A commercial just came on tv. A commercial for fitness. For exercise.
The announcer said that on average, every hour you spend in regular, strenuous exercise adds two hours of life expectancy.
Now, I want you to think about that for a minute.
In fact, I want them to think about it. I think they should rethink this campaign. They shouldn't be broadcasting that statistic. They should hush that up. That's not going to ensnare any converts to the cause. Not unless they're morons.
I mean, sure. It sounds good for a second. You're getting two more hours...of life! Wonderful!
Except, really you're only getting one hour net. You had to spend one hour exercising, in order to get those two hours of life expectancy. That's negative one plus two. Which equals one.
Okay, but it's still another hour of life, right? An hour you can spend however you like! Right? A bonus hour of precious, blessed LIFE!!
Except...it's at the end of your life...and whatever's going on in that hour, you're probably not going to enjoy it nearly as much as much as what you could have enjoyed doing during that hour you just wasted exercising.
Am I wrong about the math on this? It just seems like a bad deal! You don't know what you're getting in that extra hour. You have no idea. Could be pleasant. Could suck. It's a totally unknown quantity. But to get that extra hour (which again, falls at the end of your life expectancy), you DO KNOW that you will be spending a grueling, strenuous hour in hardship and misery.
You want an extra hour? Keep that hour. Do something else in that hour. Something more worthwhile and enriching than grunting and sweating and grimacing and flopping around.
You can't get that hour back. Or yeah, technically you do get it back. But they stick it where you won't want it.
Maybe if they upped it to three hours that might be worth it. Still be a bit of a gamble...but at least it's a bit more of a return on your investment.
The announcer said that on average, every hour you spend in regular, strenuous exercise adds two hours of life expectancy.
Now, I want you to think about that for a minute.
In fact, I want them to think about it. I think they should rethink this campaign. They shouldn't be broadcasting that statistic. They should hush that up. That's not going to ensnare any converts to the cause. Not unless they're morons.
I mean, sure. It sounds good for a second. You're getting two more hours...of life! Wonderful!
Except, really you're only getting one hour net. You had to spend one hour exercising, in order to get those two hours of life expectancy. That's negative one plus two. Which equals one.
Okay, but it's still another hour of life, right? An hour you can spend however you like! Right? A bonus hour of precious, blessed LIFE!!
Except...it's at the end of your life...and whatever's going on in that hour, you're probably not going to enjoy it nearly as much as much as what you could have enjoyed doing during that hour you just wasted exercising.
Am I wrong about the math on this? It just seems like a bad deal! You don't know what you're getting in that extra hour. You have no idea. Could be pleasant. Could suck. It's a totally unknown quantity. But to get that extra hour (which again, falls at the end of your life expectancy), you DO KNOW that you will be spending a grueling, strenuous hour in hardship and misery.
You want an extra hour? Keep that hour. Do something else in that hour. Something more worthwhile and enriching than grunting and sweating and grimacing and flopping around.
You can't get that hour back. Or yeah, technically you do get it back. But they stick it where you won't want it.
Maybe if they upped it to three hours that might be worth it. Still be a bit of a gamble...but at least it's a bit more of a return on your investment.
Comments
Ta-da!
You get two hours at the end of your life, for which you give up an hour in the prime of your life. As we both agree - a net gain of one hour.
But this is like trading a fresh delicious apple you have for two dried-up, old, rotten apples later. Which is, to be sure, a net gain of one apple.
(M'mm!)