Besides sitting in front of TV sets and computers, an ultimate sedentary activity is sitting
restrained in a car.
I once attended a lecture by a noted psychiatrist that in animal studies, the most potent stressor is restraint. For humans, being in a car is probably the most common occurrence of restraint, not just by a seatbelt, but because you cannot leave a car while moving, particularly on a freeway.
While driving itself may not be that stressful, it’s easy to see that the stress of driving in hazardous conditions may be amplified, because there is no escape.
Furthermore
in my experience, the most uncomfortable time on the road is being stuck in traffic, where there is no danger, but unrelenting immobilization. So if stress (specifically distress) is inimical to good health, driving is an added risk exposure, as if we didn’t know that
Originally Posted by
gerv
Considering that the confinement of car and couch are pretty recent developments in human evolution, it's easy to see how anything that keeps you active and healthy is also going to keep you happy as well.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
The difference though is that the car is immobilizing whereas the couch promotes inactivity and one is free to move away, especially facilitated by recording devices freeing up the restraint of waiting for the commercials.
Of course, the true Couch Potato only leaves to answer the “call of nature,” or seek out sustenance from the four food groups (sugar, salt, grease, and alcohol).