The Health Hive Mind: Breaking Free from Corporate Influence
When I look at the office buildings around the city, they often resemble massive beehives—lots of worker bees in identical suits, following the same orders, producing the same “sweet honey” for the corporation. This “hive mind” mentality drives corporations, where thousands of people align under a single brand and idea, promoting unified messages to the public.
Corporate Influence on Health: The Cheerios Example
Take a product like Cheerios, produced by General Mills, which claims to promote heart health and reduce cholesterol. With its iconic heart on the box and carefully crafted branding, the message is clear: Cheerios is “good” for you. But when I see that box, I can’t help but feel like I’m being strategically misled.
Let’s consider a simple thought experiment:
Who will be healthier?
- Person A: Eats 2000 calories of Cheerios.
- Person B: Eats 2000 calories of beef.
It’s obvious that Person B will be healthier and stronger. Yet, corporations have ingrained the fear of cholesterol into the public, leading many Americans to swap a natural, animal-based diet for processed, factory-made food. Companies like General Mills leverage health “trends,” such as low-cholesterol and plant-based diets, not because they’re proven as the healthiest options but because they’re easy to produce, trendy, and profitable.
Questioning the Hive Mind
“As individuals, we must become more critical of hive minds that exist, such as corporations, social media, and news sources.”
The health hive mind perpetuated by corporations and reinforced by social media, advertising, and the news, often convinces people to follow trends without thinking critically about their choices. When big companies push the narrative that cholesterol is harmful, people adopt this belief without question, even though our species has thrived on animal-based diets for centuries.
Leave the colony. Think for yourself. Consider what truly benefits your body, and don’t be afraid to go against the grain. Health should be guided by what’s natural, sustainable, and nourishing—not by what’s trendy or heavily marketed.
Key Takeaways
- Corporations resemble hives, promoting unified messages to influence the public.
- Processed foods like Cheerios are marketed as “healthy” but lack the true nutrition found in whole, animal-based foods.
- Question the hive mind: Think critically about health messages from corporations, social media, and news sources.
- Choose real, nourishing foods over what’s simply convenient or marketed as “trendy.”
In a world of hive minds, be the individual who steps back, questions, and makes health decisions based on truth, not trends.
When I see a lot of the office buildings in the city, they look like big beehives. Lots of worker bees and lots of sweet honey being produced. Everybody is wearing the same suit and tie, following the same orders, and working on the same things. Corporations become like a bee colony of thousands of people promoting the same ideas.
Certain corporations like General Mills, that produce the famous breakfast cereal Cheerios, claim that their product is beneficial for heart health because it lowers your cholesterol. Whenever I see their box in a grocery store and the shape of a heart, with their strategic branding, I can’t help but feel like I’m being lied to as a customer. Thought experiment:
Who will be healthier?
Person A: Eats 2000 calories of cheerios
Person B: Eats 2000 calories of beef
Obviously the person who eats the beef will be healthier and stronger. The problem is the fact that people have become scared of cholesterol because of these large corporations and their marketing tactics. Many Americans have replaced an animal-based diet that we’ve had since the beginning of time, with processed, factory-made junk food. Also, my thought is that vegan diets are promoted more than ever nowadays because the corporations know it’s trendy, easy to produce, and will make them more money.
As individuals we must become more critical of hive minds that exist, such as corporations, social media, and news sources. Leave the colony and think for yourself.