I once had a leader who would calmly remind us during harsh weather conditions that being cold was simply a mindset. Makes me think of your formula of how the brain reacts when we think of being cold, completely makes sense.
You wrote that we are wise apes. When was the last time you saw an ape in the wild put themselves in ice cold water? When was the last time you saw a chimpanzee or a monkey purposely put themselves in ice cold water. I would prefer to follow their example then yours. While I certainly agree with the principle of preparing ourselves For hard times I do not think that immersing ourselves in ice cold water is the way to do it. we have a brain with which we can think, and therefore prepare ourselves for adversity that may lie before us. I don’t think we need an ice cold bath, which might precipitate pneumonia, to do it. Just one man’s humble opinion.
Thank you for the comment. The brain can think - but can it think when it's submerged in the cold water? My point is that we don't know unless we test the mind and train for worst case scenarios. I would argue the ape/chimpanzee/monkey doesn't place himself in cold water on purpose because he is living exactly as nature intended with a large number of other specifically ancient stressors, whereas we are not (I think the majority of our stressors are modern and of an entirely different sort, with different impacts). Take the military for instance. Military training courses aren't spent visualizing hard times, cold exposure, heat exposure, lack of calories, the concussive effect of gunfire, people screaming; it is spent actually experiencing this things, actually preparing the human mind for hardship.
Epictetus and Seneca both advocated voluntary hardship knowing its worth, and stated that it isn't sufficient to think about it or talk about it or read about it, but to practice it.
You mentioned pneumonia. I am not advocating cold exposure to the point of destroying the body. I hope that is clear. I am strictly advocating it as a means to master our minds.
Happy to jam further on this and appreciate your input.
I once had a leader who would calmly remind us during harsh weather conditions that being cold was simply a mindset. Makes me think of your formula of how the brain reacts when we think of being cold, completely makes sense.
Thanks for sharing, Sam.
Spot on Erik, thank you.
You wrote that we are wise apes. When was the last time you saw an ape in the wild put themselves in ice cold water? When was the last time you saw a chimpanzee or a monkey purposely put themselves in ice cold water. I would prefer to follow their example then yours. While I certainly agree with the principle of preparing ourselves For hard times I do not think that immersing ourselves in ice cold water is the way to do it. we have a brain with which we can think, and therefore prepare ourselves for adversity that may lie before us. I don’t think we need an ice cold bath, which might precipitate pneumonia, to do it. Just one man’s humble opinion.
Thank you for the comment. The brain can think - but can it think when it's submerged in the cold water? My point is that we don't know unless we test the mind and train for worst case scenarios. I would argue the ape/chimpanzee/monkey doesn't place himself in cold water on purpose because he is living exactly as nature intended with a large number of other specifically ancient stressors, whereas we are not (I think the majority of our stressors are modern and of an entirely different sort, with different impacts). Take the military for instance. Military training courses aren't spent visualizing hard times, cold exposure, heat exposure, lack of calories, the concussive effect of gunfire, people screaming; it is spent actually experiencing this things, actually preparing the human mind for hardship.
Epictetus and Seneca both advocated voluntary hardship knowing its worth, and stated that it isn't sufficient to think about it or talk about it or read about it, but to practice it.
You mentioned pneumonia. I am not advocating cold exposure to the point of destroying the body. I hope that is clear. I am strictly advocating it as a means to master our minds.
Happy to jam further on this and appreciate your input.
The calm nasal breathing is a significant part of dealing with the cold exposure as you eloquently indicated
Excellent piece 👍
Few things more powerful or enjoyable. Thank you.
Brilliant ! and true ~
Couldn't agree more. It's a wonderful test.
High speed, low drag, top drawer work, man! Many hooahs.
Thank you!