4 ms·
Interesting, didn't know about hookworms. But two points: (1) According to Wikipedia, "the usual method of infection is ... walking barefoot through areas cont
by staktrace 16y ago
Interesting, didn't know about hookworms. But two points:
(1) According to Wikipedia, "the usual method of infection is ... walking barefoot through areas contaminated with fecal matter". How often do you see fecal matter lying around in the areas you walk in? When I suggested comparing the "civilized world" with "places where people have to walk barefoot", I didn't mean that you look at /all/ aspects of those places. You can have your cake and eat it too - in the "civilized world" you can walk barefoot without having to worry about hookworm as much as you would in the developing world.
(2) If hookworm is still an issue, feel free to go with a middle-ground option like wearing Vibram Five Fingers. They're almost as good as barefoot while still protecting you from hookworm et al.
- silentbicycle 16y ago> How often do you see fecal matter lying around in the areas you walk in? Have you ever been to San Francisco? How about any city with any stray animals whatsoever? Have you never accidentally stepped in dog crap in a park? Fecal matter doesn't have to be human in origin to spread disease. The fact that this story keeps getting reintroduced and the Vibram Five Fingers are always mentioned makes me suspect it's a marketing ploy, much like "the suit is back" / The Men's Warehouse in PG's "The Submarine" (http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html).
- terrym 16y agoHow many companies sell suits vs how many companies sell barefoot running shoes? I mean, if you had to write an article on this subject, who else would you mention? I guess you could say "Nike, Adidas, ASICS, and Reebok don't offer any serious products for this market yet" but that's a bit like mentioning that Microsoft, Palm, and RIM didn't offer a serious competitor in the market of touchscreen smartphones right after the iPhone came out.
- silentbicycle 16y agoI suspect that Vibram was encouraging people to discuss running barefoot, because it's inevitable that they would get mentioned in the ensuing discussion.