moderationscalesAssay: I've been thinking a lot about moderation lately.
I'm an abstainer, so moderation is often tough for me (are you an abstainer or a moderator?), but I certainly hear people talk about their striving for moderation, and I strive for moderation in many areas of my life.
But while moderation is often a helpful goal, it can also be deceptive. It's easy to forget that "moderation" is a relative term, and if you're aiming for moderation, it's helpful to ask yourself, "Moderation, in comparison to what?"
I thought of this when a friend told me he was going to cut back on his drinking. "I don't need to quit, but I want to keep it in moderation," he said. "So I'm going to limit myself to two drinks a night." Zoikes, I thought, I don't have two drinks in a month. I'm not saying that two drinks is too much, but rather, the idea that a particular amount is "moderate" depends on your point of view.
Along the same lines, in his brilliant book Why We Get Fat, Gary Taubes
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