Since there haven't been any elected officials arrested this week, I am not sure what to write about. Oh, wait, how about a couple of studies that I picked up in the newspapers that have been published lately...
The first learned, scientific study from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet concluded the reason that so many people are obese...wait for it...wait for it...wait for it...is because of noise pollution. Daily Mail - Traffic Noise 'raises obesity risk'.
Okay, not exactly the noise itself from planes, trains and automobiles, but the effects of noise that interrupt our sleep patterns and make us less likely to exercise. That sounds reasonable until you take into account statistics that people who live in urban areas where noise is the #1 reason for civil complaints also have the lowest rate of obesity.
And the second learned, scientific study from Columbia University "found that children born to moms exposed to high levels of pollutants called PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) during pregnancy and reported economic hardship, scored significantly lower on IQ tests at age 7 than children born to mothers with less exposure to pollutants and greater economic security." Polluted NYC Air Lowers IQs: Study. PAH's are pollutants produced from burning fossil fuels, such as gasoline, diesel, and heating oil.
Okay, just off the top of my head here - how does one explain children with higher IQ's who are born into a better economic environment with the same exposure to the same pollutants who live just a few block away? One even more striking example used to critique this is study is children born in Shanghai, one of the most polluted cities in the world, also has children with some of the highest IQ's in the world.
Let's discuss. But while I am waiting to read your always inciteful comments, I am going into my isolation tank full of purified air...just in case.
The first learned, scientific study from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet concluded the reason that so many people are obese...wait for it...wait for it...wait for it...is because of noise pollution. Daily Mail - Traffic Noise 'raises obesity risk'.
Okay, not exactly the noise itself from planes, trains and automobiles, but the effects of noise that interrupt our sleep patterns and make us less likely to exercise. That sounds reasonable until you take into account statistics that people who live in urban areas where noise is the #1 reason for civil complaints also have the lowest rate of obesity.
And the second learned, scientific study from Columbia University "found that children born to moms exposed to high levels of pollutants called PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) during pregnancy and reported economic hardship, scored significantly lower on IQ tests at age 7 than children born to mothers with less exposure to pollutants and greater economic security." Polluted NYC Air Lowers IQs: Study. PAH's are pollutants produced from burning fossil fuels, such as gasoline, diesel, and heating oil.
Okay, just off the top of my head here - how does one explain children with higher IQ's who are born into a better economic environment with the same exposure to the same pollutants who live just a few block away? One even more striking example used to critique this is study is children born in Shanghai, one of the most polluted cities in the world, also has children with some of the highest IQ's in the world.
Let's discuss. But while I am waiting to read your always inciteful comments, I am going into my isolation tank full of purified air...just in case.
17 comments:
Sounds like the first study is a subtle attempt to push us towards mass transit and things like high-speed rails while the second is an attempt to raise more panic about fossil fuels and how we need to convert to solar and wind farms (which will naturally be built far away from Democrat politician's homes).
Bev, The first study sounds like someone had a theory they loved and they set out to prove it true evidence be damned. My guess is that their test method was total nonsense.
In my experience with kids, intelligence is all about what you teach them and how hard you push them. Yes, some tiny percentage of kids suffer from conditions ((like real autism) that interfere with that, but the rest can be improved simply by changing the parents...
someone had a theory they loved and they set out to prove it true
Unfortunately, this is how most of the studies that gain media attention are done. Pick a villain, pick a problem, then find a way to connect the two. Funny you should bring up autism b/c this happens all the time in relation to autism.
Everyone by now knows of the debunked vaccine theory. (Theory is far to generous, actually.) Now there's some lady floating the notion that autism is caused by Roundup herbicide, because Monsanto!
Kit - I think you may be partly correct. There definitely is an agenda. Both I see as just perpetuating more and more excuses for irresponsibility. The first study...well, the person or lab that can find the magic bullet to easy/effortless weight loss will be a trillionaire. it would be on the same scale as the person/persons who find a cheap and non-toxic form of renewable energy.
The second study is more pernicious. It tries to justify why Black & "Hispanic" test scores are so much lower. Obviously it's because they lack oxygen and must environmental, not culturally self-imposed. " It's not our fault!!! It's...anything but the obvious..." I always find these kinds of studies interesting as they never, ever include Asian children in the "minority" statistics even though they are the smallest minority. Of course they are skew the statistics with their test scores...
Oh, Tryanmax, don't get me started on the "evils" of GMOs! My dearest friend announced "Yey! Chipolte is dumping all of their GMO products!!!" For which I immediately responded "Wow, they're not going to be serving food anymore??" Yeah, ALL food...let me repeat that...ALL food has been genetically modified. Btw, that is what Chipolte found when they back-tracked a week later. They couldn't actually guarantee that ALL of their products were not GMO's because they can't control what's fed to the live stock...or pretty much any other product they buy.
See, Tryanmax....you got me ranting...I blame you...let's do a study.
See
tryanmax, I'm not surprised. There is an army of people out there who want to blame anyone but themselves for everything and they have an approved boogey-man list from which to choose.
Bev, I've actually heard that claim for years -- the idea that blacks and Hispanics "do poorly" because they live in poor neighborhoods which are polluted by corporate America. This has long been something the left advocates.
Interestingly, by the way, notice that I put "do poorly" in quotes. The reason is that this is itself a fascinating contradiction. "Do poorly" obviously must mean either (1) are stupider or (2) lack the same level of skills. Yet, if you actually spell that out, then you get called a racist. So in effect, the term "do poorly" means achieve the exact same as white without having the test scores to show it... for some reason.
This is where political correctness trips all over itself. Either there is a problem and they aren't up to the level of whites or you are lying about there being a problem. You can't have a contradictory third position where they are "doing poorly" but are just as good.
Also, I have to wonder how Asians avoided the pollution in their own ghetto neighborhoods to smoke us whites? A large number of Asians live in poor neighborhoods and yet they blow white kids away on testing.
Hmmm.
How can that be?
Oh yeah, because this is all about parents... not pollution.
The list of studies stating there is a positive relationship between lack of sleep and obesity (which isn't quite the same as saying that lack of sleep causes obesity) wraps around the block five times so the conclusion of the first study doesn't surprise me, though .2 cm strikes me as insignificant.
---------
The study also found that for every five-decibel increase above the standard traffic noise level of 45dB, the average person gains an extra 0.2cm on their waist measurement.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3096958/Traffic-noise-raises-obesity-risk.html#ixzz3bSN7uiqe
---------
The pollution study strikes me as dicey because it is juggling too many variables (pollution, poverty and race).
The study also found that for every five-decibel increase above the standard traffic noise level of 45dB, the average person gains an extra 0.2cm on their waist measurement.
Just for the sake of argument. wouldn't that mean that there should be a massive increase in obesity across the board due to people everywhere walking around with excessively loud music pounding into their ears from their ever-present headphones should, theoretically.
Bev,
The study is talking about loud noise interrupting sleep, so I don't see how the volume at which fully awake people listen to music would matter.
Oops, yes, you are right...never mind. I cannot come up with a clever retort to cover for my mistake...;-D
I think people are fat because they won't push themselves away from the table....
Bev, Who needs a clever retort? Just demand a safe room.
Critch, That's one view. I prefer to think that George Bush sneaks into my house each night and stuff cupcakes down my throat as I sleep. That would explain a lot!
SAFE ROOM!!!! We need a Commentarama-room. I imagine it would be on something like "Romper Room" with soft cushions, coloring books, and a lovely "teacher" like Miss Nancy who, btw....never...ever...called...my...name....EVER! Now I need a safe room for my safe room...
Bev,
I agree with your position that science should always be viewed skeptically and I also agree that both studies are useless.
While the noise study is probably true, one doesn't need a scientific study to know that living in a quiet neighborhood where you can sleep soundly at night is better than living alongside a busy, noisy road where you are constantly awoken by horns honking and what have you.
Anthony, here is something interesting to to to mix. I know many people who cannot sleep without noise - a radio, TV, street noise etc.
Post a Comment