In 1925, the American scientist McKay did such an experiment: he divided a group of newly weaned young mice into two groups and fed them in two different cages. Group A enjoyed "preferential treatment", giving them plenty of food every day and eating them all day long, while Group B was subjected to "discriminatory treatment", providing them with only 60% of the food equivalent to Group A every day, deliberately leaving them hungry. The experimental results were very unexpected: the mice in group A had a short lifespan and slow movement, and they did not live more than 1,000 days before they returned to the western sky; while the hungry mice in group B doubled their life expectancy, lived more than 2,000 days before they died, and their fur was smooth, their skin was tight, and their movements were fast. What is more intriguing is that the immune function of the "hungry rat" is slightly higher than that of the "full rat".
Since then, scientists have gradually expanded the scope of the experiment, conducting similar experiments on fish, rabbits, monkeys and other animals, and the results are similar. This is the hungry rat effect. That is, proper moderation, good development; excessive indulgence, premature aging and short life. The focus of this law is on the word "moderation", the uncontrolled eating and drinking of the rats, and the unrestrained desires that eventually lead to the tragedy of short life.
Human beings can not escape the impact of the hungry rat effect: uncontrolled overtime, consuming physical health; unrestrained procrastination, the closer to the deadline, the more anxious; unrestrained brushing of mobile phones, will delay the right thing, into a state of self-blame and guilt; uncontrolled eating and drinking, easy to overweight, and even more and more disgusted with their own bodies; uncontrolled weight loss, easy anorexia, inability to enjoy food with peace of mind... Only by learning self-discipline and self-control can we not be at the mercy of desire and control our lives.
Self-discipline is actually to put yourself in a state of moderation of "micro-hunger". Let yourself have hope and planning for your life every day, lie down and sleep contentedly every night, and open your eyes in the morning with anticipation. When people are in such a state, they can have a sense of control over their lives. At this time, the whole person will be in a state of vitality and energy, and the flow of time will become more vital! People in a state of "slight hunger", even if they suddenly suffer from the blow of life, can have good psychological resilience and restore themselves to their original position.
In his book The Road Few, M. Scott Pike gives four principles of self-discipline: postpone gratification, take responsibility, stay true to facts, and maintain balance. Here, "delaying gratification" is actually putting yourself in a state of "micro-hunger". As the classic line from the movie The Hunger Games goes, "A little hope is good, and a great hope is destruction." Moderate self-discipline can keep our body and mind in a state of "micro-hunger" vitality, and keep moving forward towards that little bit of hope.