COMMENT: The delightful pressure to reveal everything
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By Tiina Rajamäki
I need discipline and order, commands and honest pacing.
At the gym, that is. I am one of those people who prefer a crowded gym to a solitary jogging track, because at the gym one person says what to do, and the others obey.
At the gym the person next to me can see if I can keep pace, and if I am out of shape. At the gym among dozens of people in front of a big mirror it is very much more difficult to cheat on stomach muscle exercises than at home on the living room floor.
It’s not about public suffering, but rather a special type of empathy - the empathy of sweat. A person indulging in perspiration empathy finds it easier to squeeze some pushups out, when he or she feels that the others are struggling with the same goal.
Of course, some straight-talker might call it pure social pressure.
A similar phenomenon - slightly more virtual - can be found on slimming web sites. Even though the pages are made to promote one’s own weight loss, putting one’s weight on display for all to see gives added inspiration to the effort, with waistline empathy on offer.
Helsingin Sanomat - first published in print 8.8.2005
More on this subject:
 "Dear Weblog: I was just at the fridge"
TIINA RAJAMÄKI / Helsingin Sanomat
tiina.rajamaki@hs.fi
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