My Dear Hemlock

by Tilly Dillehay

So you’ve finally noticed your girl is prone to asceticism, and you wonder if anything can be made of it. You certainly took enough time noticing. What we have here is a strong case of the abstention bias, which is the human assumption that to abstain from something is always the most virtuous choice. In your patient’s mind, the burden of proof is irresistibly thrown onto the side of permissiveness. She feels in her marrow that it must be holier NOT to do something than to do it. Many of her friends share this bias, which makes it a social tool for us, not just a private one. Let’s say the girl is among friends. One of them declares she no longer touches some category of food—processed meats, dairy, gluten, sugar, etc. These days, the woman’s stated reason is usually not explicitly spiritual. It is rather an argument about health: the body was not meant to consume the food in question, the food in question is the cause of all societal ills and rising healthcare costs, the food in question has never been consumed in its current adulterated state, etc. etc.