Quote by Florence King
The vitamin has been reified. A chemical intangible originally defined as a unit of nutritive value, it was long ago reified into a pill. Now it is a pill; no one except a few precise scientists define it as anything else. Once the vitamin became a pill, it became real according to the precepts of American Cartesianism: I swallow it, therefore it is.
Summary
This quote suggests that the concept of a vitamin, which was initially conceived as a measure of nutritive value, has now been objectified and simplified into a pill form. It highlights how societal beliefs, particularly influenced by American Cartesianism, tend to define reality based on physical existence rather than abstract concepts. The act of swallowing the pill is seen as proof of its existence, underlying a shift from the vitamin's original intangible definition to its tangible form as a pill.
Topics
Health
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