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If I had to make a guess I would say that most people's diet/lifestyle/stressful job is about 1000X more impactful to their expected lifespan than microplastics

If I had to make a guess I would say that most people's diet/lifestyle/stressful job is about 1000X more impactful to their expected lifespan than microplastics in their diet. Sure, it sucks and I'm happy scientists can study this. But if I were running a government I would be putting all my money into improving air quality and reducing fossil fuel usage etc. Ultimately there are always going to be many factors which are "killing humans" and a limited amount of money to spend to try and "fix things." By far the biggest "killer" right now is advertising and unhealthy foods so we should be focusing on that if we really care about the health of human beings. In addition, assuming we care about the maximum amount of human lives lengthened, we should be focusing on pollution, climate change, and the environment. In comparison to these issues, worrying about microplastics is fucking meaningless. If you had 10 trillion dollars and wanted to increase the chances of humans becoming extinct, what would you spend it on, seriously? Who gives a fuck if we're breathing in toxic fumes all day or the planet is so hot we can barely walk outside?

titzer 6y ago
> In comparison to these issues, worrying about microplastics is fucking meaningless. If you had 10 trillion dollars and wanted to increase the chances of humans becoming extinct, what would you spend it on, seriously? Who gives a fuck if we're breathing in toxic fumes all day or the planet is so hot we can barely walk outside? Oh, I get it. Right, because there is one type of pollution and climate change due to massive amounts of CO2 waste, we shouldn't focus on plastic waste. The planet is choking our on waste products because people keep arguing about what our top priority should be. Uh, how about addressing all of these massive problems we created? But we won't. Because replace "microplastics" with another topic and grab another internet troll off the shelf to argue we definitely don't need to worry about that one; rinse and repeat until we are completely paralyzed, incapable of any action whatsoever. Meanwhile, profit!
aiilns 6y ago
> If I had to make a guess I would say that most people's diet/lifestyle/stressful job is about 1000X more impactful to their expected lifespan than microplastics in their diet. I like how in your first comment you try appearing a skeptic, upholder of science and yet you make unscientific guesses based on no evidence. We know very little as of yet on how humans work, what is harmful and what isn't. Just look at all the research on various medicines...that 20 years later it turns out they were only as good as placebos. Facts: 1. Microplastics appear to be everywhere now. 2. There is evidence that they are not inert molecules, passing through, instead they are chemically active. Assumption: microplastics are bad for you. Now if that causes debilitating fear to you that's a different issue, but sticking your head in the sand won't make the problem go away. Also, your utalitarian logic is flawed.
EinwegPlastik 6y ago
So what you are still saying is: I think microplastic is a problem. -> right? Do you have the feeling every human needs to solve all problems? We are big, we have in theory enough resources, why not saying something like: we need to fix the microplastic issue; Its priority is behind air pollution and climate change. Instead of: Microplastic is not a problem!!111 Issue y and z are much bigger issues!!11 I personally think it should be feasable to work on all those topics in parallel as also often those issues can't be solved by everyone as not everyone is the expert in the same field.

titzer 6y ago

> In comparison to these issues, worrying about microplastics is fucking meaningless. If you had 10 trillion dollars and wanted to increase the chances of humans becoming extinct, what would you spend it on, seriously? Who gives a fuck if we're breathing in toxic fumes all day or the planet is so hot we can barely walk outside? Oh, I get it. Right, because there is one type of pollution and climate change due to massive amounts of CO2 waste, we shouldn't focus on plastic waste. The planet is choking our on waste products because people keep arguing about what our top priority should be. Uh, how about addressing all of these massive problems we created? But we won't. Because replace "microplastics" with another topic and grab another internet troll off the shelf to argue we definitely don't need to worry about that one; rinse and repeat until we are completely paralyzed, incapable of any action whatsoever. Meanwhile, profit!

aiilns 6y ago

> If I had to make a guess I would say that most people's diet/lifestyle/stressful job is about 1000X more impactful to their expected lifespan than microplastics in their diet. I like how in your first comment you try appearing a skeptic, upholder of science and yet you make unscientific guesses based on no evidence. We know very little as of yet on how humans work, what is harmful and what isn't. Just look at all the research on various medicines...that 20 years later it turns out they were only as good as placebos. Facts: 1. Microplastics appear to be everywhere now. 2. There is evidence that they are not inert molecules, passing through, instead they are chemically active. Assumption: microplastics are bad for you. Now if that causes debilitating fear to you that's a different issue, but sticking your head in the sand won't make the problem go away. Also, your utalitarian logic is flawed.

EinwegPlastik 6y ago

So what you are still saying is: I think microplastic is a problem. -> right? Do you have the feeling every human needs to solve all problems? We are big, we have in theory enough resources, why not saying something like: we need to fix the microplastic issue; Its priority is behind air pollution and climate change. Instead of: Microplastic is not a problem!!111 Issue y and z are much bigger issues!!11 I personally think it should be feasable to work on all those topics in parallel as also often those issues can't be solved by everyone as not everyone is the expert in the same field.