One Foot In, One Foot Definitely Out jordanmarsh6, June 1, 2021April 5, 2023 This entry relies heavily on reading the previous one. Please read it here. I ended last time asking a question: “to change my habits, do I need to completely cut out the bad habit or can I reduce the negative consequences of the bad habit a different way?” This question was asked with the background of thiamine deficiency (very common among alcoholics) leading to Wernicke-Korsakoff (a devastating illness). There’s one more part of that story I want to explore. Regulators in the 1940’s did not want to fortify alcohol with thiamine. They didn’t want the public to get the impression that alcohol was healthy. Also of note, when I read that article from the New York Times I don’t get the impression it was a “hard” no from regulators. It seems like they gave some resistance to the idea of fortifying alcohol with thiamine, and then the movement to do it just sort of flamed out. And as I noted in the last article, here we sit with Wernicke-Korsakoff still a major problem. Alright folks. You are the regulator. The companies seeking to fortify alcohol with thiamine is that good idea you have for self-improvement. And your ambivalence to the idea is what has led to Wernicke-Korsakoff remaining a problem all the way into the 21st century. I don’t mean to blame you for everything, but I guess I am kind of doing that so don’t hate me. It’s not that we flat out deny opportunities we could pursue. We’re just ambivalent about them. We think they are kind of cool, but also kind of not cool. We sit on our thumbs thinking about it. Then we find other things to occupy our attention, and the opportunity is gone. I get the impression that this is what happened with the idea to fortify alcohol with thiamine. It wasn’t like the government just flat out denied the idea. They just didn’t like it. They provided enough resistance to make it difficult and interest in the idea fell by the wayside. What are the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndromes in your life? The things that could be avoided (or accomplished!) if you would have consistently pushed through your own ambivalence? I can think of a lot of things myself. What’s the main point here? Slipping into bad habits or not pursuing good ones is rarely about us actively shutting down opportunities; it is more about being on the fence. One foot in, but one foot definitely out too. This is still just as destructive. Regulators had two options to shut down fortification of alcohol with thiamine: first, they could flat out reject the proposal, or second, they could just make the proposal more difficult to follow through on. THE RESULT IS THE SAME! We’ve got to find ways to jump in with both feet on pursuing good habits. Self Improvement