A Mars A Day

Reflections on the Challenge

Whenever you feel tempted or drawn towards something, notice the cravings behind that choice. Swallow. Are they true needs or something else?

• Experiences

  N had spent time noticing his cravings over the month. He had felt a strong temptation towards chocolate, particularly around four o'clock each day. This craving had frustrated him when there was no chocolate available. He had wondered if it was a physical need for energy or a desire for a treat or reward. He was able to get chocolate bars at the office, which had satisfied his cravings. However, he thought the craving might be deeper, possibly a need for emotional recognition after working all day.

  

  L had been watching an interesting YouTube video about a new AI model but remembered the challenge. He had questioned whether it was a craving or a need and realised he needed to look at his to-do list instead of watching videos. So he swallowed and looked at the to-do list. Throughout the month, he had frequently asked himself this question. He found it often was not a need but a craving. This reflection had changed his thinking. He recalled a quote from Will Durrant on Aristotle: We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. He believed choosing needs over cravings could become a habit.

• Responses

  Responding to N, T mentioned James Clear's book Atomic Habits, which suggests recognizing and substituting habits. She suggested that N’s craving might actually be a need to move his body, as he moves his mouth when eating chocolate. She suggested substituting walking outside after a long day at the office, akin to a daily medicine.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 31

• Passage

  Now listen, my boy, to the information about the newly invented name of those terrestrial contemporary physicians articulated as ‘doctor.’

  It would seem that this invention is that also of the beings of the ‘important’ community of Germany there, and they invented this articulation for the purpose of defining some merit or other of some among them, but this same invention of theirs, which was widely spread on the whole of their planet, became, for some reason or other, the ordinary nominal name for all the contemporary physicians there.

  It must be even emphasized that, thanks to this invention of theirs, there was added there yet one more to the number of factors, the totality of which constantly leads them into error...

• Discussion

  N discussed how the term doctor initially signified merit but later became a general title, diluting its original significance. L said the word was used for many other fields outside medicine. N said there were many fake degrees, which undermining the credibility of the title "Doctor". T talked about the scarcity of doctors and the implications of reducing training standards. It was now possible to work with patients after only two years study.