A woman in Seattle who believes she can live without food is trying to prove it, and promoting her claims through social media.
According to a story on Fox News, “Navenna Shine, the founder and subject of the Living on Light experiment, plans to spend the next four to six months abstaining from food of any kind and living on only light, water and tea. According to her website Livingonlight.com, Shine started the experiment in an attempt to follow a group of obscure Yogis, who for thousands of years have claimed the ability to live on light.”
The claimed ability to survive without food (and sometimes without water as well) is called inedia, and those who attempt it are called “inediates” (among other things). One common version of inedia includes a belief called breatharianism, which teaches that humans can be trained to survive just on water and sunlight.
Shine is only the latest among many alleged inediates over the years. Though the beliefs date back thousands of years, in modern times only a handful of people actually claim this amazing ability. In 2010 an 82-year-old Indian man named Prahlad Jani made news for claiming he had not had anything to eat or drink since World War II.
Psychology of Inedia
Inedia is very different from merely dieting for health, fasting as non-violent protest, or because of a psychological disorder such as anorexia nervosa. Robert Carroll, Chairman of the Philosophy Department at Sacramento City College and author of “The Skeptics Dictionary” notes that refusing to eat has strong spiritual connotations: “Fasting has long been considered a way to purify one’s body and mind. Fasting reminds us of our dependence and weakness, and links us to those who suffer hunger as part of their daily lives. Inediates strive to be spiritual beings and carry fasting to an inhuman level. If restraint, self-control, and reducing one’s intake of food and water are good, then eliminating all physical nourishment must be better.”
Temporary fasting is part of many religions, including Islam and Christianity; in Roman Catholic traditions, some saints are said to have lived for months or even years without food.
