Food for thought.
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Not sure this is a surprise.
Things are always more enjoyable and precious when you’ve earned them, not when they’re given to you.
The true rewards of life are a process, not a state of being. It is a journey, not a destination.
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This is the second time recently that someone has posted a free gift article from The Atlantic. All I get when I click on the link is a page saying it’s a free gift or you can sign in as a subscriber. Maybe it’s just me?
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OK, but that’s not quite what’s being discussed in the article. There’s more going on.
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upper right corner is a down arrow - collapse the notice and the article appears . . .
at least for me…
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Yeah, a lot more than that.
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The human experience is so complex! 
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The Buddhist nun is correct…you have to do the work for reduced desire and enlightenment and it takes time and both mind and body to figure out how to work together on the issue. It’s a daily thing.
Conversely modern pharmaceuticals work very differently, using chemicals and technology aimed at particular parts of the body. Certainly for some diseases or health issues, modern pharma can work miracles and can have crazy success…. but for mind/body issues, like desire, satiation, feeling full and general mental health, murky area. Bypassing the mind part of body/mind thing has issues.
The philosophical is interesting to contemplate, regarding enlightenment. My take is a pharmaceutical certainly can address specifics of the body scientifically…but once you get into enlightenment, the mental, spiritual, etc., very, very tricky. Introductions spiritual practices is even trickier. Simply talking about the ethnical issues around Ozempic use for non diabetics is tricky….or long term use for aesthetic reasons vs. health.
My take is it’s interesting to think about how Ozempic might affect enlightenment but it’s not one I will think about much or ever. I’ll be super frank, seems like a question a westerner asks about Buddhism. Some might call it mental masturbation or cocktail talk for hipsters….or first world problems.
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Big Pharma is coming to getcha. And they’ll use every trick in the book to make more money.
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It could have to do with gut bacteria. There are several articles out there (search gut bacteria and mental health) that show bacterial influence on our brains. Considering that Ozempic causes food to sit in the stomach for a longer period of time, I wouldn’t be surprised if the microbiota undergoes a change which effects thought processes.
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It could, but there is a lot we now “know” about satiety hormones that I would not have imagined 30 years ago.
Not much more than thirty years ago some of the biggest psychiatric training centers were psychoanalytic! Not a bad thing, but there’s a lot of new things to think about.
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Our minds/desires are directly impacted by chemical processes in our bodies, like dopamine levels, etc.
I find it kind of curious that the writer entertained a more philosophical take on the drug and its impact on cravings for any variety of stuffs.
But I’m more of a pragmatist than a spiritual person 
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Thank you @linguafood for posting that VERY interesting article.
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What “trick” are you referring to here? According to several studies, these compounds seem to be highly successful in treating things other than diabetes — like hypertension, heart health, kidney disease, PCOS, and substance disorders — the latter of which is one major topic of this article (which I assume you read before commenting).
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I assume you meant to write “ethical” vs. “ethnical?”
Yeah, having worked in big pharma, there seems to be a lot of presumption that everyone in big pharma is evil or self-serving. Pharma and biotechs have made hundreds of literal life-saving medicines, and vaccines don’t come out of a vacuum. It’s the same industry and process that produces those too.
US pharmaceutical pricing is indeed messed up, in part because our healthcare system is messed up, but the work that the scientists do is definitely driven to help with serious health issues. The scientists worked weekends, holidays, and tons of extra hours to make sure that studies were handled appropriately and clinical data was accurate and in accordance with complicated regulations. GL-1 meds in particular weren’t intended to target the rich who want to look thin, but those who have serious health impacts due to diabetes, and often complicated by weight challenges and other factors.
There’s always a balance between waiting too long to fully understand the health implications of medications and the immediate need to address the health issue at hand. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are certain side effects, yet to be revealed with these medicines. More and more, we seem to learn that the sci-fi authors who sometimes view humans only as biochemical machines may be true!
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Weight loss is Big Business in this country. Too many companies want a piece of the pie at the expense of people who could stand to lose more than a few pounds. The TV commercials plainly state(in smallish print) that people who stop taking the drug generally gain the weight back. So what’s a person to do. Stay hooked, that’s what. Heck, even Weight Watchers is getting in on the action. WW clinicians can now offer these drugs to supplement their program for members who have stalled out. Ain’t that a hoot. Who’s next. Nutrisystem?
Yes, I read the article, but admit I was sidetracked by my distrust of Big Pharma and their ilk in general. Really have nothing more to say on the subject.
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I think the side effects are scary, weight comes back if you quit the drug.
Remember Phen-Fen? Only thing I ever found to completely eliminate any hunger. Of course, too good to be true, removed from market, caused heart valve problems or something.
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I never mentioned or used “trick”. I did use the word TRICKY referring to philosophical questions.
Modern pharma has brought some miracles to healthcare…and junk and side effects. They’re corporations and they’re gonna do what corporations do….make as much $$$ and figured out the bad stuff afterwards, or worse yet….screw the bad stuff. Deep, deep pockets cover legal fees. Prime example: the Sackler clan and oxycontin. That’s why big pharma gets a bad rap and the UNREAL and crazy prices in the US…despite research funding by the US gov in many cases. Epi-pen was a federally funded project….and somehow the rights are private now.
So how do you deal with these contractions? Buddhism, a little skepticism and handle with care…keep a safe distance until it’s safe.
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