Episodes
-
In this episode James and Robby explore the connection between humility and fitness.
Humility is an admission of one's own limitations.
Fitness, by its very nature involves encountering one's own limitations in the physical world.
For example if someone can't do a pull-up or run 3 miles continuously that typically involves them eating a slice of humble-pie, in a good way.
In this episode they ask and try to answer the following questions about humility and its connection with fitness.
-Is fitness a means of achieving or furthering the virtue of humility in one’s own life?
-How does fitness teach humility?
-What are similarities and differences between physical humility (humility about one’s own physical capabilities) and intellectual humility?
- Every profession has its own share of arrogant jerks, but where does the fitness industry as a whole sit on the continuum of humility?
-How has social media and its gigantic intersection with fitness in the past 13 years affected the humility of fitness individuals and fitness coaches?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
In this episode James and Robby discuss the connection between ignorance and fitness.
In philosophy there is a very antagonistic relationship to ignorance. Philosophy (and science) are attempts in many ways eradicate as much ignorance as possible for as many people as possible
Different philosophical takes on ignorance include
-The unexamined life is not worth living (Socrates)
-Neither is the examined one (MacIntyre-in response to Socrates)
-Better to be Socrates unsatisfied than an (ignorant) pig satisfied (Mill)
-“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.” - Charles Darwin
But when it comes to fitness one has to ask what role ignorance should or should not play in it?
James and Robby ask and attempt to answer the following questions.
Does one need to have special knowledge (e.g., exercise science) to engage in fitness practices?
Can someone legitimately claim ignorance today about the factors that lead to optimal health and fitness today?
How does the claim that the unexamined life is not worth living apply to the life of fitness in particular?
How can/should ignorance be combatted in the modern world when it comes to fitness and health?
What responsibility do we have as fitness individuals to educate ourselves (eliminate ignorance) about proper fitness and health practices when those things are no longer our birthright?
-
Episodes manquant?
-
How should the fact that we all die at some point inform our fitness journey? That is the central question of this episode.
There's almost a paradox when think of fitness and it's relation to death
On the one hand, ·for many who engage in health and fitness activities it involves a deep acknowledgement of the fundamental reality of the inevitability of death.
And yet, on the other hand, ·engaging in health and fitness activities ultimately involves trying to resist or delay death by any natural means possible.
In this episode, James and Robby discuss the following questions:
Is it wrong, problematic, irrational for us to engage in physical activities that actively work against longevity/sustainability and/or bring us closer to death sooner? (e.g., olympic lifting, powerlifting, etc.)
How should the fact we all die one day inform our fitness journey?
If technology ends up extending our lifespan another 50, 100, 200 years, how does that impact our health and fitness journeys?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
In this episode James and Robby discuss the question, "what do we owe the future?" and how does this relate to health and fitness?
When it comes to general life we want to leave people in the future with:
-a better overall world than the one we had
-a habitable planet
-an easier life (to a certain extent)
But when it comes to fitness and health unique questions arise when we ask "what do we owe the future" like:
-do we have a moral duty as a society to get rid of processed and junk foods?
-do we have a duty to not let life get to easy so we still have a connection fitness and our biology?
-how should schools and society be set up to best promote health and fitness for generations to come?
James and Robby explore these questions and their implications for health and fitness as we know it.
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
There's a very real possibility that in the next 100 years what it means to be human will fundamentally change because of AI and robotics.
Yes, what it means to be human has changed throughout history but in terms of our basic biology it's been essentially the same for 10s of thousands of years.
Now it is poised to change significantly in the coming couple of centuries.
Biology is central to our health and fitness practices, so it stands to reason that if our biology changes our health and fitness outlook will change.
In this episode James and Robby explore the following questions related to this idea of "the last of the humans".
As we see it there are four main possible scenarios that humans will encounter in the next two centuries each with it's own unique implications for health and fitness.
Option #1: Complete Extinction:
-No biological human beings exist anymore. Think Terminator, only no humans are left at all.
Option #2: Human Beings Coexist with Machines:
-Genuine biological human beings coexist with “inorganic minds” (Think Star Trek, Halo, the Matrix, Blade Runner etc.)
Option #3: Human Beings merge with machines but still exist in a physical form
Think the Borg from Star Trek, Cable from X-Men, or Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Here there is still a physical human that has merged with some form of technology.
Option #4: Superintelligence
Think Joaquin Phoenix’s “Her” (sort of-humans still exist in that one). The idea here is biological humans are gone and our consciousness is purely digital 0s and 1s. There’s no “friction” with the physical world anymore. Immortality and freedom from “dependence on the body” has been achieved.
Obviously, every single one of these is a massive change from the world as we know it today.
James and Robby explore these scenarios and their implications for health and fitness as we know it.
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
As Alasdair MacIntyre famously said, human beings are dependent rational animals.
The "dependent" part is significant.
We often fail to see how dependent we are on basic things like food, water, oxygen, social structure, etc.
We often crave independence from certain things, but the truth is that at a very deep and fundamental humans are dependent beings.
In this episode, where we focus on independence, James and Robby discuss the concept of independence and its relationship with fitness.
They ask and attempt to answer the following questions
-what is independence?
-how much independence are we really capable of as humans?
-with regard to fitness are we more independent if we don't utilize are coach or personal trainer?
-are we more independent beings if we don't rely on fitness apps and equipment?
-is the highest order goal of fitness independence/autonomy?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
As Alasdair MacIntyre famously said, human beings are dependent rational animals.
The "dependent" part is significant.
We often fail to see how dependent we are on basic things like food, water, oxygen, social structure, etc.
We often crave independence from certain things, but the truth is that at a very deep and fundamental humans are dependent beings.
In this episode James and Robby discuss the concept of dependence and its relationship with fitness.
They ask and attempt to answer the following questions
-what is dependence?
-is being dependent good, bad, or morally neutral? Does it depend on the context?
-is dependence binary or does it exist on a spectrum?
-have we become too dependent in fitness on coaches, apps, programs, etc.?
-what are appropriate forms of dependence in the health and wellness space? For example many of us depend on refrigeration, grocery stores, and appliances to make and eat healthy food?
-is the highest order goal of fitness independence/autonomy?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
In this episode, James and Robby explore the connection between the philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre, and more specifically his book "After Virtue", and its connection with fitness.
In his book "After Virtue" MacIntyre asks us to imagine there was some sort of catastrophe by which all of our scientific knowledge came to be destroyed.
Eventually enlightened people try to restore that knowledge but all they have are fragments of the past.
For example they know objects near the surface of the Earth fall at 9.8m/s2 but they don’t know the why behind it (gravity)
MacIntyre argues that we are in exactly this situation with regard to the language of morality these days.
In this situation what we call modern morality or ethics is divorced from the original intention of morality where the idea was to achieve the highest good one could in this life through being virtuous.
How does this connect to fitness?
We're actually in a very similar situation with regard to fitness knowledge currently.
All we have is fragments of "cardio", "strength", or "vegetables contain fiber" without an overarching framework to unite all those pieces.
Although in this case of fitness this overarching framework to unite everything, namely evolutionary biology, does exist few people recognize and follow through with the true implications of it.
MacIntyre also argues that the way forward in this type of world for morality is small monastic communities that are "defenders of the faith" so to speak.
Similarly with fitness there are small enclaves of people who fight for the "vitality" model of fitness and use evolutionary biology to guide it.
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
Most people would agree that things like rocks, tables, chairs, the sun, and oceans are all real.
By real here, we mean something like: these things would exist even if humans didn't exist.
But what about social reality?
What about things that depend on humanity for their existence and yet have real power and influence?
Here are some examples
-Money
-The presidency of the United States
-Laws
-The existence of nation states
Take money for example. There's no inherent value or meaning to green pieces of paper (at least in the US) outside the meaning and value that humans have made up.
And yet, this doesn't mean it's imaginary either. A person with 1000 green pieces of paper with $100 printed on it wields a considerable amount of actual monetary power in the world.
Similarly, if humans didn't exist and have societies there would be no such concept or thing as "President of the United States',
And yet, even though humans made it up the person holding that office wields a considerable amount of power.
In this episode James and Robby discuss social reality and fitness. They ask and attempt to answer the following questions
-What is social reality?
-Why is it so important to the world we live in today?
-How do social reality and physical reality bump up against each other in fitness?
-What about things like points and prizes for fitness which don't have any reality outside of a social context?
-There's no movement such as "the Russian Kettlebell Swing" outside of human societal conventions and yet there are objective facts about how humans should hinge their hips, etc.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
Reality is one of the central concepts in philosophy.
In fact, one of the most fundamental questions in philosophy is, "What is real?".
Philosophers are very frequently trying to distinguish appearance from reality.
Fitness provides one of the most direct forms of access to the external world/reality in terms of directly sensing the world around us.
Fitness can also provide a direct "reality-check" to what we believe to be true about of ourselves in terms of our physical capabilities. That "reality-check" can serve as an inspiration to get better.
In this episode James and Robby ask, and attempt to answer the following questions.
What is reality?
How does reality "hit" or "push back" against what we believe to be true?
Is fitness and physical expression one of the best ways of gaining access to reality?
What lessons do we learn as people from confronting physical realities like "I can't do a pull-up" or "I can't a mile? Can these be sources of motivation and inspiration?
In a world on the brink of augmented and virtual reality encroaching on the fitness world, what does it mean to engage in "real" fitness?
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
Habits are central to both philosophy and fitness.
As far back as the Ancient Greeks, Aristotle famously said
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence therefore is not an act, but a habit."
Aristotle in this particular case is talking about virtue, but the point applies equally well to other parts of life, especially health and fitness.
One could argue that habits are the central determining factor in success in health and fitness. Here's an example to illustrate the point.
Take two people one of whom grew up in a home based on ancestral principles and habits of sleeping at the right times, eating the right foods, moving their body, etc., but they have no scientific knowledge of nutrition science, exercise physiology, etc.
Now, take another person who has all the knowledge in the world about nutrition, exercise physiology, etc., but who did not grow up knowing how to properly move his body, cook food, sleep at the right times. In fact that person grew up with negative habits eating junk food, not moving, sleeping too late, etc.
Which person has the better chance of being healthy?
Is it even a question?
Of course, it's person 1.
This example shows just how important habits are for health and fitness.
In this episode James and Robby ask and attempt to answer the following questions.
-How can health and fitness habits make us better people?
-Why are health and fitness habits the most important to cultivate compared to professional or financial habits?
-Why is the health and fitness industry obsessed with short term outcomes as opposed to long-term habits?
-How are thoughts and feeling related to habits?
-Why short cuts don't work when it comes to habits?
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
Most of our life, technology, and progress is centered around the idea of making life easier.
Think about things like Door Dash, sleeping pills, and self-driving cars.
But a central question that comes up is: Is an easier life necessarily a better life?
It seems that as humans we're hard-wired to need some difficulty, challenge, or struggle to live a full and meaningful life.
In this episode James and Robby discuss the extent to which ease and difficulty play a role in fitness and our lives in general. They ask and attempt to answer questions like:
-In a world where things have become so "easy" that it's actually "difficult" to lead a healthy life, how do we get back to healthy living?
-Even if we wanted to we can't mimic the struggles of the past, so what we should do in the modern world to have some difficulty or challenge?
-Should the purpose of fitness be to "rake ourselves over the coals" so to speak on a daily basis with overwhelming challenges?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
Beauty in philosophy is considered one of the ultimately values like justice, truth, knowledge, and goodness.
One of the central goals of most people in engaging in fitness is to look better, or to cultivate physical beauty.
In this episode James and Robby ask and give their answer the following questions
What makes beauty worth pursuing?
Is beauty just "appearance" that hides a deeper "reality"
Is beauty in the eye of the beholder (subjective) or out there in the world? (objective)
How does the modern fitness industry influence standards of beauty?
How closely are physical fitness, evolution and natural beauty tied to one another?
Can obsessive pursuit of (external) beauty via extreme forms of fitness make us (internally) ugly?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
What is a legacy?
At the most basic level it's what we leave to future generations of people.
When it comes to a legacy with regard to fitness, the question becomes:
What do we owe the future when it comes to the world of fitness and health that we give to future generations?
In this podcast, James and Robby ask and attempt to answer the following questions.
-Is all we should be doing in fitness and health studying the legacy of our ancestors?
-Are our current health and fitness practices tarnishing the legacy of our ancestors?
-How is our own personal legacy determined? Is the last things we say and do? The sum of all our actions? Our best work?
-What actions and practices do we need to adopt now to leave a beautiful health and fitness legacy to future generations?
-Does there need to be a new legacy created to incorporate fitness into the modern world? The old world isn’t coming back barring something catastrophic
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
Since the release of ChapterGPT in late 2022, interest and discussion around Artificial Intelligence has exploded.
Why?
There are so many societal and ethical implications around the development of AI such as:
-Will it lead to the end of all work?
-How can we tell appearance from reality when AI is getting so good at mimicking reality?
-Is AI essentially stealing the work of genuine creatives without any credit or attribution?
In part 2 of the discussion we ask and attempt to answer the following questions.
-Will AI entirely replace fitness coaches? If so, what are the implications of this?
-AI as it currently exists is missing things like intention, deep understanding, relationships, values, critical thinking, etc. How does this impact the information it provides about fitness?
-Could AI help a fitness coach deliver a better service to clients?
-Could AI help with societal health by analyzing data on a massive society-wide scale?
-How important is the coach/client relationship and could AI ever replace that?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
Since the release of ChapterGPT in late 2022, interest and discussion around Artificial Intelligence has exploded.
Why?
There are so many societal and ethical implications around the development of AI such as:
-Will it lead to the end of all work?
-How can we tell appearance from reality when AI is getting so good at mimicking reality?
-Is AI essentially stealing the work of genuine creatives without any credit or attribution?
In the fitness world, the development of AI leads to very interesting questions as well like:
-Will AI be a net positive or net negative for the health and fitness world?
-Will ChatGPT just regurgitate inaccurate information? What about contradictory/forbidden opinions like eggs are actually heart healthy and grains are not?
-What will something like ChatGPT accommodate conflicting answers or differing opinions on unsettled health and fitness questions?
-When you ask ChatGPT "what is the best fitness program?" how does it answer that question without knowing your particular values?
-AI is being developed by massive companies. How will the influence of these massive companies influence the health and fitness world?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy·
-
In the second part of their discussion about human nature, James and Robby continue to investigate the connection between human nature and fitness.
They ask and attempt to answer the following questions.
What is human nature?
Is there an essence to humans that applies across all places and times?
What is the balance of nature vs. nurture in human beings?
How much of a part of our human nature is fitness?
If fitness is such a natural part of our human nature why is it so neglected these days?
When it comes to our human nature how should that influence how we try to get as many people as possible involved in fitness?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy
-
In this episode, James and Robby investigate the connection between human nature and fitness.
They ask and attempt to answer the following questions.
What is human nature?
Is there an essence to humans that applies across all places and times?
What is the balance of nature vs. nurture in human beings?
How much of a part of our human nature is fitness?
If fitness is such a natural part of our human nature why is it so neglected these days?
When it comes to our human nature how should that influence how we try to get as many people as possible involved in fitness?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy
-
What makes you engage in fitness?
For many people it's the rewards that as a result of engaging in fitness like looking better, feeling better, and performing better.
For people who participate in sports it's things like pleasure, points, and prizes.
In this episode James explore the idea of rewards and its relation to fitness. They ask and attempt to answer the following questions.
What is a reward?
What's the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic rewards?
What role do rewards currently play in the fitness world?
How should we think about rewards and their relation to fitness?
What role should rewards play in the coach and client relationship?
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link. https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy
-
A prominent feature of any modern society is the notion of punishment or retribution for any wrongdoing.
Whether it's jail, fines, public humiliation and ostracism punishment is a central feature of certain aspects of modern society.
In this episode James and Robby ask and attempt to answer the following question with respect to punishment and fitness:
-What is punishment?
-Why do we punish someone after the act has already been committed?
-What makes punishment justified or unjustified?
-What relationship does punishment have to fitness and what relationship should it have?
-How have sports and the idea of "no pain, no gain" how we think about punishment and its relationship to fitness?
-What can we do to help fitness individuals realize they don't need to punish themselves with fitness by saying things like "If I eat pizza, I need to do a workout to burn it off"
If you like the show, please leave us a review. They really do help.
Have any thoughts, comments or questions? You can email us at [email protected]
Want to purchase Fitness in Philosophy T-Shirts? You can purchase them from the following link.
https://www.teepublic.com/user/fitness-in-philosophy
- Montre plus
