23 ms·

Given that this decline apparently started in 1973, I'd say they're probably not the deciding factor.

AndrewKemendo 9y ago
I feel like something happened in the early 70s that just made progress slow way down. I keep seeing bad trends start in the 1970s - like stagnant wage growth (1971), increased inequality (1971) etc...
- mikeash 9y ago
  ARPANET was created in 1969. Distract all your geniuses with cat pictures and flame wars, and doom is sure to follow.
  - iRobbery 9y ago
    Did arpanet already have porn? Then i blame men are whacking it more since 1969...
    - mikeash 9y ago
      According to Wikipedia, the use of porn as test images for image processing code dates back to at least 1961, so it seems likely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenna
- scottLobster 9y ago
  Don't forget the dietary recommendations changed telling people to eat loads of carbs and avoid fat (and as a side effect, most natural sources of protein). That might be directly related to this actually.
  - AstralStorm 9y ago
    That wouldn't affect dogs as much.
    - 52-6F-62 9y ago
      A lot of cheap dog food is made of largely grains / corn.
- tajen 9y ago
  ...and petrol shock, particularly in Europe. And sexual liberation. Time to study the correlations: http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
AstralStorm 9y ago
But actual power lines and other total EM pollution might be. Perhaps at some point local power use (thus LF induction) exceeded safety margins afforded by physical isolation between cables and people?
- dom0 9y ago
  Power line EM emissions have essentially ~nil power and a human is a very poor antenna for those frequencies (top of the head ~6 orders of magnitude too small), even at very high harmonics (n=20 is just one kilohertz).
  - AstralStorm 9y ago
    Sure, how do you explain the leukaemia rates studies on people living near power lines? https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/electromagnetic-fields-fact-sheet https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/r... Kinda meh on cancer though not quite no effect. Experiments abound on pubmed and so on, such as http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2305050015000044 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2305050015... This would be easy to check by comparing rural and metropolitan areas with control for other pollution...
    - scottLobster 9y ago
      That link directly refutes your example... "Numerous epidemiologic studies and comprehensive reviews of the scientific literature have evaluated possible associations between exposure to non-ionizing EMFs and risk of cancer in children (12–14). (Magnetic fields are the component of non-ionizing EMFs that are usually studied in relation to their possible health effects.) Most of the research has focused on leukemia and brain tumors, the two most common cancers in children. Studies have examined associations of these cancers with living near power lines, with magnetic fields in the home, and with exposure of parents to high levels of magnetic fields in the workplace. No consistent evidence for an association between any source of non-ionizing EMF and cancer has been found. Exposure from power lines. Although a study in 1979 pointed to a possible association between living near electric power lines and childhood leukemia (15), more recent studies have had mixed findings (16–24). Most of these studies did not find an association or found one only for those children who lived in homes with very high levels of magnetic fields, which are present in few residences."
qbrass 9y ago
1973 was also the year Bruce Lee died. Coincidence?
cylinder 9y ago
70s would be the start of boomers entering their 30s, where their consumption slows pretty dramatically and affects the economy. Inflation from oil shock too.

I feel like something happened in the early 70s that just made progress slow way down. I keep seeing bad trends start in the 1970s - like stagnant wage growth (1971), increased inequality (1971) etc...

mikeash 9y ago
ARPANET was created in 1969. Distract all your geniuses with cat pictures and flame wars, and doom is sure to follow.
- iRobbery 9y ago
  Did arpanet already have porn? Then i blame men are whacking it more since 1969...
  - mikeash 9y ago
    According to Wikipedia, the use of porn as test images for image processing code dates back to at least 1961, so it seems likely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenna
scottLobster 9y ago
Don't forget the dietary recommendations changed telling people to eat loads of carbs and avoid fat (and as a side effect, most natural sources of protein). That might be directly related to this actually.
- AstralStorm 9y ago
  That wouldn't affect dogs as much.
  - 52-6F-62 9y ago
    A lot of cheap dog food is made of largely grains / corn.
tajen 9y ago
...and petrol shock, particularly in Europe. And sexual liberation. Time to study the correlations: http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

AstralStorm 9y ago

But actual power lines and other total EM pollution might be. Perhaps at some point local power use (thus LF induction) exceeded safety margins afforded by physical isolation between cables and people?

dom0 9y ago
Power line EM emissions have essentially ~nil power and a human is a very poor antenna for those frequencies (top of the head ~6 orders of magnitude too small), even at very high harmonics (n=20 is just one kilohertz).
- AstralStorm 9y ago
  Sure, how do you explain the leukaemia rates studies on people living near power lines? https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/electromagnetic-fields-fact-sheet https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/r... Kinda meh on cancer though not quite no effect. Experiments abound on pubmed and so on, such as http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2305050015000044 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2305050015... This would be easy to check by comparing rural and metropolitan areas with control for other pollution...
  - scottLobster 9y ago
    That link directly refutes your example... "Numerous epidemiologic studies and comprehensive reviews of the scientific literature have evaluated possible associations between exposure to non-ionizing EMFs and risk of cancer in children (12–14). (Magnetic fields are the component of non-ionizing EMFs that are usually studied in relation to their possible health effects.) Most of the research has focused on leukemia and brain tumors, the two most common cancers in children. Studies have examined associations of these cancers with living near power lines, with magnetic fields in the home, and with exposure of parents to high levels of magnetic fields in the workplace. No consistent evidence for an association between any source of non-ionizing EMF and cancer has been found. Exposure from power lines. Although a study in 1979 pointed to a possible association between living near electric power lines and childhood leukemia (15), more recent studies have had mixed findings (16–24). Most of these studies did not find an association or found one only for those children who lived in homes with very high levels of magnetic fields, which are present in few residences."

qbrass 9y ago

1973 was also the year Bruce Lee died. Coincidence?

cylinder 9y ago

70s would be the start of boomers entering their 30s, where their consumption slows pretty dramatically and affects the economy. Inflation from oil shock too.