4 ms·

Things like this really make you realize we could be wrong about so many things... This could be akin to "can you believe they leeched people because they thou

by robswc 4y ago

Things like this really make you realize we could be wrong about so many things... This could be akin to "can you believe they leeched people because they thought their blood was bad?" 100 Years from now... "Can you believe people drank out of those things, basically eating credit cards worth (yea, like they would have those still) of plastic?"

culi 4y ago
Can you believe they really used to hand cups and plates made of a material that could take over a million years to decompose and called it a "disposable"? (styrofoam)
- switchbak 4y ago
  Not to mention useful materials like glass and aluminum. I think future generations, if there are any, will look back on us as being extraordinarily bizarre in our greed and waste.
- mmastrac 4y ago
  Technically anything is disposable if it's cheap enough. We just need to start counting externalities.
- SilasX 4y ago
  “Can you believe they had the energy and engineering skill to excavate and rebury massive chunks of earth just to get rid of trash?”
- gruez 4y ago
  "disposable" just means it's... disposable. In other words, that you can dispose of it. What makes you think "disposable" implies it will readily degrade in the environment?
  - MattPalmer1086 4y ago
    The point is that future people will think us insane for making disposable things that are not decomposable or recyclable.
  - culi 4y ago
    The point is that we really shouldn't be telling people to throw these away. We have no solution for handling them, no way to recycle them. Pretty much everything is "disposable" if you're being pedantic. I can throw away a couch or a mug as well, but there's a reason those aren't marketed as "disposable"
ericd 4y ago
I’d love to see the work behind the daily credit card ingestion headline that went around a while back, because it really beggars belief.
camkego 4y ago
It's well understood that testosterone levels in US young men have dramatically decreased in the last 20 years. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32081788/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32081788/ Is it plastics? Is it other synthetic compounds like PTFE, PFOA, PFAS? I don't think the links are clear, but I'm not going to be surprised if it becomes clear these synthetic compounds are <all> negatively affecting human health. Leaded gasoline was sold between 1922 and 1996, and it's been claimed leaded gas has killed millions, and affected the IQ and mental well being of many. And the sad part is, lead was well understood as toxic before leaded gas was sold in 1922.
- wcoenen 4y ago
  It could just be that a factor which increases testosterone has been steadily disappearing. For example, testosterone is elevated in males after winning a fight. So if physical confrontations among males are getting less frequent for some reason (which seems like a good thing to me), then that could lead to lower testosterone levels. Another possible explanation is that we've had good birth control for a few generations now, which has eliminated the advantage of high sex drive on a males' chances of fathering children. So there is no longer a selection effect for high testosterone males. (Also seems like a good thing.) Anyway, my point is not that the above explanations are correct; just that there might be benign explanations.
chaisch 4y ago
Interestingly enough, donating blood is a remedy for reducing human made pollutants in our bodies. https://www.aabb.org/news-resources/news/article/2022/04/26/regular-blood-or-plasma-donation-may-reduce-pfas-levels-in-blood-serum https://www.aabb.org/news-resources/news/article/2022/04/26/...

by robswc 4y ago

culi 4y ago

Can you believe they really used to hand cups and plates made of a material that could take over a million years to decompose and called it a "disposable"? (styrofoam)

switchbak 4y ago
Not to mention useful materials like glass and aluminum. I think future generations, if there are any, will look back on us as being extraordinarily bizarre in our greed and waste.
mmastrac 4y ago
Technically anything is disposable if it's cheap enough. We just need to start counting externalities.
SilasX 4y ago
“Can you believe they had the energy and engineering skill to excavate and rebury massive chunks of earth just to get rid of trash?”
gruez 4y ago
"disposable" just means it's... disposable. In other words, that you can dispose of it. What makes you think "disposable" implies it will readily degrade in the environment?
- MattPalmer1086 4y ago
  The point is that future people will think us insane for making disposable things that are not decomposable or recyclable.
- culi 4y ago
  The point is that we really shouldn't be telling people to throw these away. We have no solution for handling them, no way to recycle them. Pretty much everything is "disposable" if you're being pedantic. I can throw away a couch or a mug as well, but there's a reason those aren't marketed as "disposable"

ericd 4y ago

I’d love to see the work behind the daily credit card ingestion headline that went around a while back, because it really beggars belief.

camkego 4y ago

It's well understood that testosterone levels in US young men have dramatically decreased in the last 20 years. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32081788/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32081788/ Is it plastics? Is it other synthetic compounds like PTFE, PFOA, PFAS? I don't think the links are clear, but I'm not going to be surprised if it becomes clear these synthetic compounds are <all> negatively affecting human health. Leaded gasoline was sold between 1922 and 1996, and it's been claimed leaded gas has killed millions, and affected the IQ and mental well being of many. And the sad part is, lead was well understood as toxic before leaded gas was sold in 1922.

wcoenen 4y ago
It could just be that a factor which increases testosterone has been steadily disappearing. For example, testosterone is elevated in males after winning a fight. So if physical confrontations among males are getting less frequent for some reason (which seems like a good thing to me), then that could lead to lower testosterone levels. Another possible explanation is that we've had good birth control for a few generations now, which has eliminated the advantage of high sex drive on a males' chances of fathering children. So there is no longer a selection effect for high testosterone males. (Also seems like a good thing.) Anyway, my point is not that the above explanations are correct; just that there might be benign explanations.

chaisch 4y ago

Interestingly enough, donating blood is a remedy for reducing human made pollutants in our bodies. https://www.aabb.org/news-resources/news/article/2022/04/26/regular-blood-or-plasma-donation-may-reduce-pfas-levels-in-blood-serum https://www.aabb.org/news-resources/news/article/2022/04/26/...