In the era of transnationalism and globalisation it is easy to be drawn into totalising paradigms about what it means to be human which erase alternative ways of thought. It is therefore instructive to revisit Ayi Kwei Armah’s postcolonial critique in order to question our assumptions about human activities such as the Olympic Games and general health practices. Armah reveals ways of thinking in precolonial times which may have been forgotten and which could assist the West in finding a balance in the way we live and treat our environment.