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The passionate people trap
Passionate people can be very dangerous! Spend too much time listening to one and before you realise, you become passionate too. Not just passionate, but blindly passionate.
Passion is contagious, but knowledge is not.
The guy who told you about the life-changing effects of 72-hour fasting might have spent a lifetime researching and experimenting with this topic. His conclusions are positive within the context of his unique body, lifestyle and experiences.
But now, because passion is contagious, you may very quickly become an extended fasting enthusiast, without the same background context. If you try it and you’re lucky enough to experience the benefits - fantastic, lucky for some. But… what if the outcomes are the opposite?
We know that extended fasting isn’t suitable for everyone and can carry risks.
The guy who was passionate about fasting sold you the solution, but his reading, knowledge, health conditions, weight, relationship with food, insulin, life experiences, genes, mental health, stress levels, personality, and hundreds of other factors stayed with him.
Passionate people with big discoveries
The size or importance of the topic someone is passionate about also matters a lot.
What are the chances you’re going to make some life changes if I tell you that sleep is important, ultra-processed food is bad for you, and exercise is healthy?
Sooooo boring…
You already know this. Your curiosity drops to zero.
No dopamine spike.
No juicy news or gossip.
But what if I told you that eating half a bar of milk chocolate daily can reverse diabetes? (It doesn’t btw, sorry.)
This idea sounds more exciting. Who cares if it’s true?
A passionate guy told you so - he must know what he’s talking about, right?
The bigger and more controversial the discovery, the more likely the person is to want to share it with the world. They will share it faster, louder, and with more passion.
A passionate person sharing very exciting news. So hard to resist…
Well-respected passionate people
I first wrote about the “passionate people trap” in my article “Everyone Has Advice. Nobody Has Your Life”. I was arguing that the same piece of advice can help one person but make another person’s life worse. Any advice, protocols or new ideas are much harder to resist when delivered by a passionate person.
But there is a species that’s even more dangerous.
Imagine a person who is passionate, but additionally is knowledgeable, well-spoken, experienced, socially respected, and has all the credentials. Oh man… we are in trouble.
I think it’s much easier to dismiss unusual advice when it comes from a random TikToker compared with a well-known academic, therapist, or medic.
They just need to tell you about the healing power of daily celery juice and within a few hours you’ll be at the Lidl self-checkout queue hoping to avoid awkward questions from the cashier about why you’re buying 3 kg of celery.
Being careful
I think advice is most dangerous when we least expect it. There is no point warning you that “dodgy” people can give “dodgy” advice.
When, on the other hand, an expert shares something exciting, it’s best to see it as an observation or option, rather than a prescription. Perhaps doing your own research or even exploring the opposite strategy could be good starting points to get a wider perspective.
I think the best way to summarise the learning from this article is for me to give you an important piece of advice:
Please be careful about listening to any advice, especially from passionate and credible people sharing exciting news. This is the best advice I can give you. Trust me, I am very passionate about this!
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Here are the “giant” pumpkins I mentioned previously.
Hopefully they’ll be nice and orange by Halloween!
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