Marginal Gains

The beach

I love going to a beach and observing the demographics there. It has some unique philosophical aspect to it.

First of all, everyone who enters a beach has to park his expensive, or old and beaten, car elsewhere. Then, everyone has to take down their clothing, no matter how expensive or cheap it is. Also, women come to the beach without a makeup that masterfully hides their age. And all these factors uncover a whole new angle to look at our society, that has nothing to do with the established social hierarchy.

Suddenly, all your wealth and social status do not mean that much. What matters there is genetics, hard work and discipline. You can quickly glance at a man or woman and make a good judgement to what degree they possess those qualities. The body shape of a person can tell eloquent stories about one’s character that words can’t express. Everyone’s lifestyle and habits are brutally exposed and easy to read. And this in turn establishes a new, primal, but fair, social hierarchy.