Saturday, July 27, 2019

Current, Acceptable Vices The Future Will Condemn

#237: The New 'Cigarettes'
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My quora feed this morning contained a question answered by Alexander Nerad that I will quote from and critique:

Here is his list of things that, in retrospect, the future will deem harmful (where I agree: Blue; where I disagree: Red; where I partly agree/disagree: Black):

Glyphosate (Roundup herbicide):
This is a fairly ubiquitous spray, used to kill weeds along highways, in parking lots, and of course farm fields.  It's been linked to cancer.
The author suggests that genetic engineering will allow farmers to use much less.
While I agree glyphosate is probably a candidate for this list, the best farm practices involve not genetic engineering, which pests adapt to, but regenerative agriculture, which focuses on soil health and cover crops to control weeds.

Football  It's hard to imagine school sports without football, but concussions are something we now know about, and can't really escape.
I would guess, though, that any nay-saying, even if persistent, will take a long time to come to fruition.
For the record, I enjoyed flag football in high school, but have not played, nor watched/followed the sport since.

The Internal Combustion Engine Another long-term recalibration that's inevitable.  Battery-powered electrics will eventually be cheaper, and with government prodding, use of the last exhaust-producing machines will be frowned on.

Smoking Marijuana  The author suggests vaping and edibles will take over.  I doubt edibles will be a significant factor once research demonstrates the dangers of paranoia involved.

Opiate Pain Pills The author thinks THC will replace opiates for treating pain.  Not going to happen, as severe pain is not affected by cannabis, though treating symptoms (like depression), and quitting opioids is another matter.  I've taken flack for this opinion, but I think opioids, while very dangerous--and to be avoided--represent the symptom of an underlying problem when they lead to addiction.  But, I haven't had to use them in my life, so what do I know?

Working while stressed  Here, the author thinks that 'fitbit' -type gadgetry will allow monitoring of high blood pressure and other warning signs, leading to counseling RE: working well under pressure. My own preferred future is gamified work combined with strong unions that redirect half of any productivity gains to the workers who choose to participate, while meting out no penalties for trying and failing to generate work efficiencies.

Breathing particulates  The author mentions that he works in dirty air and hopes that will end.  Electrification of transportation and industry should mean dramatically less particulate matter.

Sitting still for a whole shift  Here, the likelihood that treadmill desks--or even standing desks--will catch on is a long shot.  But there will surely be a movement in that direction.

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And do I have my own items?  Here are two off the top of my head:

Horror.  Why wallow in it unnecessarily (books, movies, etc.)?  Surely, life's wonderful enough, and fleeting.

Junk Mail.  What purpose is served in recycling wads of unwanted solicitations from my mailbox?  The less of it, the more eager people will be to retrieve their mail.  Will this cause hardship for the Post Office?  Not if businesses that one interacts with are allowed to solicit your attention, while all others are kept at arms length.  An exception would be small, locally-owned businesses.  All the big corporations would have to pay much higher prices to attract your initial interaction, which would then land you on their list.

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