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I always wonder about the effects of pervasive air conditioning. Living in cool environments all through the summer certainly isn't natural, right? Maybe the en

by pc2g4d 10y ago

I always wonder about the effects of pervasive air conditioning. Living in cool environments all through the summer certainly isn't natural, right? Maybe the energy required to regulate body temperature in warm environments is actually a good thing, and air conditioning prevents us from getting the benefit.

acjohnson55 10y ago
Some people also tout the benefits of mild hypothermia. I suppose any type of thermal regulation is a workout for the body.
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atourgates 10y ago
Depends on what part of the world you're living in. Where I live (North central Idaho, at an elevation of 2,500 feet), new houses were being built without air conditioning 10 years ago, because it typically didn't get hot enough in the summer to justify it. Our summers are getting hotter, so that's changing, but here that change has occurred in the past 10 years. Many people still live without A/C on much of West Coast (Oregon, Washington and BC), so long as they live in a temperate climate near the water there's rarely a need. So, living in a house where the temperature is A/C controlled at 75°F in the summertime, isn't going to be too different than living in a climate where summertime temps don't often get above 75°F.
freehunter 10y ago
On the other hand, heat stroke kills a lot of people every year, and suffering through ever changing weather takes a toll on productivity. There are a lot of things that may be bad for us as individuals but necessary to our society.
clock_tower 10y ago
Take ancestral environment into account. Asia and Africa have torrid summers, but Europe -- at least Western Europe -- mostly doesn't; this is especially true of the British Isles, a temperate-rainforest zone comparable to the West Coast or parts of inner Appalachia. For US residents with mostly British (including Irish) ancestry, air conditioning is a return to ancestral environments, not a departure from them.

by pc2g4d 10y ago

acjohnson55 10y ago

Some people also tout the benefits of mild hypothermia. I suppose any type of thermal regulation is a workout for the body.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

atourgates 10y ago

Depends on what part of the world you're living in. Where I live (North central Idaho, at an elevation of 2,500 feet), new houses were being built without air conditioning 10 years ago, because it typically didn't get hot enough in the summer to justify it. Our summers are getting hotter, so that's changing, but here that change has occurred in the past 10 years. Many people still live without A/C on much of West Coast (Oregon, Washington and BC), so long as they live in a temperate climate near the water there's rarely a need. So, living in a house where the temperature is A/C controlled at 75°F in the summertime, isn't going to be too different than living in a climate where summertime temps don't often get above 75°F.

freehunter 10y ago

On the other hand, heat stroke kills a lot of people every year, and suffering through ever changing weather takes a toll on productivity. There are a lot of things that may be bad for us as individuals but necessary to our society.

clock_tower 10y ago

Take ancestral environment into account. Asia and Africa have torrid summers, but Europe -- at least Western Europe -- mostly doesn't; this is especially true of the British Isles, a temperate-rainforest zone comparable to the West Coast or parts of inner Appalachia. For US residents with mostly British (including Irish) ancestry, air conditioning is a return to ancestral environments, not a departure from them.