Art De Vany

I've apparently ruffled a few feathers over at Art Devany's website.  I figured I would tell my side of the story here, at least for cathartic reasons.

Art is a good thinker with an oversized ego.  For over a year now on his blog, he has sprinkled continual boasts about how great he is, his athletic prowess, his attractiveness, etc., along with otherwise intelligent posts.  In one recent post, he talked about his possible mating strategies, describing his new car, his fancy watch, and his great physique.  All this might be considered normal if Art was 16, but he's approaching 70 years old.  He's apparently never moved beyond these juvenile mating strategies, which really is quite sad.

After I made a comment about this, Art increased his boasts talking about how women have been staring at him lately, how people at the gas station tell him how attractive he is, how even little kids have been amazed by physique.  Who knows if this even real, or if it's just his fantasy world?  More importantly, who cares, and why does he keep telling everyone?

His response was that all this is all due to his fitness program.  Scientifically, this is completely bogus because it rules out how much of his purported success is due to genetics.  I'm sure Brad Pitt or other celebrities with great genes receive comments about how attractive they are all the time.  And while these people may be working out, they are surely not following Art's theories.

Art also misinterpreted a remark I made about the scientific basis of his theories.  The correct way to scientifically promote an idea is how Loren Cordain does, over at www.thepaleodiet.com.  Loren has published articles in peer-reviewed journals supporting his ideas.  By doing this, he separates himself from the idea - if someone wants to disagree with an idea, great, they can publish articles in journals doing just that.

Art, however, wraps his theory up with himself, and attempts to make both immune to criticism.  In one laughable post, Art said, "I don't want any of this to be about me."  Then why does he keep telling us about his personal life, how attractive he is, his new car, etc.? 

Art's ace up his sleeve is the promise of his book.  He states this will include all the scientific resources, citations, etc.  The problem is he has been talking about this book and how great it will be since 1999.  It's now 2006, and he's produced exactly one chapter (which has no references).

What's going on in Art's head?  I have no idea, I don't know the guy personally.  But all of the above suggests some type of ego problem.  People who are truly confident don't need to keep telling everyone how great they are.

Art is now apparently censoring comments on his blog in order to keep his ego intact.  He went through this cycle about six months ago, chasing a few people off who were making legitimate criticisms.  Art reminds me a bit of a recent castoff on American Idol.  This guy was supremely confident and kept telling everyone how great he was.  When he got the boot, he was reduced to tears and was suddenly very camera-shy - there was no real strength behind the facade.

So it looks like Art will keep pumping himself up, and that people will keep buying it, waiting for this magical book to appear.  It's really an age-old scheme, just like the famous Charles Atlas ads in comic books, promising everyone a great physique for only $19.95!  The supplement industry makes billions every year selling this dream to young men in the form of a pill.  Yet no book/pill/device will make someone look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Either you have the genetics for it or you don't.

Art has the right genetics, and is compelled to keep reminding everyone about it.  Perhaps he should buy one of those monster trucks to ride around town in, so he can attract attention while driving, too.

The real truth of all this is that when selfish people die, they are quickly forgotten.  Yet those who give part of themselves to others continue to live on through their influence.  Art wants everyone to know about his fancy car, fancy watches, and fancy physique.  Nobody really gives a damn because it's really not important.  But that's the problem when you're selfish and ego-driven, you can't see what really matters to people because you can't see beyond yourself. 

Good luck Art, I am already forgetting you.

Comments

[jake]

You know, I think you'll look back and not be happy with this post.

Christ - sure all the bluster seems even more exaggerated, but the man just lost his wife AND mother within a day,

How 'bout givin' the man a break for a couple months?

[Matt Metzgar]

Yes, I do have sympathy for his losses, as I said to him in a recent comment.

This isn't about me giving him a break for a while. He called my comments ignorant and malicious. I responded here. For me, it's a done deal - I'm moving on.