This is a lesson hitting me in the face this week thanks to Gary John Bishop and his book Unf*ck Your Life: “Most people have adapted to consuming low-level information on the internet. This is the equivalent of filling your car with water or eating McDonalds every meal.

In the documentary film, Super Size Me, 32-year-old Morgan Spurlock goes 30 consecutive days (from February 1 to March 2, 2003) only eating McDonald’s food. The film documents this lifestyle’s drastic effect on Spurlock’s physical and psychological well-being.

During this 30-day period, Spurlock ate at McDonald’s three times per day, eating every item on the menu at least once. Spurlock consumed an average of 5,000 calories per day during the experiment, more than double the recommended amount for a healthy man his age. As a result, Spurlock gained 24 pounds, a 13% body mass increase, increased his cholesterol to 230 mg/dL (6.0 mmol/L), and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation in his liver.

One of the components of Spurlock’s experiment was that every time he was asked the question, “Do you want to ‘Super Size’ that?” he was required to say yes. Super-sizing means that the soda and french fries went from large to extra-extra large.

When it comes to the internet, Super-sizing is the equivalent of going from one distractive link to the next to the next to the next to the next. What originally was intended to be a quick check of the email or Facebook has now turned into a subconscious self-sabotage. The body has taken over the mind and is seeking its dopamine refuel, of which it has developed an incredibly high tolerance.

It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose all the weight gained during this 30-day experiment. And he had to eat extremely clean to reclaim his health.

For most people who are caught in the addiction-loop of consuming low-quality information, it will take years to transform their brains into a state where they can truly think clearly and powerfully. It will take years of consistent positive decisions and calculated inputs to develop the thinking and decision-making capacity they are capable of.

Most people will remain stuck on the fast-food diet of internet information consumption — getting fatter and more unhealthy mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. The environment is becoming so dopamine-rich that it is nearly impossible for people to pull themselves from the addiction.

Here’s the truly sad part: most people intuitively know that sitting on the internet all day is bad for their brain, mind, spirit, and body. But knowledge is weak. Knowledge is good for nothing unless it is put into practice. Hence, Napoleon Hill said in Think and Grow Rich, “Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.” Source: https://medium.com/thrive-global/life-doesnt-reward-you-for-what-you-know-but-for-what-you-do-f05b80e9c710