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Average adult will spend 34 years of their life staring at screens

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Re: Average adult will spend 34 years of their life staring at screens

#271

Post by nmfisher »

Gustomaximus wrote: post #268
karatestomp wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile we put 5-6 year olds in kindergarten classrooms with UV-blocking windows all day, for about 9 months during the part of the year with the least sunlight available, and we've cut recess time down to almost nothing, and schools increasingly don't send kids outside if the weather's anything other than perfect. At my kids' school they don't even have indoor recess if they keep them in! They just watch a damn mo…

I also dont like how people put sunscreen on the kids almost every time they go out. I live in Australia, so you absolutely do want to protect your skin, but heading to the park for an hour doesn't need sunscreen every time. 2 generations ago it was common to literally lie in the sun for hours putting coconut oil on your skin to increase tanning. And yes they did have higher skin cancer rates but there is a fair gap…

> I also dont like how people put sunscreen on the kids almost every time they go out. I live in Australia, so you absolutely do want to protect your skin, but heading to the park for an hour doesn't need sunscreen every time.

I'm making an effort to get at least 15 minutes of direct sunlight every day, but at the same time, I make sure to put sunscreen on my face/neck every time I go out.

Modern attire is the problem. Our clothes cover everything but the face, hands and neck, so when we try and increase sunlight exposure, we get huge doses concentrated on these areas.

Ideally, I'd be sunning shirtless and with shorts that cover as little as legally possible. It's a much more sensible approach to boosting Vitamin D levels without risking skin cancer on the face/hands/neck/ears. Nebulous concepts of "social acceptability" be damned.

Re: Average adult will spend 34 years of their life staring at screens

#272

Post by Izkata »

saalweachter wrote: post #180
ipnon wrote: post #39

"If children get outside enough, it doesn't matter how much they study they do. They don't become myopic," said Ian Morgan, researcher at Australian National University.[0] "Researchers say kids and teens need to get sunlight during the critical years of their development while their eyeballs are still growing. "The mechanics of how sunlight protects their eyes are not clearly understood. One theory suggests that sun…

I'm sure there is a correlation, maybe even a strong one, but I have quite a bit of anecdata to suggest it is not true in all cases. (I grew up on a farm, and spent a helluva lot of time outside, and needed glasses long before my family had a computer; my father would have spent even more time outside than I did, and likewise is pretty nearsighted.)

I got another weird one to toss in, for myself:

Back when I first moved into my current place in 2013, I was able to read my stove's clock from across two rooms. My eyesight had steadily degraded since then until last year/early this year, where I needed to step into the closer room before I was able to read it.

...But then, the lockdown started. And since then, despite being on the computer for more of the day and not often going out into the sunlight, my eyesight has been improving. I can clearly read the clock from across both rooms again.

Since I don't really open my blinds, I've gotten pretty much continuous indoor levels of light for two months now, so I've my own theory: It's not specifically sunlight, but having to adjust to the differing brightness between indoor and outdoor light too often that causes issues.

Re: Average adult will spend 34 years of their life staring at screens

#273

Post by shrimp_emoji »

sinity wrote: post #127
gowld wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much of that time was caring for your eye health so you don't go blind early?

You don't go blind from staring at a screen. Claims otherwise are the same as 5G conspiracy theories. Photons are photons. You might get issues from focusing at the same distance all the time. Or that theory about dopamine may be true - but if anything, screens are an improvement over things like paper books. And it applies to adolescence anyway. And nearsightedness is not anywhere near going blind .

Bruh long axial length stretches the retina and detaches the vitreous jelly faster from the back of the eye since eye volume keeps increasing (you see this as flashes of light), putting you at risk for retinal detachment, which very much leads to blindness. :v

I live in constant fear of it (though chance is smol).

And I only played WoW for like 2 years .w.

Re: Average adult will spend 34 years of their life staring at screens

#274

Post by lotsofpulp »

nmfisher wrote: post #270
karatestomp wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We let ours play outside plenty, and there are quite a few other kids out. Does seem to be neighborhood-dependent, though, all kinda have their own culture. Our current one's less free-range than the last, which had big ol' gangs of kids with large age-ranges roaming around, and was great. We are fairly worried about 1) eventually having some kind of encounter with child protective services—which will likely end up f…

> Odds very low they'll all make it to 18 without at least one broken bone. I consider broken bones to be an integral part of childhood. Well, for boys anyway. If you make it to 18 without a broken bone, you probably should have spent more time outside.

I haven’t broken any bones. My parents were up and coming immigrants with their own business, but not successful enough to afford health insurance (pre ACA, but not post ACA either), and there weren’t poor enough for Medicaid.

So my dad was clear to me that any injuries could cause us to have medical expenses that would derail us and my younger sibling’s future as well as the aging grandparents my parents were taking care of.

So I didn’t partake in activities that could have broken bones, but that is the hand my parents and I and others like us are dealt in the great old US of A.

Re: Average adult will spend 34 years of their life staring at screens

#275

Post by lotsofpulp »

kazen44 wrote: post #235
aupchurch wrote: post #119

These stats always freak me out when you extrapolate it over the long term. The average adult will also spend 2 years commuting or an entire year of their life sitting on the toilet. Lot's of wasted time here people. I think this also shows the power of what we can accomplish by spending 10 minutes a day doing something.

why would spending time on the toilet be wasted time? actually, sometimes, doing practically nothing is very valuable for one's state of mind.

I’d avoid the toilet simply due to avoid increasing risk of hemorrhoids.

Re: Average adult will spend 34 years of their life staring at screens

#276

Post by craigching »

nmfisher wrote: post #270
karatestomp wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We let ours play outside plenty, and there are quite a few other kids out. Does seem to be neighborhood-dependent, though, all kinda have their own culture. Our current one's less free-range than the last, which had big ol' gangs of kids with large age-ranges roaming around, and was great. We are fairly worried about 1) eventually having some kind of encounter with child protective services—which will likely end up f…

> Odds very low they'll all make it to 18 without at least one broken bone. I consider broken bones to be an integral part of childhood. Well, for boys anyway. If you make it to 18 without a broken bone, you probably should have spent more time outside.

I’m sure you’re making a general statement, but breaking a bone is pretty traumatic and the complications can be quite serious. I hope my kids never experience a broken bone.

That said, I spent my childhood outside and never broke a bone myself, but my brother did and ended up having to wear orthotics the rest of his life and routinely experiences discomfort as a result. So, my advice, don’t limit your kids, but teach them to be careful at the same time.

I’m pretty sure if one of my kids break a bone, I’m going to be a wreck.

EDIT: Your comment about boys breaking bones more than girls is ridiculous, as a parent with a daughter who loves risk taking, I can assure you it’s not a boy vs girl problem.

Re: Average adult will spend 34 years of their life staring at screens

#278

Post by gonzo41 »

jeffreyrogers wrote: post #236
dannyw wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anyone know if this also applies for people in their early 20s? Of course more sunlight and exercise never hurts, but I’d be more compelled if there’s scientific evidence that it stops myopia progression.

Anecdotally I had great vision (20/15) before starting college. Before I went to college the eye doctor said not to bother coming back until I got married. After 3 years of looking at a screen in the dark I needed glasses.

You know that movie, Moon, with Sam Rockwell? I started feeling like the first version of the clone right after finishing university. I just keep falling apart!

Re: Average adult will spend 34 years of their life staring at screens

#280

Post by taneq »

Gustomaximus wrote: post #268
karatestomp wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile we put 5-6 year olds in kindergarten classrooms with UV-blocking windows all day, for about 9 months during the part of the year with the least sunlight available, and we've cut recess time down to almost nothing, and schools increasingly don't send kids outside if the weather's anything other than perfect. At my kids' school they don't even have indoor recess if they keep them in! They just watch a damn mo…

I also dont like how people put sunscreen on the kids almost every time they go out. I live in Australia, so you absolutely do want to protect your skin, but heading to the park for an hour doesn't need sunscreen every time. 2 generations ago it was common to literally lie in the sun for hours putting coconut oil on your skin to increase tanning. And yes they did have higher skin cancer rates but there is a fair gap…

> And yes they did have higher skin cancer rates

Much, much higher. And older people who were reasonably active and spent a lot of time outside (even if they didn't deliberately go and sunbathe) have often had one or two cancerous spots cut out.

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