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Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

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Re: Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

#51

Post by harry8 »

hexane360 wrote: post #36
mikeash wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since zero crime is an impossible goal, the discussion is ultimately a question of how much assault by taxi drivers we should accept.

And we also have to consider how much we as a society lose by not having a taxi system with x amount of danger. 1000 people gaining a little bit quickly outweighs 1 person losing a lot (at least from a purely utilitarian perspective)

A lot of times when this is brought up it isn't mentioned there is an assumption here. That we are already at the efficient frontier and any move is necessarily a trade off.

In my experience that assumption is usually false. There are usually ways where you can actually reduce the amount of danger and the number of people exposed to it and increase the number of people getting a more efficient service at the same time.

Look for these outward movements of the efficient frontier. The opportunity is almost always there. When we're really at the efficient frontier of what is possible and have no choice but to make tradeoffs let's say so loudly because something has gone very, very right to get to that point.

Re: Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

#52

Post by mc32 »

harry8 wrote: post #51
hexane360 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And we also have to consider how much we as a society lose by not having a taxi system with x amount of danger. 1000 people gaining a little bit quickly outweighs 1 person losing a lot (at least from a purely utilitarian perspective)

A lot of times when this is brought up it isn't mentioned there is an assumption here. That we are already at the efficient frontier and any move is necessarily a trade off. In my experience that assumption is usually false. There are usually ways where you can actually reduce the amount of danger and the number of people exposed to it and increase the number of people getting a more efficient service at the same tim…

Agreed. Like Vision Zero[1] which some municipalities have instituted as initiatives to reduce the number of traffic fatalities in their jurisdictions through a variety of measures with the obvious goal of reducing such to the absolute minimum.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_Zero

Re: Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

#53

Post by poorrights »

baddox wrote: post #42
flukus wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your permanent neighbors tend to be noisy and drunk occasionally, people renting an airbnb are on holidays and likely to be noisy and drunk, then a week later you'll get a new batch likely to be noisy and drunk.

But does anyone oppose reasonable rules for time-of-day-based noise levels in an apartment or neighborhood? It really doesn’t matter if your permanent neighbors or transient guests are the ones making the noise, either should cause the property owner/renter to get fined/evicted.

What y’all apparently don’t understand is that people living somewhere permanently have a vested interest in not being dicks to their neighbors (for various reasons that you’re probably smart enough to divine if you dedicate just an iota of thought to it; we’re all smart people, yeah?). If you’re just going to leave in three days, you have no such restriction.

Re: Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

#54

Post by poorrights »

hexane360 wrote: post #37
analog31 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only variety that I can remember as a kid, was the house on the next street where they gave out Chick Tracts instead of candy.

It seems a little counterintuitive to hand out anti-halloween material to trick-or-treaters. I mean, it's still observing Halloween even if it's not candy you're giving out.

Is it just impossible for Hackernews to see the world how other people do or...?

Re: Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

#55

Post by poorrights »

hexane360 wrote: post #37
analog31 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only variety that I can remember as a kid, was the house on the next street where they gave out Chick Tracts instead of candy.

It seems a little counterintuitive to hand out anti-halloween material to trick-or-treaters. I mean, it's still observing Halloween even if it's not candy you're giving out.

Gee, why didn’t THEY think of that?

Re: Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

#56

Post by poorrights »

adventurer wrote: post #17
8ig8 wrote: post #6

And then there’s this headline today on my local news website... Candy laced with bath salts poses risk this Halloween http://www.wral.com/candy-laced-with-bath-salts-poses-risk-t...

This is why people don't trust the media. They make up a story out of nothing or stretch it to to a point where it has no relation to what actually happened. This article for instance is given a title and claim that bath salts are being mixed with candies but provide nothing to back it up. The video points out the drugs are being made to look like candy, not being mixed with it. They pull in two unrelated sources to…

I feel like this is EXACTLY why people DO trust the media: they gin up non-stories and whip people into a frenzy.

Re: Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

#57

Post by poorrights »

zaroth wrote: post #15
afarrell wrote: post #7

If anyone knows of a good general technique to persuade a person that their fear of something is overblown, I'd be interested in seeing a link. In my experience, trying to do this results in anger.

I find the same attitude has now permiated American politics. You can say something as neutral as, "I'm very cautious of getting riled up by overblown narratives that lack factual evidence or are presented in an obviously inflammatory manner" and suddenly you're the anti-Christ.

At this point, it’s easier to just assume that most people are mentally retarded.

Re: Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

#58

Post by heartbreak »

wavefunction wrote: post #48
agoodthrowaway wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly his post was humorous and intended to poke fun at people's paranoia of poisoned candy.

Actually I think OP is implying he just eats all of his kids' Halloween candy and serves them salad instead.

Which is exactly what my mom did, minus the salad. Now I eat all the candy instead of handing it out. Thanks mom.

Re: Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

#59

Post by Divver »

ronilan wrote: post #8

My kids are very aware that Halloween candy may be poisoned. Every year, after they finish trick-or-treating they will lay the buckets of candy on the table for inspection[1]. I will then taste several packs to make sure they are safe. If I do not show any side effects we conclude that the candy eaten was good. The kids wait patiently for a couple of weeks as I repeat the process and certify that all the candy they b…

When I become a parent, I shall do the same thing with my kids. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

Re: Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

#60

Post by aptwebapps »

Theodores wrote: post #5

Seems that Wikipedia is a better starting point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoned_candy_myths I would date my understanding of the myth to be from 1980, informed by a friend's mum, so the myth was oral tradition by then, across the pond in the UK. So a handful of years after 1974 the meme had spread. This had morphed into an 'only in America' story for those of us outside the U.S. - we believed this happened on…

Nitpick: 'trick or treat' doesn't refer to the ambiguity of the offering. It's actually a threat to play a trick on households that don't supply treats. I.e. give me a treat or I'll play a prank on you. It's not really serious, though.
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