You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

[BTM]

The 'three second rule' has to do with animal training: it is the 'window of opportunity' (time interval) within which a response must occur in order for many animals to connect your response with what caused it.

Wait, I'm sorry, it's been awhile since I saw that ep... but wasn't the point of it to show that goldfish DO have a decent memory and can be trained?  (And I thought the myth was goldfish only have a thirty second memory?)

[Skull]

Road Construction annoys me... I had to used an alternate route because my main route is under road construction... and now my alternated route is under road construction...

Errrrrrrrrrrr... 

[indianasmith]

When a bill you get in the mail is perforated so you can tear it off, but then they fold it 1/4 above the perforation, so that it tries to tear in the wrong place EVERY time . . .

[The Gravekeeper]

Greenwashing. Yes, I'm an environmentalist and I'm taking steps in my own life to try to reduce the impact I have on the planet, but come on...I'm not an idiot. It's not hard to spot the products that companies want you to think are "green." Not too long ago there was a line of aerosol sprays that bragged about how environmentally-friendly they were because they didn't have CFC's. Well, yeah, CFC's are bad for the ozone layer, but they've been banned in this country since 1987.

Herbal Magic p**ses me off, too. I'm okay with people choosing to treat minor ailments with herbal remedies provided that they've done a little research and are using herbs that do help with that ailment. Herbal Magic wants people to believe that their products will help you lose weight (no herb does; the closest that any herb comes to burning off the pounds is fennel, and that might just helps to reduce hunger pangs later on if you have it with a meal. The key word there is "might"). I wouldn't have a problem with a company getting suckers to give up their money if it wasn't for the fact that some of their products have hurt people thanks to customers taking advice from the staff (usually high-school dropouts with about 40 minutes of training). How do they get away with this? They don't write down their lies. The one time they did they got taken to court.

On that same note, people who believe that anything "natural" and "organic" is good for you p**s me off, too. Some things literally can't be organic because they don't have any carbon in them (like water), and there are tons of perfectly natural things that will kill you. Y'know, stuff like mercury and amanita mushrooms. A little research into what you're putting into your body can keep you from destroying it with some of the over-the-counter crap you can get at pharmacies these days.

[Jim H]

Yeah, Grave, I particularly find people who talk about the "chemicals" in everything as bad for you.  It's not to say they never have a valid point, but it's sooooo overstated.

[The Gravekeeper]

Yeah, Grave, I particularly find people who talk about the "chemicals" in everything as bad for you.  It's not to say they never have a valid point, but it's sooooo overstated.

Water's a chemical, but if you cut that out of your diet you'll die pretty quickly. I'm only partially on their side; I prefer fresh food and try to avoid preservatives because over time some chemicals put into processed foods can do some damage. I don't think they'll actually kill you, but some of them could potentially affect your health. I'm not an expert in that field by any means, but it just makes sense to me. I won't condone detoxing, though. It doesn't really work and some methods are even worse for you than the chemicals you're trying to flush out of your body. Sheesh...whatever happened to simply eating better, drinking lots of water and getting plenty of excercise?

[BTM]

So, one of my neighbors just bought a brand new FLAT SCREEN TV (think it was 42 inches or so), really big and nice looking.  Here's the funny part, last I checked, my neighbor doesn't have a JOB, and hasn't had one for quite awhile.  Well, turns out she filed for disability several months back, and it finally came through, so she got a lump sum payment.  I'm not really sure WHAT she's on disability for, I mean, she seems perfectly capable of walking around and doing the chores she needs to do (washing clothes and whatnot).

And to think, all this time I've been doing stupid stuff like, working a part time job that barely keeps me afloat while trying to find another one. 

(sighs)

[Skull]

Sheesh...whatever happened to simply eating better, drinking lots of water and getting plenty of excercise?

I've been hearing this saying for years but when I think of it seems artifical because this was never a natural and health option before so why it is expected.

Really...what was eating better over 100 years ago? Food was hunted or farmed but there wasnt properly stored (and that's how the food got bad) althouth to perserve food people were using lots of salt. I think soldiers in the civil war ate salted pork (not really healthy) and I think the government just started demanding better quility around 1903 (or around that time). over 100 years ago people drink lots of water but it tasted bad because it wasnt filtered and many used Tea to desiguise the taste, and since the water isnt filtered you are also drinking germs. And over 100 years ago plenty of excercise was based upon the work you did, work was hard but it wasnt like excercise, and you had to otherwise your face boredom, there was no tv, radio or computers.

I do think we are a different animal they we were 100 years ago and I really think we are eating healthy and drinking better water.

Excercise does require initiative because we are never bored, our minds are always doing something (watching TV, Listening to the radio and reading posts on the computers)...

Greenwashing. Yes, I'm an environmentalist and I'm taking steps in my own life to try to reduce the impact I have on the planet, but come on...I'm not an idiot.

Hmmmm...

Reduce the impact you have? Thats a big really big...

The problem I have with the environmentalist movement is nobody is talking about the Earth Orbit and the relationship of the rotating sun. It really hard to believe the Earth Orbit around the sun isnt on a track and then expected the earth to always spin around the sun at the same distance every year. Another factor I never hear is solar flares.

just something to think about

[Newt]

You disappoint me Skull! I think you need to do a lot more research before you make so many general statements about the conditions of food '100 years ago'.

100 years ago people sought out 'good' wells as water sources.  They did not just heave a pot of water out of any old pond for human consumption. I have lived on two properties with good wells: both had a long history of the neighbourhood coming to them for clean, good-tasting water.

In the diet of 100 years ago (and long before) FAT featured as a food.  I can give you recipes.  A taste for fat is hard-wired into our species: it has survival value.

Obviously there is more, but I am not interested in trotting out points for you (maybe someone else will, if necessary): I hope you get the idea - that there is more to it and more angles on this than you seem to presume.

Sheesh...whatever happened to simply eating better, drinking lots of water and getting plenty of excercise?

I've been hearing this saying for years but when I think of it seems artifical because this was never a natural and health option before so why it is expected.

Because for years (most of your lifetime, at any rate) we have been adding colours and flavours and preservatives to what we eat - and much of what we eat should not really quailfy as 'food'.  Filler.  Something to taste or to satisfy an urge to keep our mouths busy.

Greenwashing. Yes, I'm an environmentalist and I'm taking steps in my own life to try to reduce the impact I have on the planet, but come on...I'm not an idiot.

Hmmmm...

Reduce the impact you have? Thats a big really big...

The problem I have with the environmentalist movement is nobody is talking about the Earth Orbit and the relationship of the rotating sun. It really hard to believe the Earth Orbit around the sun isnt on a track and then expected the earth to always spin around the sun at the same distance every year. Another factor I never hear is solar flares.

just something to think about

This one floors me!  Do you really believe that the only 'environmental' 'issue' is climate change?  Really?  There is a lot more to being 'green' than that, and a good deal of it does fall into the realm of personal actions/responsibility. Ever heard of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle"?  (Is that is just a Canadian motto?) 

[wickednick]

The problem with the whole environmental movement is all the bulls**t gets mixed in with the real problems and it winds up making people either fanatically stupid about the environment or completely ignorant to it.

We have always been a filthy species of animal, we talk about how horrible are landfills are now, but we can still dig up just as much garbage from 2000 years ago and their methods of disposing waste were even more primitive than ours. It was poop in a bucket and toss it out the window, before plumbing came around.

Most people didn't make it to 40 yrs of age, disease or accidents usually killed them long before hand. Most of the things that would kill someone even a hundred years ago have been cured by the technologies of today.

Eating something or drinking out of the local water supply was always risky before our high standards of food and water cleanliness took hold. Now manufactures recall food if it shows even the slightest sign of posing a health risk, because they don't want lawsuits on their hands.
Agriculture has been vastly improved with the use of pesticides and fertilizers, allowing us to feed massive amounts of people. People rarely go hungry in the U.S. because of our advanced agricultural practices. Droughts and pests that used to kill off whole crops and lead to the death of thousands have been eliminated in this country and in every country that follows our practices.

I can go on and on with this list,but I need to make my point. No matter what we do it will have a impact on the environment. If we really all did go to a green standard of living, with: bio fuels, wind and solar power, natural agricultural methods there would be a negative impact on the environment.

Sources of energy will always have a destructive aspect on the environment. Wind and solar power requires massive amounts of land to feed a ever growing population. Deforestation is the biggest threat with these methods of energy, the same goes for bio-fuels which will require huge amounts of land to produce the fuel needed and lots of pesticides and fertilizer to keep the plants alive. The more natural pesticides and fertilizers won't work as the need for fuel grows.

If you want to ask me the biggest problem with the world is not cars, laundry detergent, pesticides, cattle or anything else the environmentalists cry about, its that we have gotten to good at surviving. We have cut natural selection out of the picture and short of some natural disaster or war large amounts of people don't die much any more. The methods of natural population control are largely obsolete with us and short of a asteroid or a super volcano exploding are population is not likely to shrink anytime soon.

If you want to got the environmentalist route, the more natural way of living then you will need to accept that lots and lots of people are going to have to die in order to make it possible. Its morbid, I know, but its the truth.

And sorry if this doesn't quite fit in here but I just felt kinda inspired to post my insane rant about how we impact the environment.

[Newt]

No matter what we do it will have a impact on the environment. If we really all did go to a green standard of living, with: bio fuels, wind and solar power, natural agricultural methods there would be a negative impact on the environment.

Of course.  Any species has an impact on the environment.  WE have been making more mess than we are entitled to: so the idea is to take responsibility for our actions and excesses and minimise the changes we cause.

If you want to ask me the biggest problem with the world is not cars, laundry detergent, pesticides, cattle or anything else the environmentalists cry about, its that we have gotten to good at surviving. We have cut natural selection out of the picture and short of some natural disaster or war large amounts of people don't die much any more. The methods of natural population control are largely obsolete with us and short of a asteroid or a super volcano exploding are population is not likely to shrink anytime soon.

You forget that our brains and our society are also factors in our survival - and our behaviour.  Our intelligence and social behaviour are key parts of us/our species.  That makes them also adaptive factors.  Taking responsibility for what we do to our home may include not breeding ourselves out of existence. Among all the species on this planet, we are in the unique position of being able to see the 'bigger picture' and to choose and control our own actions toward a better end.

If you want to got the environmentalist route, the more natural way of living then you will need to accept that lots and lots of people are going to have to die in order to make it possible. Its morbid, I know, but its the truth.

Now who is taking it to an extreme?  Environmentalism is about being conscious of our effects on the environment and taking steps to reduce them from the present level. It is not about being PETA for people!

[Flick James]

No matter what we do it will have a impact on the environment. If we really all did go to a green standard of living, with: bio fuels, wind and solar power, natural agricultural methods there would be a negative impact on the environment.

Of course.  Any species has an impact on the environment.  WE have been making more mess than we are entitled to: so the idea is to take responsibility for our actions and excesses and minimise the changes we cause.

If you want to ask me the biggest problem with the world is not cars, laundry detergent, pesticides, cattle or anything else the environmentalists cry about, its that we have gotten to good at surviving. We have cut natural selection out of the picture and short of some natural disaster or war large amounts of people don't die much any more. The methods of natural population control are largely obsolete with us and short of a asteroid or a super volcano exploding are population is not likely to shrink anytime soon.

You forget that our brains and our society are also factors in our survival - and our behaviour.  Our intelligence and social behaviour are key parts of us/our species.  That makes them also adaptive factors.  Taking responsibility for what we do to our home may include not breeding ourselves out of existence. Among all the species on this planet, we are in the unique position of being able to see the 'bigger picture' and to choose and control our own actions toward a better end.

If you want to got the environmentalist route, the more natural way of living then you will need to accept that lots and lots of people are going to have to die in order to make it possible. Its morbid, I know, but its the truth.

Now who is taking it to an extreme?  Environmentalism is about being conscious of our effects on the environment and taking steps to reduce them from the present level. It is not about being PETA for people!

And I thought you hated to argue. 

[Jim H]

Most people didn't make it to 40 yrs of age, disease or accidents usually killed them long before hand.

This is something that grinds my gears a little.   

Life expectancy statements from 100 years ago or longer are sometimes taken the wrong way by people (basically, people seem to think someone making into middle age was a rare event, and that they'd be viewed as ancient or something).  While strictly true, it's really more like a huge chunk of people died as infants or children younger than 12.  Count from puberty, and the life expectancy jumps up dramatically.  Typically into the high 50s or low 60s, depending on where and when.

[The Gravekeeper]

If you want to got the environmentalist route, the more natural way of living then you will need to accept that lots and lots of people are going to have to die in order to make it possible. Its morbid, I know, but its the truth.

And sorry if this doesn't quite fit in here but I just felt kinda inspired to post my insane rant about how we impact the environment.

How does my choosing to join a community garden, buy less crap that I don't need, grow my own herbs, recycle what I can, help clean up my local area, and switch to more energy-efficient lights lead to the deaths of millions of people, exactly? Do ten people die every time someone picks up a plastic bottle and tosses it in a blue bin?

[Flick James]

Skull and I just recently got done with a very long tangent about drug prohibition on this and another thread where there was a lot of misconstruance of what the other said, myself included. Looks like this is starting to happen here. By all means, go for it, I'm the last to say not to debate. I understand Gravekeeper's point about making choices, choices that I agree make a difference and I wish more people would do. I also understand what wyckednick is saying about how humans have cut themselves out of the natural selection process. I think those are two different things.