5 ms·

Who even holds their phone to their head anymore? Everyone I see only uses bluetooth. Seriously, how can you understand the inverse square law and be afraid of

by 60secz 5y ago

Who even holds their phone to their head anymore? Everyone I see only uses bluetooth. Seriously, how can you understand the inverse square law and be afraid of EM?

blueflow 5y ago
Did you think that through? I mean, a Bluetooth sender right in your ear...
- 01100011 5y ago
  Quite a difference in power output I think.
- jthrowsitaway 5y ago
  True, but the amount of radiation required for a Bluetooth headset is less than the amount required to communicate with a cell tower.
kennywinker 5y ago
There are too many unknowns in biology for me to 100% dismiss the idea. I use a phone, I'm not worried about it - but it also wouldn't surprise me if there were mechanisms we are not yet aware of at play. e.g. specific frequencies that can do harm even at low levels. I also know we don't have good quality baselines. Cell phones have only been here for 30-ish years, during a time when the resolution and detail at which we delineate and diagnose disease has gone up dramatically. There are diseases and conditions we know about today that didn't know about then. Until we understand all the mechanisms of those diseases - it's bad science to entirely dismiss EM radiation because of "inverse square law".
- gruez 5y ago
  >There are too many unknowns in biology for me to 100% dismiss the idea. You're moving the goalposts. "[not] being afraid of EM" =/= "100% dismiss the idea [of cell phones causing cancer]".
  - kennywinker 5y ago
    It’s not moving the goalpost to say that OP’s dismissal of risk (because inverse square law) is imo just a little bit too broad. I know it’s not moving the goalpost because there is no goal. I’m not trying to win or defeat anyone or anything - i’m just trying to talk about an interesting topic.
- giantg2 5y ago
  Similar view here. No harm in using a phone and no harm reducing exposure using basic techniques like speaker phone, not talking on it in the car, scheduling your router wifi to turn off during the hours you don't plan on using it, etc.
  - gruez 5y ago
    >No harm in using a phone and no harm reducing exposure using basic techniques like speaker phone ...except if you're in a room/bus and you're disturbing everyone by being on speaker phone. >not talking on it in the car What's the point of this? Are you trying to avoid brain cancer or distracted driving? >scheduling your router wifi to turn off during the hours you don't plan on using it, etc. I mean, if you want to go through the effort to set this up, that's your prerogative. I'd probably put more effort into chucking out the 1200W microwave before worrying about the 0.1W coming from router.
    - giantg2 5y ago
      "except if you're in a room/bus and you're disturbing everyone by being on speaker phone." You're likely disturbing everyone even if you're not on speaker. In general, I'm not going to talk on a phone in a crowded location unless I have to. This is one very small edge case which I don't see affecting my claim that it doesn't hurt to use speaker phone. "What's the point of this? Are you trying to avoid brain cancer or distracted driving?" Cars act as weak Faraday cages. Using a phone inside a car increases the power output required to reach the tower. Similar if you are in a low reception area. "I mean, if you want to go through the effort to set this up, that's your prerogative." It takes maybe 5 minutes to log into your router and set the schedule. Not much effort at all. "I'd probably put more effort into chucking out the 1200W microwave before worrying about the 0.1W coming from router." Why? You realize the microwaves are contained to to inside of the machine by it's shielding, right? The allowable lifetime escape limit is set at 5mW. Routers can have much higher power output than that. I think the US limit is 1W. This is also something that runs almost continuously as compared to a microwave that runs for maybe a few minutes per day.
      - 5y ago
stinos 5y ago
Everyone I see only uses bluetooth Now just think a little about the millions you don't see, without trying to make too much assumptions.
michaelmrose 5y ago
I absolutely hate bluetooth. I'm not walking around with something in my ear at all times nor rushing to shove one in when I get a call. Do you wear your bluetooth headset at all times?

by 60secz 5y ago

Who even holds their phone to their head anymore? Everyone I see only uses bluetooth. Seriously, how can you understand the inverse square law and be afraid of EM?

blueflow 5y ago

Did you think that through? I mean, a Bluetooth sender right in your ear...

01100011 5y ago
Quite a difference in power output I think.
jthrowsitaway 5y ago
True, but the amount of radiation required for a Bluetooth headset is less than the amount required to communicate with a cell tower.

kennywinker 5y ago

There are too many unknowns in biology for me to 100% dismiss the idea. I use a phone, I'm not worried about it - but it also wouldn't surprise me if there were mechanisms we are not yet aware of at play. e.g. specific frequencies that can do harm even at low levels. I also know we don't have good quality baselines. Cell phones have only been here for 30-ish years, during a time when the resolution and detail at which we delineate and diagnose disease has gone up dramatically. There are diseases and conditions we know about today that didn't know about then. Until we understand all the mechanisms of those diseases - it's bad science to entirely dismiss EM radiation because of "inverse square law".

gruez 5y ago
>There are too many unknowns in biology for me to 100% dismiss the idea. You're moving the goalposts. "[not] being afraid of EM" =/= "100% dismiss the idea [of cell phones causing cancer]".
- kennywinker 5y ago
  It’s not moving the goalpost to say that OP’s dismissal of risk (because inverse square law) is imo just a little bit too broad. I know it’s not moving the goalpost because there is no goal. I’m not trying to win or defeat anyone or anything - i’m just trying to talk about an interesting topic.
giantg2 5y ago
Similar view here. No harm in using a phone and no harm reducing exposure using basic techniques like speaker phone, not talking on it in the car, scheduling your router wifi to turn off during the hours you don't plan on using it, etc.
- gruez 5y ago
  >No harm in using a phone and no harm reducing exposure using basic techniques like speaker phone ...except if you're in a room/bus and you're disturbing everyone by being on speaker phone. >not talking on it in the car What's the point of this? Are you trying to avoid brain cancer or distracted driving? >scheduling your router wifi to turn off during the hours you don't plan on using it, etc. I mean, if you want to go through the effort to set this up, that's your prerogative. I'd probably put more effort into chucking out the 1200W microwave before worrying about the 0.1W coming from router.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    "except if you're in a room/bus and you're disturbing everyone by being on speaker phone." You're likely disturbing everyone even if you're not on speaker. In general, I'm not going to talk on a phone in a crowded location unless I have to. This is one very small edge case which I don't see affecting my claim that it doesn't hurt to use speaker phone. "What's the point of this? Are you trying to avoid brain cancer or distracted driving?" Cars act as weak Faraday cages. Using a phone inside a car increases the power output required to reach the tower. Similar if you are in a low reception area. "I mean, if you want to go through the effort to set this up, that's your prerogative." It takes maybe 5 minutes to log into your router and set the schedule. Not much effort at all. "I'd probably put more effort into chucking out the 1200W microwave before worrying about the 0.1W coming from router." Why? You realize the microwaves are contained to to inside of the machine by it's shielding, right? The allowable lifetime escape limit is set at 5mW. Routers can have much higher power output than that. I think the US limit is 1W. This is also something that runs almost continuously as compared to a microwave that runs for maybe a few minutes per day.
    - 5y ago

stinos 5y ago

Everyone I see only uses bluetooth Now just think a little about the millions you don't see, without trying to make too much assumptions.

michaelmrose 5y ago

I absolutely hate bluetooth. I'm not walking around with something in my ear at all times nor rushing to shove one in when I get a call. Do you wear your bluetooth headset at all times?