Question

Summary the mental strain of making do with less by Sendhil Mullainathan. Response Essay 1015 word.

Answer 1

Ans) According to the article “The Mental Strain of Making Do With Less” by Sendhil Mullainathan, dieting is good for the waistline, but bad for mental capacity. It turns out that all the effort people put into trying to maintain their diet takes up precious brain power and makes them a bit distracted and a bit stupid.

- And, it’s not because of a lack of brain food:

So, mental capacity isn’t necessarily being affected physiologically. Instead, dieting has psychological effects. As the author put it: “There is a paradox here: diets create mental conditions that make it hard to diet.”

- The really interesting thing about this article is that it didn’t stop there and just leave it as a diet article. The author extended that logic and the research to show us that this kind of effect can be seen in a lot of other deprived populations. The poor, for example:

- So, poor people are in a vicious circle of making bad choices that prevent them from getting ahead and being deprived so that they can’t make better choices.

- They looked at some farmers (in a community where the farmers are paid at harvest and are struggling to make ends meet by the time harvest comes around the next year):

- According to the author, missing a full night of sleep has the same effect.

So, research about people trying to diet gives us a new perspective on poor people and gives us another reason to give them a little extra understanding.

- Of course, for poor people, the only way out is to get a little help or a little luck. Dieters, on the other hand, can use this research to their advantage. If you really want to diet, stick with one that’s easy and takes less mental capacity to follow

- That said, I tend to avoid diets. The science isn’t behind them, especially not ones where you completely restrict certain food groups (your brain needs carbs for fuel!). They can have great short term effects, but unless you make a lifelong change (i.e., diet forever), they don’t have long term success. Also, you’re sending your body mixed messages if you start a new diet and increase your fitness at the same time. I know that’s what the magazines are telling you to do, but it’s a silly idea. Essentially, you’re telling your body, “Hey, I’m going to make you work harder, but I’m also going to give you less fuel.”