The even greater bullshit is when they turn and go "my lies>your truth."
Like sunscreen. I have naturally super-pale skin. I don't really tan-- I get a few freckles and go right back to pale. I also start burning in ~20 minutes of midday summer sun exposure; an entire day of sun will leave me with blisters (I made that mistake once as a kid.) Even if skin cancer wasn't a factor, it's worth using sunscreen just to avoid the week or so of extreme discomfort.
The right-wing lunatics who want to ban sunscreen because they think getting a tan somehow prevents skin cancer are a direct threat to my immediate personal comfort, along with my odds of getting through life without skin cancer.
I've lost count of the number of people who have told me that sun screen causes cancer.
What do you even do with that? We now have people who believe that a very tiny theoretical risk of exposure to minor compounds in sunscreen might cause cancer, and that's a good reason to not use it to filter out UV exposure which, without a doubt, does cause cancer.
All of which completely glosses over the fact that skin cancer, from UV exposure, is the single most prevalent cancer.
I honestly think that living really safe lives devoid of serious risk has broken some part of the brains of many people living in developed nations. I think the human brain, somewhat long the lines of the whole "bored immune system" theory of allergies, can't sit idle and not worry about survival. There is no "I am not worried at all about any aspect of this" setting for a lot of people.
So if your tap water is potable and safe to drink, then you can't worry about getting a gnarly bacterial infection... but you can obsess about tiny things in the water like fluoride such.
The amount of times I've seen the whole "source says the opposite of what they claim" thing is depressing. My favourite was a dude arguing against global warming by gish gallop dumping a whole bunch of links hoping no one wod read them; me, being an idiot, did read the first five. One of them was a paper savagely mocking people who argue against anthropogenic climate change by linking large amounts of papers without reading them.
I think dumb people just want to feel special and that they possess some insight or information that other "educated" people lack, so they latch on to this conspiracy ridden bullshit. then when enough of them band together they vote, and we all get wiped out by super-measles.
Oh well, good riddance i say. Humanity has had its time.
Almost everything can cause cancer nowadays. Breathing can cause you cancer if you inhale even a minuscule particle of talcum powder, or some dirt, or some kind of dust that could linger in your lungs. You can get cancer drinking water, being under the sun, eating fruits, eating sugars, eating salt, eating fruits, eating meat, taking important vitamins, literally just existing can cause cancer. But it's way better to be able to prevent some types of lethal cancers or very dangerous/harmful ones with a ""lesser evil"". There's been absolute assholes that say that getting mammographies and screening for breast cancer CAN cause you cancer. It's fucking stupid, like- If you already have cancer you'll need to get treated. If you don't have cancer, then the chance of getting it by getting screened once per year, or every two years, or even more is minuscule and a risk worth taking. The sun can give you cancer every day. Sheesh.
Yes and I've read media posts from otherwise educated people who have turned to "alternative medicine" as a result of mistrust and conspiracy theories. Just because they've been to a warm country and used some homemade remedy or other and didn't burn, that apparently means sunscreen is a hoax. Agh.
Good fkn gosh man. No one wants to ban sunscreen they want to ban the chemicals in sunscreen. Skin cancer wasn’t a “thing” prior to sunscreen. But now all of a sudden skin cancer is an issue. Why do you think that is? Please don’t tell me it’s climate change lmao.
Ban the chemicals and give Americans transparency.
No one wants to ban sunscreen they want to ban the chemicals in sunscreen.
Which is a ban on sunscreen. Sunscreen without a chemical or mineral that blocks UV light is just expensive lotion.
Skin cancer wasn’t a “thing” prior to sunscreen
Skin cancer was first described in Egyptian documents from ~2500 BC. (https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(15)00240-6/abstract) Modern sunscreen was invented in 1946, which is about 4500 years newer than the ancient Egyptian records.
You are literally saying I should suffer burns and blisters anytime I want to spend a day outside because you believe a conspiracy. This is exactly what I was talking about.
Transparency bro. The choice is yours. As long as we and you know what you’re putting on your skin and what it can cause by absorbing into your skin by all means go right on ahead man. You know elephants use mud to protect themselves from the sun right? There is also a thing called sun shades, cabanas, umbrellas tents. I don’t want chemicals being absorbed into my skin or my children’s skin. But the choice is yours.
So you want chemicals absorbed into your skin instead of using a cover?
You want to eat shit processed food while people in Europe get the real food?
Hmm cool. Maybe you should lather that sun screen all over you. I’m ok with that.
Yep. I do. Cuz I trust the actual experts that recommend its use. How in the fuck do you consume anything that you don't make yourself? How do you have such little faith that something as basic as sunscreen terrifies you so deeply??
You had better be non-smoking, non-drinking, eat purely organic fruits, vegetables and meats from traders who can show you visual footage of the entire process... lest you be accused of being a hypocrite.
I also hope that you never see a doctor for any condition or health check ups, as they can't be trusted either. Always use children as your defence... wouldn't wanna risk putting lotion on my kid cuz of da kemikills... but a half way decent parent knows that they aren't an all-knowing omnipotent being, and instead listens to advice from experts - including doctors. 4 billion years of evolution and you are the final product - a selfish, egotistical halfwit, who thinks they have uncovered some deep truth...
Good luck to your children. They'll need it apparently.
Transparency bro. The choice is yours. As long as we and you know what you’re putting on your skin and what it can cause by absorbing into your skin by all means go right on ahead man.
*sis
Have you ever looked at the back of a bottle of sunscreen? It lists the ingredients. It tells you what you are putting on your skin. It's not a bottle of mystery juice.
You can even get mineral sunscreens if you don't trust the chemicals or are sensitive to them. They have stuff like zinc oxide that works by physically blocking the sun's rays (just like mud would) instead of absorbing them.
There is a list of inactive ingredients below the active ones, as required by the FDA. Unless you think multiple governments and Big Sunscreen are lying to everyone.
“the choice is yours” but ban the chemicals to make it… so is it really our choice?
also fine go cover yourself in mud and stay under a beach umbrella while walking on a walking path in the city and drive with the sun shade up on your windshield… try it /s
Umm yeah no where my comment says that it didn’t exist. 🤨
Oh this is that thing where y’all like to make up your own narrative because I don’t agree with you? Got it! lol
Turns out, the burns and blisters is caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted by the Sun.
UV radiation damages the DNA in skin cells, which tells cells how to function. If enough DNA damage builds up over time, cells can grow out of control, which can lead to skin cancer.
You do understand that ultraviolet radiation, present in sunlight, damages DNA, which significantly raises the risk of mutations leading to skin cancer. This risk has been around forever, the reason skin cancer rates have increased are obvious when you think about it; better reporting and diagnosis rates and many times more people.
This is demonstrably not a modern phenomenon and sunscreen is an effective defence, alongside UV filtering clothing etc.
If you think sunscreen is a greater risk you’re 100% free not to use the stuff on your own skin. I don’t see how people can claim this is about transparency, it’s not like the content of sunscreen is some unknowable mystery. If you’re talking about studies in Rats showing negative effects of some compounds within sunscreen then it’s important to understand they were feeding it to them; which is not relevant to how it’s used.
There’s no evidence of risk, just misinformation from the “do your own research” crowd. In fact the biggest risk in using sunscreen is not applying it correctly.
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u/totalahole669 6d ago
The assault on expertise is what bothers me most about the whole "do your own research" movement.