I think the answer lies Taubes’ eagerness to portray mainstream nutrition experts as big meanies who blame fat people for being fat. I’ve already quoted him as saying that on the mainstream view, being overweight or obese must result from a defect of character. Just to drive the point home, in the same book he later says (p. 84):
Much of the last half-century of professional discourse on obesity can be perceived as attempts to circumvent what we could call the “head case” implications of calories-in/calories-out: how to blame obesity on eating too much without actually blaming the fat person for the human weaknesses of self-indulgence and/or ignorance.
So if you hear an advocate of the mainstream view claiming not to be a big meanie, don’t believe them!
Where in the quote is Taubes accusing anyone of being a “meanie”?
Later in your post you mention that you consider making “wildly untrue” statements about someone’s position to be strong evidence of being a crackpot. Well, applying that standard to this post, I believe I am justified in declaring you a crackpot.
Where in the quote is Taubes accusing anyone of being a “meanie”?
Later in your post you mention that you consider making “wildly untrue” statements about someone’s position to be strong evidence of being a crackpot. Well, applying that standard to this post, I believe I am justified in declaring you a crackpot.