1.

Eating is a very base human activity: you do it and it’s over. You’re the same person going out as you are going in. It’s a purely sensory experience, sometimes it feels good and sometimes it’s meh.

Eating is on exactly the same level as pooping.

2.

So it’s confusing when people pay for luxury restaurants, or any restaurant that isn’t going for the “best bang for your buck” angle.

Why do so many restaurants have Instagram pages?

Well if you ask people who go to those places, they’ll say it’s a social thing. But you can have a social gathering at someone’s apartment (which is free), a park (also free), or a cheap restaurant.

What explains this?

Well you know how Marlboro got men to buy their cigarettes in droves by plastering pictures of masculine cowboys all over the world?

Well, restaurants are also selling self-image. French fine dining sells one image. High-end tacos another. Ramen a third. They’re selling you an identity with the pretext of food.

3.

But what about people with such refined palates that they can’t stand eating anywhere low quality?

Imagine you had a friend that spent $100 a week on luxury flavoured water. They just can’t stand the subtle notes in regular water anymore. I’d say they screwed themselves over by running too far on the hedonic treadmill and they could save a lot of money by untraining their palate.

4.

And just like eating, you can put effort into pooping to make it feel better.

Ever since I started loads of vegetables, I have fantastic poops in the mornings that reliably make me feel aftershocks throughout the day. A healthy meal will fuel me for a day, while a good poop will put a lightness into my attitude, and that’s just as important. And pooping is free.

If your poops aren’t this good, you’re missing out.