As a Trekkie in the 90s, this phrase first captured my attention when rooting for Captain Picard fighting the Borg collective that aimed to assimilate the entire Alpha Quadrant. Years later, living in a similar abundance environment to the Utopian Federation, my hunter-gatherer instincts realized it's futile to resist three-course luncheons and five-course dinners – with (nearly) fatal consequences for my health.
A hypothetical time machine from a science-fiction 24th-century setting to mythological Greece would elicit a similar story: The constant offerings of high-calorie food, the one drink for the road, or a little bit more of doomscrolling require the strength of Odysseus tied to the mast of his galley to withstand all these temptations.
As humans, we are forced to engage maximum willpower spent just to be healthy. It often makes us miserable. Diets and dry Januaries are fleeting and short. They're usually followed up by extended Summer splurges that often last until Christmas.
The good news, to fellow Trekkies or not, is that ingenious scientists have delivered us solutions. GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro are basically the vaccine against Borg nanoprobes and the constant silencer of Siren voices.
