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Watch as HN takes its signature air of superiority and says "I called it last year it was so obvious smh". 1. Basic safety principles mean that as long as we'r

Watch as HN takes its signature air of superiority and says "I called it last year it was so obvious smh". 1. Basic safety principles mean that as long as we're not sure, keep doing it 2. You may have been enjoying a year surprisingly free of common colds, of flus, and many more other illnesses. These are absolutely transmitted through surfaces, and increasing hygiene standards is the best way to get rid of them. Keep washing your hands you filthy animals.

alcover 6y ago
> as long as we're not sure, keep doing it There are diminishing returns in this caution principle, while the harm caused by the deluge of disinfection products on the environment and ourselves certainly adds-up. You can never be 100% sure you won't get infected through surface. By this logic you should spray sanitizers everywhere all the time.
- ohgodplsno 6y ago
  Right, how could I forget being pedantic and thinking that pushing arguments to their logical extreme is an argument in itself. This is HN after all. Disinfecting and cleaning your hands (even with soap. Noone's told you to douse your hands in alcohol every hour of the day) is as much for your protection as it is for others. Additionally, you can expect an average person to wash their hands maybe three to four times a day. Considering we have doctors and nurses that do this on the order of tens of times a day (and they all do it with hydroalcoholic solutions, which is the one thing that will damage your hands), the pretend harm caused to ourselves is bullshit.
  - alcover 6y ago
    That was pedantic indeed, sorry. My main concern really is the over-cleaning of surfaces. Those products are nasty.
aksss 6y ago
This. I’ve enjoyed public accommodations/shared spaces paying more attention to hygiene. I’m disappointed that they may revert after numbers decline. I don’t mind masks preventing people from spitting on you when they talk, nor airlines filtering air better or restaurants attempting to clean their environment better. All for the betterment of our experiences, though who knows - we may all develop weaker immune systems in the long run. Remember when there was talk of the harm from overusing disinfectants? Haven’t heard that in a while, but I’m sure the impacts are no less true today. Kids who grow up with dishwashers in the home have more allergies. Maybe kids born in late 2019 will have some interesting immune system impacts.

alcover 6y ago

> as long as we're not sure, keep doing it There are diminishing returns in this caution principle, while the harm caused by the deluge of disinfection products on the environment and ourselves certainly adds-up. You can never be 100% sure you won't get infected through surface. By this logic you should spray sanitizers everywhere all the time.

ohgodplsno 6y ago
Right, how could I forget being pedantic and thinking that pushing arguments to their logical extreme is an argument in itself. This is HN after all. Disinfecting and cleaning your hands (even with soap. Noone's told you to douse your hands in alcohol every hour of the day) is as much for your protection as it is for others. Additionally, you can expect an average person to wash their hands maybe three to four times a day. Considering we have doctors and nurses that do this on the order of tens of times a day (and they all do it with hydroalcoholic solutions, which is the one thing that will damage your hands), the pretend harm caused to ourselves is bullshit.
- alcover 6y ago
  That was pedantic indeed, sorry. My main concern really is the over-cleaning of surfaces. Those products are nasty.

aksss 6y ago

This. I’ve enjoyed public accommodations/shared spaces paying more attention to hygiene. I’m disappointed that they may revert after numbers decline. I don’t mind masks preventing people from spitting on you when they talk, nor airlines filtering air better or restaurants attempting to clean their environment better. All for the betterment of our experiences, though who knows - we may all develop weaker immune systems in the long run. Remember when there was talk of the harm from overusing disinfectants? Haven’t heard that in a while, but I’m sure the impacts are no less true today. Kids who grow up with dishwashers in the home have more allergies. Maybe kids born in late 2019 will have some interesting immune system impacts.