A topic that stuck out in my head was the distance at which we are removed from our own waste. Just to be clear, I’m not saying people should like to be around their own shit! The natural avoidance of humans to materials that can make us sick is completely understandable, but the treatment of human waste in society suggests that humans seek to distance themselves from the thought of it entirely. A few differing explanations of this cover some aspects of this phenomenon.

One example is advertising. The other day, while changing my cat’s litter, I noticed that the litter box didn’t actually say what it is for:

A box of cat litter similar to the one I was reading

If I had somehow come from an environment where I knew nothing about cats and their bathroom habits, I would have no idea what use this product serves. It advertises its “superior odor control” and its ability to stay fresh “even when you can’t scoop”. This is strange in contrast to something like shampoo, which still has instructions!

Not that these instructions are very helpful…

My mind is also drawn to toilet paper commercials, where characters will dance around on clouds and mention how incredibly soft the new inch-thick toilet paper is, but the most they will say about its function is “enjoy the go!”

Overall, our culture has a strange relationship with a good number of the natural processes our bodies experience… shit is just one of them!