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Showing posts with the label paradox

The American Guilt Paradox

With all of these sexual harassment and assault allegations coming to fruition in recent weeks, we've continually been told, "Always believe the accusers." As a victim of sexual abuse myself, I tend to agree with those sentiments. However, given the fact that, in a court of law, we're told to treat a defendant as innocent until proven guilty, this mentality serves as quite the perplexing paradox. If we were to combine the two, it'd read, "One is innocent until proven guilty, but always believe the accusers" or "Always believe the accusers, yet one is innocent until proven guilty." Like I said, perplexing... So how do we walk that fine line? How do we not publicly convict a person before they've had their fair trial, yet also take an accuser's words seriously? Is that even possible? If I always believe the accuser, I'll see the alleged perpetrator as guilty until proven innocent. If I always view the alleged perpetrator as innocent...

The Paradoxical BMI

While I've long been a critic of the BMI (Body Mass Index), I was still shocked to see my latest such score when stepping on the scale at a recent doctor's appointment. At 5'9'', I weighed 200 lbs., which translates to a BMI score of 30, and registers as borderline obese according to the BMI chart. When looking at the increasingly popular waist-to-height ratio, as I have a 32'' waist, I registered at a 46.38, which is categorized as "healthy." Not only that, but my score was closer to "healthy slim" (42%) than "overweight" (53%). For one to be considered "obese," their ratio has to be at least 63%. Lastly, I checked out a body fat calculator. My numbers resulted in a score of 10.99%, which is categorized as "athletes," less than half the percentage of what is considered to be "obese" (25%+). So, let me get this straight. According to the traditional BMI chart, I'm borderline obese. Accordi...