise would have caused our ancestors to be on alert. We may not feel stressed, but there are studies that show our body releases certain hormones that cause stress
Silence seems to be one of the most relaxing things, we should seek it more
Part Three
-4000 calories (Ch.14)
Instead of having acute stresses (like a predator about to eat you) we have chronic stress that we create ourselves (mostly). This leads to a constant cortisol response
This leads many people to stress eat even when they are not hungry
People who eat a diet that consists of whole foods experience less disease
There are a group of people (Kitavians) who still live a hunter-gatheresque life. They were studied and found to have some of the healthiest hearts every recorded
12 to 16 hours (Ch.15)
If one never feels true hunger, they are experiencing the effects of comfort creep
Although early humans likely didn't go for extended periods without any food. Likely a day at most
But early humans were not constantly eating like modern humans
Long hours of overnight fasting most likely occured
Autophagy is like a "cellular natural selection". Poor quality cells are recycled, this has tons of benefits. Some of these damaged cells even cause damage to nearby cells and are responsible for aging
Autophagy only occurs during a fasted state
Much of the hunger we experience is a result of boredom or some cheap coping mechanism. It is not true hunger
"It's proven the harder you work for something, the happier you'll be about it"
Part Four
12/31, 11:59:33 P.M (Ch.17)
Many people seem to fear death and believe that it is an uncomfortable topic
"If I take death into my life, acknolwdge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the anxiety of death and the pettiness of life—and only then will I be free to become myself"- Martin Heidegger
Contemplating death can make one appreciate life and become happier overall
Many people spend their lives "going through a checklist". Get a good job, house, car, family etc. But as these accomplishments are met and items are aquired, they just add more things they want and the cycle never ends
Material good feel good for a while until we become used to them, then we want the next thing
It seems that wealth and possessions only improve happiness as far as they fufill our basic needs, past that they do not seem to significantly improve happiness
When we cram out lives with these "checklist" items and have them as our main focus, we lose time to confront real issues
"Don't you want to know that there's a cliff [Slowly walking towards a cliff is referencing death]? Because only then can we change our course. We could take a more scenic route, notice the beauty of the trail before it ends, say the things we truly want to say to the people we're walking it with."
Everything is impermanent
Most people fail to realize this. They end up putting things off that they truly want to do as they believe they can just do it later
Part Five
100+ pounds (Ch.19)
Modern exercise is usually pretty comfortable and not abundant enough. Exercising outside can have both mental and physical benefits. There is extra stimulus and decision making and non-perfect/comfortable conditions when exercising outside
≤50 pounds (Ch.20)
Early humans (or just running barefoot probably) would have the front or middle of their foot strike the ground first while running. With modern comfortable shoes, it seems to be the heel. The former seems to be more efficient and reduce injury
Personal side note: Whenever I run barefoot I always noticed that I end up running with the very front of my foot hitting the ground first, it just naturally seems to happen
Exercise is basically the miracle drug. It lowers the risk of death of almost every cause of death (overall increases lifespan), is more effective than drugs to treat diabetes, leads to similar brain changes as antidepressents and more
"In our pursuit of better living we've allowed comfort to calcify out natural movements and strengths. Without concious discomfort and purposeful exercise—a forceful push against comfort creep—we'll only continue to become weaker and sicker."
80 percent (Ch.21)
Our lack of natural movement causes all sorts of problems. A Harvard study estimates that 97% of "nonspecific" back pain is caused by the captivity of our modern environment
81.2 years (Epilogue)
Extreme sanitization seems to get rid of many beneficial microorganisms. This seems to be the cause of many modern problems and chronic diseases and allergies.
People who do not live very sanitized lives seem to be tougher and have stronger immune systems
This lack of exposure to these microorganisms seems to be putting us in a stae of chronic low-grade inflammation
Cold exposure can help activate brown fat which assists in burning white fat (the fat we try to lose)
It is even recommended to slowly lower the temperature that we live in until it is down to around 64°F