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Every time I read some list of advices on life I can't help but remember Mary Schmich's apocryphal speech "Wear Sunscreen" [1] (and made famous by Baz Luhrmann

Every time I read some list of advices on life I can't help but remember Mary Schmich's apocryphal speech "Wear Sunscreen" [1] (and made famous by Baz Luhrmann [2]), from way back when the Internet was young and wild. Even though I think "Wear sunscreen" is not a great advice. [1] https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column-column.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/chi-schmich-sunscreen... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

gautamcgoel 6y ago
This was great, thanks for the recommendation!
svantana 6y ago
In the same vein, I highly recommend the ironic self-help album "Dancing For Mental Health" by Will Powers (sic). https://open.spotify.com/album/4242hiYk7PAArDAd6XSWbZ https://open.spotify.com/album/4242hiYk7PAArDAd6XSWbZ
lotsofpulp 6y ago
>Even though I think "Wear sunscreen" is not a great advice. Why not?
- glial 6y ago
  One person’s answer: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/23/ssc-gives-a-graduation-speech/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/23/ssc-gives-a-graduation...
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    I see. It wasn’t even until a couple years ago that non metal sunscreens were found to be useless.
- jk7tarYZAQNpTQa 6y ago
  It's a bit complex, I'll try to summarize. Let's think of being exposed to the sun as a continuum with different risks: 1. The best you can do is sun bathe every single day, all year round, avoiding mid-day hours in summer. Think "a gardener who loves being shirt-less". This scenario is related to more non-melanoma skin cancer (survival rate >99%), but both a lower incidence of melanoma, and a higher survival rate for melanoma. 2. The worst you can do is never sun bathe except for occasional heavy exposures. Think a week in the beach during summer vacation, and the rest of the year completely indoors. This scenario is related to more frequent melanoma, and a lower survival rate for it. Sunscreen is great for #2 (people who can't or just won't be exposed often). But it's both unnecessary and undesired (since it limits the bening effects) in #1. And it also limits Vitamin D absorption. So a better advice would be "be exposed to the sun often, every day if you can, and don't wear sunscreen when you do it".
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - adamjb 6y ago
    >So a better advice would be "be exposed to the sun often, every day if you can, and don't wear sunscreen when you do it". Unless, of course, you have any degree of vanity.

gautamcgoel 6y ago

This was great, thanks for the recommendation!

svantana 6y ago

In the same vein, I highly recommend the ironic self-help album "Dancing For Mental Health" by Will Powers (sic). https://open.spotify.com/album/4242hiYk7PAArDAd6XSWbZ https://open.spotify.com/album/4242hiYk7PAArDAd6XSWbZ

lotsofpulp 6y ago

>Even though I think "Wear sunscreen" is not a great advice. Why not?

glial 6y ago
One person’s answer: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/23/ssc-gives-a-graduation-speech/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/23/ssc-gives-a-graduation...
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  I see. It wasn’t even until a couple years ago that non metal sunscreens were found to be useless.
jk7tarYZAQNpTQa 6y ago
It's a bit complex, I'll try to summarize. Let's think of being exposed to the sun as a continuum with different risks: 1. The best you can do is sun bathe every single day, all year round, avoiding mid-day hours in summer. Think "a gardener who loves being shirt-less". This scenario is related to more non-melanoma skin cancer (survival rate >99%), but both a lower incidence of melanoma, and a higher survival rate for melanoma. 2. The worst you can do is never sun bathe except for occasional heavy exposures. Think a week in the beach during summer vacation, and the rest of the year completely indoors. This scenario is related to more frequent melanoma, and a lower survival rate for it. Sunscreen is great for #2 (people who can't or just won't be exposed often). But it's both unnecessary and undesired (since it limits the bening effects) in #1. And it also limits Vitamin D absorption. So a better advice would be "be exposed to the sun often, every day if you can, and don't wear sunscreen when you do it".
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- adamjb 6y ago
  >So a better advice would be "be exposed to the sun often, every day if you can, and don't wear sunscreen when you do it". Unless, of course, you have any degree of vanity.