- Is good posture actually important?
To find out I made a machine to roast my spine.
- [Machine] You are stinking.
- Let me explain.
Thank you to Skillshare for sponsoring this video.
Hi there.
My back hurts, but don't worry, it's not a medical mystery.
I hate to put myself on blast for free,
but it's just because I have terrible posture.
It's bad when I'm standing, sleeping, sitting,
sitting, sitting.
I spend a lot of time sitting.
Anyway it's a toxic trait, but it's my toxic trait.
It's my spine that looks like a shrimp doing yoga.
But if that's the case, then why do parents, teachers,
random men on the internet keep telling me
to sit up straight like it's their business?
I'm sick of it.
So today in this video, you and I are gonna figure out
whether or not good posture is overrated.
Let's do this.
(upbeat music)
So I split my next two weeks
between postural correction videos and reading a few books,
including "Stand Up Straight"
a book about the history of posture.
Somewhat unsurprisingly there was so much eugenics.
Yes, I have new glasses.
Anyway, I have never read a book that was so good
and yet made me feel so bad.
If you want a reminder on how troubling
the foundation of our society is
and how history is never as far back as it feels
read this book.
Now I could go ahead and give you a detailed timeline on
the evolution of posture,
but that's not really what this video is about.
We're trying to figure out
whether or not good posture is overrated.
So I figured I'd show you a pros and cons list.
(recorded cheering)
Let's start with the spine half straight.
There are three main benefits to good posture,
philosophical, social, and physical.
The philosophical benefit is a theme explored by many.
The motivation to straighten up varied
between raising one's mind toward the divine
to crediting the cause of our evolutionary advancement.
However, the key message remains consistent,
good posture is the foundation of our humanity
separating men from ape.
And society has only solidified
that line given our apparent response
to good posture in ourselves and in others.
It can make one seem more confident, competent,
and beautiful.
But evolution isn't a perfect process.
And it hasn't caught up with our modern world.
With anatomy in perfectly aligned to bipedalism
and lifestyles becoming increasingly static
our muscles and airways may experience strain
that good posture and movement can correct.
And so maybe it's because I wanna reduce
the tension in my back
or because I wanna get my head closer to this sky.
I don't know, but I think it's time to fix my posture.
And to do that I'm going to, this camera's so heavy.
I am going to use this,
receipt, this.
Actually, this is just the thing to hold batteries,
but this is basically baby's first circuit and I am baby.
This contains a sensor that should be able
to measure changes in angle or posture.
You see where I'm going with this?
So here's the plan.
I'm gonna figure out how to use this.
It looks very daunting right now.
Then I'm gonna stick it to my back
and get it to register when my posture goes bad.
Then I'm gonna get it
to bully me into fixing my posture in a week.
How am I gonna get this machine to bully me?
Well, I'm gonna use the boundless cruelty of the internet
to my advantage.
I'm just gonna tweet at y'all to roast me.
Please roast me, follow me on Twitter, by the way,
and tweet.
Okay, so hopefully I'll get a bunch of insults
and then I'll just get this sensor thing to play it.
I just need to figure out how to do that.
Okay, I was pretty nervous about this,
but because I know what I'm doing is super simple
and I'm expecting a lot of people in the comments to tell me
that I'm making a big deal out of nothing.
But there's something about circuits
that have always made me nervous.
My brain just tells me it's too hard and too complex
and that I should just give up before even trying.
So I figured I'd just start off as simple as possible
to just try and get past that fear
and maybe take the first step
towards doing more interesting things in the future.
Cool.
It's fashion.
Okay, so I think I've done it.
If I set my ideal posture to this,
and then I slouch
- [Machine] I've never known someone could
so wholly embody former gifted kid as much as you do.
- My feelings hurt, whoever
it works.
And so speaking of shaming
- [Machine] Imagine having quirky in your name.
- And so speaking of shaming people for their bad posture
let's continue with the negatives in our pros and cons list.
Here is why good posture is actually bad.
Starting in the age of enlightenment
an infatuation with science encouraged
the codification of posture.
It focused on the efficiencies seen in the modern military
and elegance of those in the royal courts.
Good posture stopped simply being about standing tall.
Now there were angles in symmetry that people needed
to replicate with precision.
And the pressure only increased
as science developed new measures and rules.
Children were propped up with metal braces, boards,
and corsets and trained to fit the ideal.
And those who couldn't be trained
or could not access training were rejected.
The poor, the disabled,
the people who simply had different anatomy
or different cultural values,
their posture was weaponized against their humanity
impacting legislature, healthcare,
and their treatment in the world.
The line of posture was still recognized
as separating men from animal,
but in effect it only separated wealth, ability, and race.
And that's weird, right?
Sorry, I looks so uncomfortable.
I'm trying not to make the posture machine mad at me.
Anyway, when I started this video I thought
that I was gonna make a silly little exploration of posture.
And instead I ended up with a reminder
that the world is kind of terrible.
And so maybe allowing my spine to flop around
like an uncooked spaghetti noodle
is a legitimate form of protest.
- [Assistant] Half your videos end in failure
and a sponsorship.
- Or maybe not.
I spent the next few days doing what I could
to fix my posture.
The sensor kept me annoyingly aware,
but I also did some simple exercises
and made my workspace more ergonomic.
Slowly, I started feeling better.
My back loosened up, but at the same time
this cognitive dissonance began to form.
Physically, I felt better,
but mentally I was uncomfortable with the idea
that I was proving those terrible people in history, right?
That the benefits I felt justified their brutality.
I kept chipping away at that feeling throughout the days,
trying to figure out what kept pushing me when
the concepts around good posture
so often failed the vibe check.
And now here I am one week later
sitting up a little straighter.
And I wanna throw this thing out a window.
I am still at the beginning of a long journey.
I tried to take a before and after photo.
Virtually indistinguishable, unless I lie.
However, there was this tension in my lower back
that's kind of just gone away.
I feel better for something that I did.
And the selfishness in that statement
is really important to me because I think it solves
this conflict that I've been feeling.
Physically training a resting posture
that works for your body can be useful.
There are psychological and physical benefits.
But the problems arise when you try
and see posture as anything more than the way one's body is.
When it's moralized and codified into good and bad,
measured with an impersonal eye
and enforced without flexibility.
Everyone's bodies are different
and no matter how ancient philosophers
or worryingly modern scientists
or even your parents try to sell it,
your humanity isn't dependent on how straight you sit.
So is good posture overrated?
Yeah,
but I think you had a hunch that I was gonna say that.
And if you disagree, well, you could get off my back.
Pew Pew Pew Pew Pew.
Slowest air horn guns pew pews in the world.
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while I do my posture correction exercises.
I use the term exercises loosely.
If you didn't know,
Skillshare is an online learning community
with thousands of classes covering just about any skill,
like productivity, animation, and creative writing.
In the process of making this video I needed
to record a bunch of day because posture never stops.
And that got kind of overwhelming at first,
until I took Document Your Life.
It's a class by Nathaniel Drew.
It explores the idea of intentional documentation
and offered me a great balance between the technical
and theoretical choices I made.
The best part is that Skillshare
is curated specifically for learning.
So I didn't need to wait around watching ads.
It was just pure education.
And they're always launching new premium classes,
so you can stay focused
and follow wherever your creativity takes you.
It's less than $10 a month with an annual subscription.
But the first 1000 of y'all
to click the link in the description
will get a free trial of a premium membership.
So whether you wanna explore new skills,
deepen existing passions, or get lost in creativity
get started with Skillshare.
But either way, have lovely day.
(upbeat music)