Friday 9 February 2001

Pic of the day: Latest issue of Psychology Today. Oh, and that's a price sticker, on the round part. Tee hee.

Lone Pepsi drinker

It isn't always good to be alone when I feel sick but that doesn't mean I feel sick because I'm alone. I don't trust that magazine. On the other hand, it's not just the Pepsi. It's being alone with the Pepsi... OK, rewind.

It's Friday and I'm usually extra tired, because I tend to sleep a bit too little each day and it adds up. The full moooon probably didn't help either. Around closing time at work, I was microsleeping in front of my desk. I went across the street and bought half a liter of Pepsi. (I don't drink much soda anymore, and little of that is cola, but it happens if I'm tired. I'm very sensitive to caffeine.) I drank about half the bottle, or a full glass of Pepsi. It helped me stay awake an hour or two longer.

The sensitivity to caffeine may be the reason why I tend to get an overly active digestion after drinking even small amounts of coffee or moderate amounts of cola. (Overmuch chocolate has this effect too, and tea.) Even more of the stuff, and my fingers and toes start prickling, quite uncomfortable. There is something strange about this, though: When I'm visiting my best friend SuperWoman and her family, I can handle double the doses I can have at home. At least. Now is that strange or not?

***

On my way home, I bought the latest issue of Psychology Today, as I usually do when it arrives here in Norway. I find it interesting, but I do not necessarily agree with all I read there. (That would be hard, when they sometimes present conflicting views on a topic.) As usual there's a lot of relationship & health stuff, often mixed together as if it were the same thing. Time to repeat my challenge to uncritical use of statistics.

There is always and ever some study that confirms that marriage is good for your health, at least if you're a man. (Intriguingly, some studies show that among women, the divorced are the most healthy. No similar health benefit seems to come from the death of the husband, which is to me a very telling omission.)

OK, imagine that your neighbor is suddenly single and has to choose between two possible dates: One healthy and happy, the other sick and depressed. What do you think your neighbor would do? (I am not asking about you - I know you'd do The Right Thing and Think Of The Other First regardless of your personal gain. Besides, there are a lot more neighbors than there are of you.)

Yes, ladies and the occasional gentleman: The healthy, happy, smiling, energetic people get picked first. They were picked first when you played ball in the school yard, and they still are when you're dating. And until you correct the statistical samples accordingly, the studies have and will continue to have zero scientific value at all. A correlation does NOT say anything about which is cause and which is effect. A couple hundred years ago in America, black people tended to be slaves. Did that mean that if you slaved long enough, you'd turn black? Uhm, no.

So the statistics show that slavery blackens your skin and being single is bad for your health. (I'm sure further studies will show that it also tends to turn you ugly.) It is just too bad that there has never (to the best of my knowledge) been done any serious research on this.

***

There is still the factoid that when I'm with my friendess, I can drink more cola without getting sick. And eat more chocolate. I think this has to do with me being more relaxed than I am at home. That's rather impressive, that I can relax better somewhere else than at home. Because I'm not the type that feels lonely or depressed or afraid when I'm alone at home. I love it here. It's just that there are some very few people which I feel even better with than alone. These are generally the ones I call "friends". I think that would explain it.

Anyway, so I'm not feeling quite as well as usual today, but it's not because I'm single. It may be because I'm not with my friend, though ... or rather, because I've been drinking Pepsi without her.

Still confused?