1,000 Year Old Wine
How an idea from Nassim Taleb changed my thinking.
Photo by ELEVATE
Nassim Taleb is one of my favorite authors.
I found everything he wrote to be brilliant. Until I read this…
Drink no liquid that isn’t at least a thousand years old (wine, water, coffee).
What?
It seemed a bit crazy at first.
Taleb’s argument is that time and testing proves things out in life. Humans have consumed water, wine, coffee (and tea, milk, or beer) for thousands of years.
You can drink other things; the point here is these are tried and true.
What about the diet soda I had been drinking?
My goal was to cut back on sugary drinks. Reading Taleb prompted me to wonder if I had replaced them with anything better.
The artificial sweeteners are not time-tested. The other parts of soda are relatively recent in the human diet and add no nutritional value.
I’m not advocating you start or stop drinking any of these things.
Instead, consider what has been time-tested in your life or the lives of others who are healthy, emotionally, and physically.
Since I started drinking more water, the difference in my well-being has been remarkable. I feel and sleep better, snack less, and must run fewer miles to keep my weight in line.
I savor what I drink more as well. I enjoy high-quality espresso and tea along with an occasional glass of wine.
Drink those things, eat those things, and do those things which have proven to be healthy.
Taleb’s original thought and my example are about liquids we drink.
What about other things we consume?
Humans have not consumed 24-hour news for thousands of years, social media, or many things we take in today.
Ask yourself if what you are consuming is serving you?
Thank you. This is enlightening, as I sit here with my artifically sweetened instant tea. My diet has undergone a tremendous change, eating much the way they did 1,000 years ago. Gras-fed, organic beef. Pastured organic pork. Free-range chickens. Wild game and wild-caught fish. Fresh vegetables and fruits. Lately my diet has tended toward the carnivore side - only products from animals (meat, eggs, dairy, and raw honey). I have heard of the benefits of drinking more water/less artificial sweeteners. You may have convinced me to give up artificial drinks, and move to sun-brewed, honey sweetened tea and fruit infused water.
Thanks for posting. I have tried to live this principle most of my life. For example, I have a rule that I don't read books unless they are at least 100 years old. 100 is not a magic number, the principle is that what is truly great stands the test of time and is not fashioned by fads or "evolving truths". I have yet to find a leadership book that can instruct me better than the Bible. There is enough classical literature and poetry to read to last many lifetimes.
Excellent insight about consuming news 24/7.
And yes, water and coffee are old friends of mine!