Earlier this week it was sunny and hot. My office only seems to experience temperature extremes - if it’s hot outside - it’s a free Sahara simulation in the office. If it’s cold outside - no refridgeration is required when I bring my lunch in.
I was chatting with a lady (50+) who said that when she was growing up every hot day was spent at the beach getting as much sun as possible. In fact she and her friends used to ‘oil up’ to make the most of the sun and develop a tan. Little did they know that too much sun is bad for the skin, and many of those in her generation have acquired skin cancers and now spend their life indoors. This is similar to the way cigarettes were smoked with the same regularity of breathing until we realised that they are the equivalent to writing your own death certificate.
I wonder what will be discovered in my lifetime that will be similar to these examples. Perhaps I’m paranoid, but mobile phones jump to my mind first. I can imagine 30 years down the track they will discover that mobile phones mess with your brain and none of us have the capacity to retain information for more than 3 minutes. None of us knows the damage that mobile phones are doing, all we know is that we can’t live without them.
This just goes to show the limitations of humanity. What we do know, is greatly overwhelmed by what remains unknown.
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I think it’s far more likely, if it has to be something, it’ll be something we’re not really paying much attention to. Like asbestos and the like, it’ll creep up on us.
No real research was done for years into the harm of cigarettes; and noone really knew what sitting in the sun was causing — noone (and I mean that fairly loosely) was really concerned for a number of years. On the other hand; a lot of people are scared of mobile phones and power lines and the like.
No, I think the next skin cancer is going to be something innocuous — polyester shirts, treated pine or energy-saver light globes. Smoking and sun-bathing had been around forever before they were considered harmful, it’s not going to be something 30 years old, or even 60, but something we’ve had around so long it’s become an essential part of the lifestyle.
Good insight Bob. The more obvious perhaps the less likely - if it’s sitting in our rear-view mirror it’s hard to ignore. I wonder what’s sitting in our blind spot that will bite us in 30 years time?
Two words for you Steve: carbon nanotube.
And for those of us who have no idea what a carbon nanotube is (I’m happy to chair this committee!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube
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