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Originally Posted by JLx
I saw that clip of Corden's too and thought he did a good job of answering Maher. The research shows, and we all know it - fat shaming doesn't help, it only compounds the problem. Inevitably though someone will come along and unhelpfully say, "Well, it was only when I woke up to how many pounds I had packed on - when I faced what a fat slob I had become - that I lose the weight by just putting down the fork."
It sounded like Corden got a warm reception by his audience. But then Maher did too, of course.
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Another case of correlation not equalling causation. In a fat-shaming environment, just about everybody who goes on a diet/starts exercising, does anything to try to decrease their body weight, is likely to have some shame involved in their decision/motivation to do so. If the change is successful, it doesn't mean that that was the best way to get motivated, it's just an accident of history.
At any rate, I believe what actually is true matters, beyond what the effect of a belief is. Believing something is shameful might motivate somebody, but whether it is actually shameful matters in and of itself.
Also I guess we could ask, if shame is the motivator--what is to motivate the person if the diet is successful? More shame? Does the person ever get to just be happy?
One of the commentors said something about a small number of people having special metabolic issues, disease etc. as sort of an alibi for their bodyweight. This shows up a lot, in studies even where special causes of obesity are looked at, there's this "most obesity is caused by eating too much and exercising too little," mantra that's repeated. People look for genes that attach to obesity--if special genetic markers aren't found in most people, then default--they eat too much exercise too little, CICO. Sort of a fallacy here, in that if most people are susceptible to overweight and obesity--and judging by the latest data, where ten states have just broached the 35 percent obesity mark, this seems to be the case--well, it wouldn't be surprising that special genetics aren't required--there aren't a special few who are predisposed to obesity, almost all of us are. There are special causes of obesity, that doesn't mean the usual cause is shameful.
I do suspect it comes down largely to diet, but that's a matter of us trying to eat less of a diet, in an environment, and with given food choices, where it's very hard to eat less. Reducing our appetite is very different from trying to eat less than our appetite. Appetite is not a moral behaviour, it's a biological drive. You can't shame yourself out of having a biological drive.