3 ms·

Lol maybe you should start wearing a gas mask on the regular too? There are a lot of harmful chemicals in the air. Especially if you're on the road a lot biking

by creep 9y ago

Lol maybe you should start wearing a gas mask on the regular too? There are a lot of harmful chemicals in the air. Especially if you're on the road a lot biking.

nate_meurer 9y ago
Alright so this will make you LOL a bit more... I recently started keeping a 3M dustmask in my car -- the paper sort with the small outlet valve in the middle -- to wear when traffic is real heavy, especially on cool, still days when traffic smog tends to hug the ground. Pollution where I live is nothing like China or India, and I'm not yet thinking about using a mask when jogging or biking, but in-car pollution in heavy traffic is turning out to be much worse than previously thought [1], and there is some interesting evidence that fine particulates, especially metallic particles like those that are prevalent in engine exhaust, contribute to Alzheimer's risk [2]. 1 - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170721135331.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170721135331.h... 2 - http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/brain-pollution-evidence-builds-dirty-air-causes-alzheimer-s-dementia http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/brain-pollution-evide...
- creep 9y ago
  Did you know that stress and anxiety increase your risk of heart disease significantly? 1 - http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/StressManagement/HowDoesStressAffectYou/Stress-and-Heart-Health_UCM_437370_Article http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/StressManagement.... 2 - http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.565.6839&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.565...
  - nate_meurer 9y ago
    Hmmm, I'm sensing a subtext here :) Honestly, stress and anxiety are things I don't struggle with, at least not according to my vitals. My resting heart rate is typically in the high fifties (but I recorded 47 bpm at my last checkup). I actually struggle a bit with low blood pressure, often getting light headed when I stand up. I don't have insomnia, I'm on no medication whatsoever, I've never had stomach ulcers, I have a full head of hair, and people routinely guess my age about 10 years too young. I think you might just be struggling a bit with the idea of someone who evaluates long term risk differently than you do. You might end up on the other side of that at some point. For example, I know a guy from Cambodia who thinks you're an idiot for insisting on wearing shoes when you leave the house. He'd say you're destroying your feet's physiological function by cramming them into shoes, and that your only problem is that you've refused to allow them to toughen up to the level they naturally would to match their environment. Now are you going to start motorbiking barefoot around town? I'm guessing not. I get it from the other direction too. Some people think I'm stupid for allowing my kids to ride their bikes in the park without helmets. I can explain that my kids are much more enthusiastic about riding because I don't load them down with a bunch of uncomfortable safety gear. I can also explain that my kids are far more likely to get a head injury riding inside a car, and we don't wear helmets in cars do we? These arguments sometimes work, but for the most part, people are pretty stuck on what they know from their own narrow experiences.
    - creep 9y ago
      This is a good point, and I'm glad you explained it so well because it's something I haven't given much thought to. I do yoga and exercise to maintain my muscular system and ligaments, and eat well to maintain my bones and organ function, and etc., but I suppose I've never been raised to, or been given reason to, add extra physical barriers for my own safety. For example, to protect my eyes I have blue light filter on my devices, but I don't see the risk of gouging my eyes out as being very high. Mostly, in the physical world my life is pretty "safe". But perhaps when I start driving and running through thorny underbrush I will wear protective goggles and such :)
      - nate_meurer 9y ago
        > "I don't see the risk of gouging my eyes out as being very high" You're absolutely right about this. The risk is very low. But the stakes are extremely high. It's the insurance problem: how much are you willing to pay to prevent a rare but extremely hazardous even in the future? To a lot of people (maybe most) wearing glasses if they don't need correction seems silly. I can't argue with that, but in my case, my sunglasses saved me from an expensive, painful surgery and possible disability. The experience made me feel that the "insurance" of wearing glasses habitually was an acceptable cost to bear if it could keep that from happening again. I'm no actuary; it really is just a feeling. And feelings are what all of us rely on most when we evaluate risk, whether we like it or not. My feeling is not likely any more valid than yours, because it's based on my values and experiences, and your's may be entirely different. Now, its totally possible for these extra barriers to interfere with one's life. Again I think about how many kids are discouraged from riding bikes because of the oppressive safety gear. Or suppose I miss a plane because I can't find my fake glasses. When that happens it'll be time to question whether my reliance on my protective barriers is healthy. I think that's the issue your comments anticipate, and you're right about that too.
    - melq 9y ago
      Wait... do you seriously wear eye and ear protection around the clock, and not have any issue with your children not wearing helmets? I'm not sure how you've determined that your kids are more likely to suffer head injuries in a car, but even if that were true that's a dubious line of reasoning to say the least.
palimpsests 9y ago
Maybe a suit of armor, too. And/or bullet proofvest. Probably wouldn't hurt to have several AEDs on hand as well.

by creep 9y ago

Lol maybe you should start wearing a gas mask on the regular too? There are a lot of harmful chemicals in the air. Especially if you're on the road a lot biking.

nate_meurer 9y ago

Alright so this will make you LOL a bit more... I recently started keeping a 3M dustmask in my car -- the paper sort with the small outlet valve in the middle -- to wear when traffic is real heavy, especially on cool, still days when traffic smog tends to hug the ground. Pollution where I live is nothing like China or India, and I'm not yet thinking about using a mask when jogging or biking, but in-car pollution in heavy traffic is turning out to be much worse than previously thought [1], and there is some interesting evidence that fine particulates, especially metallic particles like those that are prevalent in engine exhaust, contribute to Alzheimer's risk [2]. 1 - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170721135331.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170721135331.h... 2 - http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/brain-pollution-evidence-builds-dirty-air-causes-alzheimer-s-dementia http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/brain-pollution-evide...

creep 9y ago
Did you know that stress and anxiety increase your risk of heart disease significantly? 1 - http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/StressManagement/HowDoesStressAffectYou/Stress-and-Heart-Health_UCM_437370_Article http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/StressManagement.... 2 - http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.565.6839&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.565...
- nate_meurer 9y ago
  Hmmm, I'm sensing a subtext here :) Honestly, stress and anxiety are things I don't struggle with, at least not according to my vitals. My resting heart rate is typically in the high fifties (but I recorded 47 bpm at my last checkup). I actually struggle a bit with low blood pressure, often getting light headed when I stand up. I don't have insomnia, I'm on no medication whatsoever, I've never had stomach ulcers, I have a full head of hair, and people routinely guess my age about 10 years too young. I think you might just be struggling a bit with the idea of someone who evaluates long term risk differently than you do. You might end up on the other side of that at some point. For example, I know a guy from Cambodia who thinks you're an idiot for insisting on wearing shoes when you leave the house. He'd say you're destroying your feet's physiological function by cramming them into shoes, and that your only problem is that you've refused to allow them to toughen up to the level they naturally would to match their environment. Now are you going to start motorbiking barefoot around town? I'm guessing not. I get it from the other direction too. Some people think I'm stupid for allowing my kids to ride their bikes in the park without helmets. I can explain that my kids are much more enthusiastic about riding because I don't load them down with a bunch of uncomfortable safety gear. I can also explain that my kids are far more likely to get a head injury riding inside a car, and we don't wear helmets in cars do we? These arguments sometimes work, but for the most part, people are pretty stuck on what they know from their own narrow experiences.
  - creep 9y ago
    This is a good point, and I'm glad you explained it so well because it's something I haven't given much thought to. I do yoga and exercise to maintain my muscular system and ligaments, and eat well to maintain my bones and organ function, and etc., but I suppose I've never been raised to, or been given reason to, add extra physical barriers for my own safety. For example, to protect my eyes I have blue light filter on my devices, but I don't see the risk of gouging my eyes out as being very high. Mostly, in the physical world my life is pretty "safe". But perhaps when I start driving and running through thorny underbrush I will wear protective goggles and such :)
    - nate_meurer 9y ago
      > "I don't see the risk of gouging my eyes out as being very high" You're absolutely right about this. The risk is very low. But the stakes are extremely high. It's the insurance problem: how much are you willing to pay to prevent a rare but extremely hazardous even in the future? To a lot of people (maybe most) wearing glasses if they don't need correction seems silly. I can't argue with that, but in my case, my sunglasses saved me from an expensive, painful surgery and possible disability. The experience made me feel that the "insurance" of wearing glasses habitually was an acceptable cost to bear if it could keep that from happening again. I'm no actuary; it really is just a feeling. And feelings are what all of us rely on most when we evaluate risk, whether we like it or not. My feeling is not likely any more valid than yours, because it's based on my values and experiences, and your's may be entirely different. Now, its totally possible for these extra barriers to interfere with one's life. Again I think about how many kids are discouraged from riding bikes because of the oppressive safety gear. Or suppose I miss a plane because I can't find my fake glasses. When that happens it'll be time to question whether my reliance on my protective barriers is healthy. I think that's the issue your comments anticipate, and you're right about that too.
  - melq 9y ago
    Wait... do you seriously wear eye and ear protection around the clock, and not have any issue with your children not wearing helmets? I'm not sure how you've determined that your kids are more likely to suffer head injuries in a car, but even if that were true that's a dubious line of reasoning to say the least.

palimpsests 9y ago

Maybe a suit of armor, too. And/or bullet proofvest. Probably wouldn't hurt to have several AEDs on hand as well.