For decades, society has viewed increased weight as a character issue: a lack of willpower, discipline, and personal responsibility. This deeply rooted narrative has spawned accusations of “laziness” and “weakness,” ignoring the fact that guilt, shame, and exclusion exacerbate the vicious cycle of weight gain and stigma.
The emergence of GLP-1 medications—such as semaglutide and tirzepatide—is changing the way we understand desire, hunger, and human behavior. These drugs mimic the natural hormone GLP-1, slowing gastric emptying, enhancing satiety, and regulating appetite. Evidence from clinical studies is telling: approximately 37% of those who take them lose more than 10% of their body weight within two years. This occurs not because they “boost” willpower but because they diminish desire itself.
Here also arises the concept of food noise—the internal clamor that constantly pushes one toward eating. For many, this noise is low or nonexistent. For others, it is relentless: intense cravings, persistent thoughts about food, delayed signals of fullness. It is not a matter of moral fortitude; it is a question of an uneven battle.
In light of this knowledge, traditional ethics surrounding “self-control” are shifting. Aristotle distinguished self-control—the resistance to temptation—from temperance, where temptation does not even arise. GLP-1s shift the experience from the former to the latter: they do not strengthen willpower but weaken desire.
Science also shows us that factors such as appetite intensity, sensitivity to food stimuli, and satiety signals have a strong genetic basis. In an environment filled with cheap calories, those with biologically heightened appetites are at a disadvantage from the start.
Although they promise much, GLP-1s are not a panacea. They have side effects, do not work for everyone, and their cost raises new social and ethical questions: what does it mean when the “calm” of food noise becomes a privilege for those who can afford it?
Perhaps the discussion should not revolve around who “tried” hard enough. But rather around who had the luxury of not needing to try so hard.
Sources: Psyche, Rethinking Self-Control by Matthew C. Haug
