Is eating a waste of time?

[mac117]

Hi guys!

 

So, I know this might be a TOK type of thing, but I really would like to hear the opinions of others about this. For about a year now I've been thinking that eating is a huge waste of time and a human flaw. We spend over 3 hours everyday eating, preparing the food, or even ordering it in a fast food restaurant. Don't you think that this time could be used much more efficiently doing other things such as research, creation of new technology and many other things?

 

Think about it in a perspective - what if people didn't have to spend so much time eating everyday? What if we could just eat some kind of smoothie every morning (or once a week) that would have the correct amounts of every part of a great food diet. If that had been possible a hundread years ago, we would have been far more advanced, as people would have more time on more productive things. Wouldn't that be great?

 

There would be some positive outcomes too. People wouldn't overeat, and therefore obesity and many sicknesses linked to it would basically disappear. Everyone would be healthy, as everyone wouldn't eat too much sugar, fat or other things. Also, it would be much easier to fight hunger in the world, as it would be much easier to give everyone a year-worth of the substance that would feed them and keep them full.

 

Now I know that it's close to impossible for anything like that to be possible in the near future, but what is your opinion? Do you like spending so much time everyday eating, or would you rather eat someting once a day/week that would have the sufficient amount of nutrients?

 

I'm very interested in your responses! 

Edited February 26, 2015 by mac117

[Guest]

For me, life is all about eating. I know it is superficial but I just wanna highlight that eating for me is paramount and provides me energy for working. 

[corbyndaskuxx]

food is love, food is live. it sounds like it could be a good idea to eat like once a week or so because that will save lots of resources on the planet but it is so enjoyable to eat food, hence why i do it so often. food also gives you the energy you need to get your work done well .

[ellie]

For most people, at least sometimes, food goes much further than just fuel for the body. I love baking with friends; I always meet up with people over a coffee or have lunch. It's a wonderful thing to bond over, and food can provide comfort, even if it's placebo (chocolate at exams!) Alcohol can make for a good time. I'd hate to be without eating or drinking, a part of my identity is about food. Not eating meat, drinking too much Coke, never getting enough of beans and rice, walking an hour to the store because it's the only way to get cookies that morning... those things mean a lot to me. Food is kind of like meditation. I can't work all the time, so I relax through cooking and eating, and without guilt for procrastinating, too -- because I need to eat anyway.

 

I do understand the meaning behind the thought -- as IB students, we are in severe shortage of time ever so often, but food is such an essential part of humans' lives and culture. It would be incredibly hard to get rid of it, even if it is/was possible.

[TykeDragon]

what you say would be true, but quality of life would also drastically reduce - one of life's greatest pleasures is being able to have tasty food and experience a variety that wouldn't be present in what you suggest, despite it being potentially healthier and more time convenient! Plus for many, cooking is a hobby, eg baking, not just something done to survive, so would be as good as saying to those people that they may not have any hobbies as they are inefficient time-wise!

 

Plus worth considering - generally if you feel unhappy you won't be very productive, or will lack motivation to work. I for one would be unhappy if all I could ever eat would be nutritionally primed smoothies (plus these smoothies will most likely not be very filling, and I doubt you'd be able to get all of the required vitamins, macronutients and roughage/fibre into them!)

 

Just trying to point out what I think would be the biggest flaws in what you propose - do you think there would be any way around these issues?

[Tom Hiddleston]

Eating can be a form of entertainment.

[geiszlers]

I'm thinking that viewing life in terms of hyperefficiency isn't really the best way to be living it - the social and recreational elements that surround food make it well worth it, imo

[FrozenUnicorn]

In my opinion, it's not a waste of time. Your statement on how we waste our time preparing, waiting and eating food will take 3 hours daily somehow sounds nothing to me. 3 hours daily is not wasting your time. Just calculate the amount of hours most people tend to spend on using their gadgets, computer, and all the other unnecessary stuffs. It's worse that doing something necessary for our body which only take 3 hours daily.

[mac117]

Thank you all for the thoughtful responses! I'm glad it interested some of you

 

 

Just trying to point out what I think would be the biggest flaws in what you propose - do you think there would be any way around these issues?

 

Well, what if the humanity had the opportunity to choose whether they want to live like this or not. Many people would choose to eat normally, as it might be a part of their (social) life. The others would then choose to live by eating a smoothie every day/week and therefore have more time on other things (research, work, even hobbies!). I think it would totally change lifestyles of many people, mostly in a positive way. 

 

 

 

For me, life is all about eating. I know it is superficial but I just wanna highlight that eating for me is paramount and provides me energy for working. 

Well, but you would recieve exactly the lipids, proteins and carbohydrates that your body would require. You would recieve the sufficient amount of enegry (or maybe even more if you would like to workout etc.), so (again) you would have more time on other things. Wouldn't that be a great thing?

 

 

In my opinion, it's not a waste of time. Your statement on how we waste our time preparing, waiting and eating food will take 3 hours daily somehow sounds nothing to me. 3 hours daily is not wasting your time. Just calculate the amount of hours most people tend to spend on using their gadgets, computer, and all the other unnecessary stuffs. It's worse that doing something necessary for our body which only take 3 hours daily.

 

 

That is true. Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time on our smartphones and computers, but the average of three hours per day is still a lot, as it's 12.5% of our day. It's a time where we focusing on ourselves, and often pollute the earth. (This part might be a little abstract…) When people buy some fastfood, they either throw the rest into the trashcan OR leave it on the ground/ in places where they shouldn't  be doing it. But with only a smoothie to drink, the amount of waste produced by an average person would drop significantly… I'm sorry if I'm going a little bit overboard, but it kinda fascinates  me that only a few people had that idea before..

[usernamed]

eating is an essential biological need. I know you said we can have smoothies with all the nutrients and calories we need. Yes, that means we won't die. But our stomachs will get lazy, because digesting food is an essential part of our existence. We have done it for so long. So just drinking smoothies can bring up health problems. 

We're used to chewing and digesting food. So our bodies will become lazy, especially our stomach. And what about  our bowls?  they will virtually be non-existent. Seriously lol.

And many foods, such as fruit and veg, can be used as cures. Food can be used as medicine.(Healthy food ofcourse).

And to be honest, to me at least, having all the nutrients from all the essential food groups in a smoothie sounds  literally impossible. 

[Emilia1320]

I hate spending time on eating, so usually I just eat fruits and certain fats brain needs.

[King112]

I hate spending time on eating, so usually I just eat fruits and certain fats brain needs.

That is horrible for your body. If you don't get the proteins, carbs and all you need, your body will collapse. Spend ten minutes more, but give your body the nutrition it needs!

Don't **** yourself over in your teens!

 

And to answer the main question, no it is not. Your body needs all that stuff. If you give it as a smoothie or something, you cant survive if you ever need to. Think about it, if Bear Grylls didn't eat food, he would be KIA on the first episode of Man Vs Wild. Smoothies and supplements blah de blah, are all great in theory, but not in the long run. You shouldn't be pumping that into your body because it will royally mess you up. You won't be able to digest anything else, and your teeth and tongue will also stop working!

Sorry if I seem mean or something, just in a pissed off mood, don't mean to be rude or something.

Edited February 28, 2015 by King112

[Emilia1320]

I hate spending time on eating, so usually I just eat fruits and certain fats brain needs.

That is horrible for your body. If you don't get the proteins, carbs and all you need, your body will collapse. Spend ten minutes more, but give your body the nutrition it needs!

Don't **** yourself over in your teens!

 

And to answer the main question, no it is not. Your body needs all that stuff. If you give it as a smoothie or something, you cant survive if you ever need to. Think about it, if Bear Grylls didn't eat food, he would be KIA on the first episode of Man Vs Wild. Smoothies and supplements blah de blah, are all great in theory, but not in the long run. You shouldn't be pumping that into your body because it will royally mess you up. You won't be able to digest anything else, and your teeth and tongue will also stop working!

Sorry if I seem mean or something, just in a pissed off mood, don't mean to be rude or something.

I promise I start eating better immediately when I get enough money to afford to do so... but now its fruits, sometimes pasta and ketchup, and omega-6 pills

[mac117]

 

I hate spending time on eating, so usually I just eat fruits and certain fats brain needs.

That is horrible for your body. If you don't get the proteins, carbs and all you need, your body will collapse. Spend ten minutes more, but give your body the nutrition it needs!

Don't **** yourself over in your teens!

 

And to answer the main question, no it is not. Your body needs all that stuff. If you give it as a smoothie or something, you cant survive if you ever need to. Think about it, if Bear Grylls didn't eat food, he would be KIA on the first episode of Man Vs Wild. Smoothies and supplements blah de blah, are all great in theory, but not in the long run. You shouldn't be pumping that into your body because it will royally mess you up. You won't be able to digest anything else, and your teeth and tongue will also stop working!

Sorry if I seem mean or something, just in a pissed off mood, don't mean to be rude or something.

 

Well, to be honest, I eat healthy but still have health problems. I'm going to the doctor on tuesday because they think I have anemia or not enough vitamines. I try to eat breakfast, which I sometimes just CAN'T do, so a smoothie would be perfect for that. Everyday I eat fruits, drink two to three liters of water, try not to eat fast food or sweets, yet I'm still sick.

I guess it's up to the individual, but still, something like this would be very helpful. Also, maybe eating only this isn't good for our bodies, but eating normal food twice a week would make our body work. This would prevent the lazy stomach and others things that might happen.

 

There are actually some people that lived only from it for a month to three months, and they are still alive and their health didn't worsen either. This might not be the perfect thing to life of off, but it's still better than hunger, isn't it?

 

I'm just interested how this would impact the poverty and the rate of people dying because of hunger in the world. And, how this would affect us as a human race, as we would have more time on other things. 

[Award Winning Boss]

What you've described in your post isn't impossible. It's called soylent. It's a nutritional drink that acts as a meal replacement. Most people would never do that completely even if they have strong intentions to do so because it's so boring. Variety, even if it's the fact that something has a noticeable taste, is something many desire even if they don't notice it. 

 

As difficult as eating can be at times, it's a valuable thing to do. If anything, it is sometimes the most productive thing we might end up doing in the day. I think it'd be a better question to ask how much we can achieve if we didn't allow ourselves to get consumed with distraction all the time. Things like email, videos and the like are examples of that. 

[A_Happy_Monkey]

It is most certainly not a waste of time. Without food in your system, how do you expect to function in the first place? Take this in a literal sense: if you do not consume, you cannot produce. 

[Great Polar Bear]

Hi guys!

 

So, I know this might be a TOK type of thing, but I really would like to hear the opinions of others about this. For about a year now I've been thinking that eating is a huge waste of time and a human flaw. We spend over 3 hours everyday eating, preparing the food, or even ordering it in a fast food restaurant. Don't you think that this time could be used much more efficiently doing other things such as research, creation of new technology and many other things?

 

Think about it in a perspective - what if people didn't have to spend so much time eating everyday? What if we could just eat some kind of smoothie every morning (or once a week) that would have the correct amounts of every part of a great food diet. If that had been possible a hundread years ago, we would have been far more advanced, as people would have more time on more productive things. Wouldn't that be great?

 

There would be some positive outcomes too. People wouldn't overeat, and therefore obesity and many sicknesses linked to it would basically disappear. Everyone would be healthy, as everyone wouldn't eat too much sugar, fat or other things. Also, it would be much easier to fight hunger in the world, as it would be much easier to give everyone a year-worth of the substance that would feed them and keep them full.

 

Now I know that it's close to impossible for anything like that to be possible in the near future, but what is your opinion? Do you like spending so much time everyday eating, or would you rather eat someting once a day/week that would have the sufficient amount of nutrients?

 

I'm very interested in your responses! 

 

As human beings, we are naturally inclined to feel hungry when we haven't had had enough food. There is a very satisfying feeling in eating food when we haven't for a long time. We are also gifted with the sense of taste. Hence, eating is one of the most natural things man does. It is fundamental to living. Overeating and obesity are issues we are dealing with in the modern era.

 

Is eating a waste of time? That depends on what is your definition of "good use of time". Eating is certainly essential to living and I personally look forward to trying new foods.

[lucettafetta]

That's really interesting! 

I agree about the time we waste making food, eating food, waiting for food etc., but I also know that the actual process of eating food releases endorphins in our brains, giving us pleasure. So if there was a substitute to food, it would have to somehow create the same effect and actually be enjoyable - for most people eating food isn't about the 'filling the stomach', it's about the pleasure that comes with eating good tasting things. 

It's also a defining factor in culture, it distinguishes traditions from each other and makes people want to visit other places to experience different foods. And also food making is an art - substituting food for something else would mean taking away the creative expression side of it too. 

 

Cool tok presentation idea!!

[THEliberator]

Hi guys!

 

So, I know this might be a TOK type of thing, but I really would like to hear the opinions of others about this. For about a year now I've been thinking that eating is a huge waste of time and a human flaw. We spend over 3 hours everyday eating, preparing the food, or even ordering it in a fast food restaurant. Don't you think that this time could be used much more efficiently doing other things such as research, creation of new technology and many other things?

 

Think about it in a perspective - what if people didn't have to spend so much time eating everyday? What if we could just eat some kind of smoothie every morning (or once a week) that would have the correct amounts of every part of a great food diet. If that had been possible a hundread years ago, we would have been far more advanced, as people would have more time on more productive things. Wouldn't that be great?

 

There would be some positive outcomes too. People wouldn't overeat, and therefore obesity and many sicknesses linked to it would basically disappear. Everyone would be healthy, as everyone wouldn't eat too much sugar, fat or other things. Also, it would be much easier to fight hunger in the world, as it would be much easier to give everyone a year-worth of the substance that would feed them and keep them full.

 

Now I know that it's close to impossible for anything like that to be possible in the near future, but what is your opinion? Do you like spending so much time everyday eating, or would you rather eat someting once a day/week that would have the sufficient amount of nutrients?

 

I'm very interested in your responses! 

 

Well, this sounds interesting! Indeed eating does take away time, however, as you might have often heard physical preparation is an important part of preparing for an exam.Food gives us the energy to do whatever we do. So, if you look at it this way, sleeping might also be looked at as a waste of time, but sleeping helps us rejuvenate.   

[Blackcurrant]

If you live to eat, then it is never a waste of time. If you eat to live, then that is another matter. 

 

Just think - you spend (without being conscious of it, or on the fly) at least 2 hours a day feeding. Yes, "feeding". Or thinking about food. Then, include the necessary corollary ... toilet time (factor in at least 1 hour a day).  And we're just talking the bare minimum for all this lengthy and tiresome set of actions and procedures which interfere with the day.

 

That is 86 hours a month = 516 hours a term or 1,032 hours a year (min.). And I'm not including all the other things associated with "feeding" and excretion.

 

And there is nothing to show for it.....All down the drain.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Blackcurrant