Is funny because it's true!

In GTA4 you can actually drive to a comedy club and watch a cgi Ricky Gervais perform this act. Funny stuff. It won't let you shoot him though.

*promote

Self promoting this video back to the front page; last published Sunday, June 29th, 2008 5:38pm PDT - promote requested by original submitter Zonbie.

Funny, but obesity does in fact have a strong molecular biological, genetic component involving in some cases a pathological and absolutely irresistible hunger compulsion, and in other cases completely messed up metabolism and energy storage. These obese individuals are the result of biological disease and the recent cheap availability of enormous portions of horrible foods. When all you can afford is fish, rice, and cabbage, these diseases might never show, especially if you have to labor hard for the money to afford even that. Of course if a few bigmacs are about the same price and you're "working from home" or mumsy and dadsy are floating the bill...


Still, of course others are just lazy lumps who eat 12 bigmacs, wash it down with 64 ounces of mountain dew with a side of cheesecake while they watch soaps all day.

Although it's technically a different 'disease' or 'syndrome' to obesity, the people with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prader-Willi_syndrome Prader Willi Syndrome are fat, and have an excuse.

It's a horrible syndrome, A defect with chromosome 15 causes many things to not form properly in the body, and one of them is the lack of a signal from your stomach to the brain saying you're full, or even content, they're always "Starving".

Though I like your description Doc i would still argue that even though it could be biological/psychological its still not a "disease". I think that word gets thrown around way to much. Yes it can mean an abnormality but they use it as if you are "catching" obesity against your will, like if they sneeze on you your immune system wont be able to fight off the fat cells any longer. Kinda like how they call drug addiction or alcoholism a disease now which i think somewhat takes responsibility out of your hands cause you are suddenly the "victim". So do some people need help, yes. Are there a lot of lazy ass people who exploit that help when they dont actually need it, absolutely.

"Ohh, I'm so fucking ill."

hahah!

By his definition, some obsessive-compulsives just REALLY like to be clean and epileptics just want to get their groove on.

Not to mention he's a bit of a fat ass himself. Chunky boy.

since when has lepracy been a disease?

To Doc: Yes there are SOME people who have a medical condition which causes them to have weight issues, but I'd like to see some stats, and I think we'd find that sweet bugger all fat people are fat due to a medical issue, most are fat due to eating too much and doing too little. They just use the few medical conditions as excuses.

Payback: No, that's not his definition at all... in the vast majority of cases fat people are fat due to lack of self control, NOT by a mental or physical defect. Epileptics have some bad 'wiring', and obsessive-compulsives have a disorder. The vast majority of fat people are fat by, in effect, choice. They've chosen to not exercise, they've chosen to eat more than they need, they've chosen to not make the effort to lose the weight that will kill them off early.

No sympathy I'm afraid.

>> ^Payback:
Not to mention he's a bit of a fat ass himself. Chunky boy.

Yah, but that's just by European standards.

I'm no health nut... i think working out is boring unless you can do it on the Wii and i really like food and beer, So I guess I'm a tad like Ricky Gervais, which I think is normal. Unless I goto an H&M store, the last time I was there I grabbed a medium, my usual size and tried it on. I felt like doing my own "fat guy in little coat" routine in the changing room.

from wiki:

Leprosy (from the Greek lepid, meaning scales on a fish), or Hansen's disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae.[1] Leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions are the primary external symptom.

>> ^spoco2:
To Doc: Yes there are SOME people who have a medical condition which causes them to have weight issues, but I'd like to see some stats, and I think we'd find that sweet bugger all fat people are fat due to a medical issue, most are fat due to eating too much and doing too little. They just use the few medical conditions as excuses.
Payback: No, that's not his definition at all... in the vast majority of cases fat people are fat due to lack of self control, NOT by a mental or physical defect. Epileptics have some bad 'wiring', and obsessive-compulsives have a disorder. The vast majority of fat people are fat by, in effect, choice. They've chosen to not exercise, they've chosen to eat more than they need, they've chosen to not make the effort to lose the weight that will kill them off early.
No sympathy I'm afraid.


You're asking Doc to produce stats to back up how many people are obese because of medical conditions, yet lacking those stats you boldly claim that "the vast majority of fat people are fat due to lack of self control, NOT by a mental or physical defect." Where are your stats to back that up?

I don't disagree that some people are fat because they are lazy, but just because SOME people are lazy, it doesn't mean they're ALL lazy.

My mother has a condition, don't know the name, but basically her stomach never shuts off the "I'm hungry" signal. Imagine every waking hour of your life feeling hungry, even knowing you just ate. Do you think you could have the self control to resist your body telling you it's hungry all the time?

>> ^jimnms:
You're asking Doc to produce stats to back up how many people are obese because of medical conditions, yet lacking those stats you boldly claim that "the vast majority of fat people are fat due to lack of self control, NOT by a mental or physical defect." Where are your stats to back that up?

I don't disagree that some people are fat because they are lazy, but just because SOME people are lazy, it doesn't mean they're ALL lazy.

My mother has a condition, don't know the name, but basically her stomach never shuts off the "I'm hungry" signal. Imagine every waking hour of your life feeling hungry, even knowing you just ate. Do you think you could have the self control to resist your body telling you it's hungry all the time?

And you're doing even worse, you're taking ONE CASE, your mother, and trying to extrapolate that to everyone else.

From the wiki entry on obesity:

Most researchers have concluded that the combination of an excessive nutrient intake and a sedentary lifestyle are the main cause for the rapid acceleration of obesity in Western society in the last quarter of the 20th century.

I can see your arguement Spoco.

But basically we can just say the world in its entirety is changed. Children are being diagnosed for Ritalin left and right because their parents/doctors think the fact a 8 year old can't sit still is a problem, and therefore something's wrong with the child.

More and more 'Intolerancies' are popping up, my mother is a larger woman, she's not Obese, but she's up there. Her massage therapist told her to stop eating dairy for a week, because maybe some of the fat around her stomach is there because her intestines are swelling, causing extra bulk because MAYBE she's lactose intolerant.(I'm glad to say she told him that sounds like a load
of bull.)

Ricky pretty much has it on the nose, people with some form of problem are always looking for a quick way to fix it, or say it's there for a reason.

Everybody wants to lose weight, but nobody wants to eat less, or healthier.
Obese people(With the exception of very few. Again, I point to prader willi syndrome, the one Jimms mother has, i'm assuming). just don't want to admit they're lazy and not doing anything to help fix it. Since they're too lazy to fix it, they want something to say in their defense. "I can't stop eating, it's a disease."

Basically, if you've missed my point, because i'm tired and probably not getting it across clearly, is that basically nobody want's to own up to whats real anymore.

and now, because i'm a fat bastard Diseased, i'm going to go get some pie.

Ritalin is a disease now?

>> ^spoco2: And you're doing even worse, you're taking ONE CASE, your mother, and trying to extrapolate that to everyone else.

No, I'm using ONE CASE of a personal experience to show you that you can't label a group people a certain way because of some bad apples in the group.


>> ^spoco2: Diseases which cause obesity haven't suddenly skyrocketed, but the number of fat people have. It's the lifestyle for the VAST majority of people.

A lot of the diseases that cause obesity have just recently been discovered and new ones are still being discovered and diagnosed. If everyone held to your way of thinking that fat people are fat because they're lazy and eat too much, these diseases never would have been discovered.


>> ^spoco2: I never said that ALL are lazy, you did, I said MOST were. There are SOME who have conditions like your mother, and that's terrible, but what makes it worse is all the fat, lazy people who are fat due to pure laziness and bad eating who then try to garner some sort of sympathy for their 'condition'. This takes away any sympathy most of us have for those like your mother who truly do have a condition.

As such you should dislike the lazy fat even more than most, because they make your mother's life even worse.

Why should have I dislike anyone? We all have our faults, so who am I to judge or dislike someone based on the lifestyle they chose.

You're labeling an entire group of people based on the actions of some. If you take your statements and replaced "fat people" with blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Jews, gays, etc., and "are fat because" with a typical racial stereotype, then maybe you'll understand my point.

The problem with all your arguments on obesity being a disease is that it doesn't explain why there are so many more obese people now than there used to be, whereas eating too much and doing too little DOES.

And your last point is just ridiculous... I'm saying that there is a huge spike in obese people in the last decade, which relates perfectly to the spike in fatty foods in large servings and lack of physical exercise. I say many times I mean MOST, the MAJORITY, the numbers that are causing those spikes... tell me honestly you don't know a number of people who aren't fat because they eat poorly and do no to little exercise?

Have a little look at lifestyles/eating habits across countries and obesity levels, I think you'll find a pretty darn close relationship with diet/activity and obesity rates... go on... look, you'll find that your rants that I'm being 'fat racist' are not founded because I'm siding with reality, not people's wish to ascribe all their faults to external influences and problems.

>> ^jimnms:
>> ^spoco2: And you're doing even worse, you're taking ONE CASE, your mother, and trying to extrapolate that to everyone else.
No, I'm using ONE CASE of a personal experience to show you that you can't label a group people a certain way because of some bad apples in the group.

>> ^spoco2: Diseases which cause obesity haven't suddenly skyrocketed, but the number of fat people have. It's the lifestyle for the VAST majority of people.
A lot of the diseases that cause obesity have just recently been discovered and new ones are still being discovered and diagnosed. If everyone held to your way of thinking that fat people are fat because they're lazy and eat too much, these diseases never would have been discovered.

>> ^spoco2: I never said that ALL are lazy, you did, I said MOST were. There are SOME who have conditions like your mother, and that's terrible, but what makes it worse is all the fat, lazy people who are fat due to pure laziness and bad eating who then try to garner some sort of sympathy for their 'condition'. This takes away any sympathy most of us have for those like your mother who truly do have a condition.
As such you should dislike the lazy fat even more than most, because they make your mother's life even worse.
Why should have I dislike anyone? We all have our faults, so who am I to judge or dislike someone based on the lifestyle they chose.
You're labeling an entire group of people based on the actions of some. If you take your statements and replaced "fat people" with blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Jews, gays, etc., and "are fat because" with a typical racial stereotype, then maybe you'll understand my point.

I completely agree with you... the prescribing of medication to children is another thing that really, really angers and saddens me...

"My kid is hard to control"
"He must have ADHD, here take these drugs, they'll subdue the little f*cker"
"Thanks doctor... I feel so much better now that I can pretend it wasn't my piss poor parenting and lack of attention or discipline that is to blame"

And yeah, I speak from some experience here, my parents used to be foster parents while I still lived at home, and they'd often get kids labelled 'problem children' (young, under 5s), and actually labeled as having ADHD etc. A WEEK, a friggin' WEEK with my parents and they were MUCH quieter, more content, able to sit and do puzzles or draw or play with lego... SO much better behaved, so much happier, more smiles, more engaged.

Then they'd have a visit with their parent out somewhere, and when they returned they were as insane as they used to be for a set amount of time until the rules were reset again.

It's all a cop out... society (western) is scarily, horribly going down the route of 'it's not me, it's something I can't control, give me medicine/surgery to fix it'.

And I hate it.

>> ^Shepppard:
I can see your arguement Spoco.
But basically we can just say the world in its entirety is changed. Children are being diagnosed for Ritalin left and right because their parents/doctors think the fact a 8 year old can't sit still is a problem, and therefore something's wrong with the child.
More and more 'Intolerancies' are popping up, my mother is a larger woman, she's not Obese, but she's up there. Her massage therapist told her to stop eating dairy for a week, because maybe some of the fat around her stomach is there because her intestines are swelling, causing extra bulk because MAYBE she's lactose intolerant.(I'm glad to say she told him that sounds like a load
of bull.)
Ricky pretty much has it on the nose, people with some form of problem are always looking for a quick way to fix it, or say it's there for a reason.
Everybody wants to lose weight, but nobody wants to eat less, or healthier.
Obese people(With the exception of very few. Again, I point to prader willi syndrome, the one Jimms mother has, i'm assuming). just don't want to admit they're lazy and not doing anything to help fix it. Since they're too lazy to fix it, they want something to say in their defense. "I can't stop eating, it's a disease."
Basically, if you've missed my point, because i'm tired and probably not getting it across clearly, is that basically nobody want's to own up to whats real anymore.
and now, because i'm a fat bastard Diseased, i'm going to go get some pie.

Spoco, you say that obesity is a "new thing" but what you haven't seen is that food hasn't always been as available as it is now. People who had serious diseases did not show symptoms until recently simply due to the fact that they did not have access to the food.... Come on. It's not that hard to grasp. There are TONS of genetic diseases that people assume are just bad values or bad behavior. We need to get beyond that bull shit. I am a geneticist. I'm sick and tired of people blaming behavior on laziness. There IS a significant genetic component of most diseases. You might not "catch" them because they are not f-ing viruses. They are genetic. Part of your f-ing genes. You don't "catch" obesity, but that doesn't mean you don't have a genetic tendency to become obese.
Our genes are NOT PERFECT; we've got serious genetic problems and they're scattered thoughout our genome.
And I know what the F--- I'm talking about.
Seriously.

>> ^Doc_M:
Spoco, you say that obesity is a "new thing" but what you haven't seen is that food hasn't always been as available as it is now. People who had serious diseases did not show symptoms until recently simply due to the fact that they did not have access to the food.... Come on. It's not that hard to grasp. There are TONS of genetic diseases that people assume are just bad values or bad behavior. We need to get beyond that bull shit. I am a geneticist. I'm sick and tired of people blaming behavior on laziness. There IS a significant genetic component of most diseases. You might not "catch" them because they are not f-ing viruses. They are genetic. Part of your f-ing genes. You don't "catch" obesity, but that doesn't mean you don't have a genetic tendency to become obese. And I know what the F I'm talking about.


My understanding has always been that there are disorders that can cause excessive weight gain - and not just because of over eating (or even eating)

Reduced exercise or activity level
Quitting smoking - or other type of tobacco withdrawal
Slowing of metabolism with aging
Reaction to prior dieting
Stress or Comforting Eating (caused by anxiety or depression)
Heart failure
Kidney failure
Brain tumor
Brain trauma
Down's syndrome
Dercum's disease
Thyrotoxicosis
Ovarian cyst
Polycystic ovarian syndrome

to name but a few - I enjoy Rickys routine - but he is obviously using comedy more than fact

Although when you see someone is a cart shopping because "they don't like walking" it does remove the sympathy somewhat.

All said and done, blaming overweight people even when thy eat properly and exercise is obviously not right, and yet that does happen.

^That's not even the start of it. You wouldn't believe the number of inherited genetic disorders that lead to extreme obesity. Some are merely hunger-related while others are metabolism problems and fat storage problems. Most people just assume these people are FAT FOOLS who don't when to stop eating. They have no idea of the suffering that these individuals are experiencing day by day.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/03.html

You call it "food", I call it high fructose corn syrup. Seriously, I visited the US last month... even the coffee creamer was made from corn. WTF?

I had my coffee black instead.

>> ^Doc_M:
Spoco, you say that obesity is a "new thing" but what you haven't seen is that food hasn't always been as available as it is now. BR>Seriously.

^Good move.
I must have been in a rather bad mood that day a year ago. I have a tendency to get pissed when people blame everything on weakness when there are other factors that are hard to understand by those not afflicted by them.