[En] Humans Have “Evolved” to Physical and Mental Stagnation
Homo shopping is currently the most common variety of our species.
We live by the laws of unconscious consumption and the artificialization of life. Homo shopping no longer sleeps but, to cure this “tiny problem,” all he needs is to pop a pill just before heading to bed. Unfortunately, this drug does not induce deep sleep and has been shown to have extremely detrimental effects in the medium to long term. No problem! Busy people aren’t looking for definitive solutions anyway.
Homo shopping’s life and work don’t give him a sense of purpose; happiness comes later, only after becoming more successful and making more money. That’s why he works non-stop. His mind is completely dominated by the values of fast consumerism (large-scale, mass, globalized consumption).
Because of the insane hours he puts in at work, Homo shopping comes home (or, nowadays, emerges from his home office) utterly wiped. To wind down, he flops down and flips to some TV show or other as a mindless distraction. Once this becomes habit, he’s officially hooked on yet another powerful and highly stimulating drug, one carefully crafted to keep him bound to the couch.
Obviously, this makes it hard to wake up the following day, which is why he guzzles caffeine in industrial doses or pops yet another “little pill,” this time looking for the opposite effect of the drugs he took the night before. Now he’s hoping to be more focused and increase productivity. Little does he realize that this combination of a poor night’s sleep and daytime stimulants will lead to rapid cell breakdown and inevitable sickness.
All set. Now this vicious cycle has been carefully programmed for daily repeat and quickly becomes a solid, ingrained habit.
The Aisle of Death
But this perverse mechanism doesn’t end here. Since Homo shopping isn’t getting a decent night’s sleep, his body is working to offset the lack of energy by clamoring for high-calorie, sugary and fatty foods. No problem! Everywhere he looks, he’s bound to see exactly these types of products jumping out at him all day long.
When he heads to the supermarket or bakery, he’s forced to walk down the “aisle of death,” an aisle strategically designed to seize on Homo shopping’s desire for sweets, savory snacks and a host of other irresistible products that have been specially designed and developed by the foremost criminal masters of “food engineering” and that come brimming with a wide array of preservatives, aromatic food additives, emulsifiers, and potential carcinogens, just to name a few.
For good measure, add in the increased use of agrochemicals in crops, and the situation gets even more complicated. And, as if the list weren’t long enough, throw in a decline in quality of life and an increase in stress. Now we’ve got all the variables we need for the formula that perfectly explains the global explosion in cancer rates. But, no worries… there’s another billion-dollar industry that has stepped in to help (and make a handsome profit in the process).
After all, humankind is a species that has specialized in growing rich off the misfortunes of fellow humans, selling solutions to problems created and fueled by the market itself. A good example of market opportunism is bankers who have designed massive financial institutions that exploit the weaknesses of their customers.
The Ideal Body Industry
Physical activity is meaningless; it’s just more suffering Homo shopping is obligated to put up with to achieve certain aesthetic results or to “be healthy.” Obviously, he’s going to avoid this obligation like the plague. And, with that – voilà! – this pernicious combination of sedentarism and unhealthy diet has lead him to grow overweight or obese. But… no problem!
Now’s when he gets to consume thousands of instant miracle weight-loss solutions, lovingly brought to him by the fast-consumerism market. After all, all of these billionaire lobbies are specialized in tempting him with their highly appealing, commercial products.
Since these short-term formulas rarely work – indeed, weight loss leads to subsequent weight gain in the great majority of cases – Homo shopping soon becomes a card-carrying member of the whole quick-fix system for the rest of his life. Like most people, he’s signed up to pay in until the day he dies. He’s forced into a sad, flavorless life restricted by endless diets that cause their faithful followers to perpetually and regularly yo-yo from one extreme to the other without ever successfully reaching their goal (because balance is found in the middle, not at the extremes).
When his self-esteem is low, he goes for liposuction or one of the hundreds of other surgical procedures offered by the fast-consumerism market. See? No problem!
Homo shopping no longer eats; he just swallows his food quickly. Time is money, and that alone is one of the main factors sustaining and perpetuating his obesity. Blind to his own condition, he drags himself through life without time for actually living, willing to be a living donor of his entire body so that the gears of the “unconscious consumer market” continue to turn.
The Medical Magic-Bullet Industry
Given the enormity of this pit in his soul, compulsive eating becomes increasingly necessary and increasingly uncontrollable.
And over time, working ridiculous hours, going against his biological needs and failing to balance the most fundamental elements of life – sleep, movement, and sustenance – leads his to a physiological depression that completely affects his mind and desire to live. Great! Now he’s ready to pour money into yet another sector: the world of anti-depressants, anxiety meds, psychiatrists, hospitals, and the like.
At this exact moment, this species can be seen walking about dazed and distracted, dependent and anesthetized by the excess of cellphone stimuli and information overload. Who would have thought that the cell phone would become the most lethal weapon ever invented? In the words of Brazilian singer Adoniram Barbosa, “it kills more than car accidents, more than bullets.”
Homo shopping no longer reads books. His whole arsenal of knowledge comes from the social media on his “smartphone,” which he compulsively rigs to suit his tastes. His truths are often built upon fake news and manipulated news-like information dominated and controlled by private or market interests that condition him to believe is his absolute values and truths.
In fact, these absolute truths are essential for him to lower the chances of accidentally engaging in deep thinking, philosophizing, or relativizing what he has learned.
He is the victim of consumption: his life is one massive manipulation, a grand illusion fed by subliminal marketing meant to provoke utter dissatisfaction and, thus, make the wheels keep turning, encouraging and fueling ever more fast consumerism. He rarely consumes things that are beneficial to his health since he is just a faithful follower of the latest trends, instant miracle cures strategically placed and marketed to the masses.
Homo shopping doesn’t have time to be sad. When he’s discomforted, he needs only to quickly order some tasty, high-calorie, and ultra-processed food online, drink compulsively, consume other drugs, or go shopping. And now (since he has clearly evolved), he no longer even needs to move about to get his emotional fix. Apps deliver everything directly to Homo shopping’s door with the click of a button! The only downside is that, as a victim of his own habits, Homo shopping is heading towards his own extinction.
There Is a Way Out
It should be quite obvious that I am frank and sincere. And so is life. Our greatest quality is also our greatest flaw. But, before you get overwhelmed and depressed by this realization, I should stress that the world I described above is a recent one and, like everything in history, represents a transitory experience for humanity, or so I hope!
The fast-consumerism market started in the US in the 1950s and mushroomed into a monstrous market of globalized, mass-produced, disposable products. And that’s how human evolution works too: we feel out our future through a series of hits and misses.
Still, the pit is now enormous, and the path we’ve tread in recent decades has put us at a level of risk never before faced by our species. To make a long story short: we have invented a system that sacrifices and sickens everyone. Perhaps now is the time to rethink our life and our values.
Inconsistent and inhuman capitalism is fueled by a mindset whose expiration date has passed.
When we’ve exhausted a system, we invent another one with new solutions to address the problems we couldn’t solve before. We mustn’t forget that human beings are an extremely creative and adaptive species.
There is a world that improves in leaps and bounds, and, concurrently, there is one that deteriorates as well. They have always coexisted; all you need is to open your eyes to it and to lend a hand to the process of evolving. Try to observe. There have been colossal changes in recent decades; we have made significant progress in areas like expanded consciousness, shattering dogmas, and securing individual freedoms.
Finally, I suggest you engage in a lengthy, certainly uncomfortable, honest critique of yourself and then answer this: does your work positively or negatively impact the world around you? In other words, are you part of the problem or the solution?
The world is not an abstract entity, detached from your actions and participation; it is made up of you, of me, of all of us.
It’s useless to stand there complaining with your arms crossed, waiting for the solution to fall from the sky.
Every single day, I directly help people become healthier and bring greater quality to their lives, and I indirectly help by writing articles and books and creating videos and other content that helps expand our consciousness. In fact, the article you’re reading now is actually one of the chapters of my forthcoming book (no working title).
Helping the world evolve is contingent on daily actions. Everything begins with self-care, carefully and conscientiously nourishing our own internal balance.
Without this awareness and equilibrium, we cannot positively influence the world or the people around us.
Nuno Cobra Júnior is an integral training consultant and integrative health specialist. He has been teaching the Cobra Method since 1984.
Alongside his father, Nuno Cobra Sr., one of Brazil’s most renowned physical and mental coaches, he coached the legendary racing driver Ayrton Senna and numerous professional tennis players. He lived in England to physically and mentally train F3 racing drivers Rubens Barrichello and Pedro Paulo Diniz.
The Cobra Method has been used to train well succeed professionals in over ten different sports, helping to bring to Brazil seven world titles in sports like basketball, karate, surf and motorsport.
For the last 40 years, Nuno Cobra Jr. has devoted himself to studying quality of life and human behavior and is widely regarded as a leading specialist in habit changes and integrative health. He currently designs physical and mental training programs for a number of business leaders and athletes, including pro surfer Italo Ferreira, world champion and Olympic gold medal.
With the publication of The Muscle of the Soul: The Key to Physical Wisdom, Nuno Cobra Jr. established himself as one of the primary spokespersons for the sweeping makeover of physical training as we know it. He is the founder of a new method that applies a combination of Eastern and Western philosophy, psychology, and wisdom from other fields and cultures to our knowledge and understanding of the body.
The Cobra method is a pioneer in bringing philosophy to physical training in a profound way, creating dozens of concepts that guide conscious professionals, through a transdisciplinary and truly integrative approach.
