3 ms·

"one of the biggest mistakes humans ever made"? come on.

acdha 6y ago
I’m not sure I’d go that far but there might be more to it than you think: they’re directly one of the most common causes of death and lowered quality of life, and indirectly contribute to multiple others (carcinogens, respiratory diseases, everything related to lack of exercise and unhealthy eating, etc. both directly from usage and indirectly from suburbanization), a significant source of financial pressure for many people, and a non-trivial climate change contributor.
- baggy_trough 6y ago
  "they’re directly one of the most common causes of ... lowered quality of life" - what is the basis of this statement? It seems like a manifest absurdity.
  - acdha 6y ago
    It makes more sense if you don't trim the quote. Cars directly cause a large number of injuries and fatalities every year, and that's mostly premature — people who had decades of healthy life ahead of them until a vehicle incident, as opposed to someone in their 80s who died of cancer before heart disease got them. I included lower quality of life because while safety and medical improvements have reduced the number of people dying (although trucks & SUVs have reversed that trend for people who aren't inside cars) it's common to hear people who didn't die but have a significant downward spiral after an accident: whiplash, back injury, inactivity, problems with chronic pain (a common path into opioid addiction) and becoming less active to the point of having health impacts. In the U.S. this is especially likely to put severe financial strain on people and their families because health care is tied to work and many of the long-term effects make it harder to work while insurance settlements are often not enough to cover more than a short time out and there are many reports about the difficulties of getting things like chronic pain taken seriously in court or by doctors (if you lose an arm, nobody argues that it happened — if your back hurts in a non-obvious way, you might be accused of faking it to get money or drugs, especially if you weren't starting from a high social status).
    - baggy_trough 6y ago
      OK, that makes more sense. However, your comment does not take into consideration the benefits from cars, which should be considered to accurately assess their overall effect on quality of life.
      - elite_hackers 6y ago
        Do you think every citizen of earth should own a car?
        baggy_trough 6y ago
        Not unless they want to.
        elite_hackers 6y ago
        is that a yes or a no...
        baggy_trough 6y ago
        Not every citizen on Earth wants a car, so no.

I’m not sure I’d go that far but there might be more to it than you think: they’re directly one of the most common causes of death and lowered quality of life, and indirectly contribute to multiple others (carcinogens, respiratory diseases, everything related to lack of exercise and unhealthy eating, etc. both directly from usage and indirectly from suburbanization), a significant source of financial pressure for many people, and a non-trivial climate change contributor.

baggy_trough 6y ago
"they’re directly one of the most common causes of ... lowered quality of life" - what is the basis of this statement? It seems like a manifest absurdity.
- acdha 6y ago
  It makes more sense if you don't trim the quote. Cars directly cause a large number of injuries and fatalities every year, and that's mostly premature — people who had decades of healthy life ahead of them until a vehicle incident, as opposed to someone in their 80s who died of cancer before heart disease got them. I included lower quality of life because while safety and medical improvements have reduced the number of people dying (although trucks & SUVs have reversed that trend for people who aren't inside cars) it's common to hear people who didn't die but have a significant downward spiral after an accident: whiplash, back injury, inactivity, problems with chronic pain (a common path into opioid addiction) and becoming less active to the point of having health impacts. In the U.S. this is especially likely to put severe financial strain on people and their families because health care is tied to work and many of the long-term effects make it harder to work while insurance settlements are often not enough to cover more than a short time out and there are many reports about the difficulties of getting things like chronic pain taken seriously in court or by doctors (if you lose an arm, nobody argues that it happened — if your back hurts in a non-obvious way, you might be accused of faking it to get money or drugs, especially if you weren't starting from a high social status).
  - baggy_trough 6y ago
    OK, that makes more sense. However, your comment does not take into consideration the benefits from cars, which should be considered to accurately assess their overall effect on quality of life.
    - elite_hackers 6y ago
      Do you think every citizen of earth should own a car?
      - baggy_trough 6y ago
        Not unless they want to.
        elite_hackers 6y ago
        is that a yes or a no...
        baggy_trough 6y ago
        Not every citizen on Earth wants a car, so no.