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A candle produces roughly the same amount of energy as a resting human

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Re: A candle produces roughly the same amount of energy as a resting human

#11

Post by degif »

h2odragon wrote: post #3

People concern for "air quality" lately has me wondering how in the world humanity survived to this point, in utter ignorance of the horrid damage everything they could smell was doing to them. Perhaps we should be encased in sterile bubbles at birth, with all inputs filtered for purity and consistency. Surely that would be the best way to avoid all the dire consequences of the pollutants surrounding us.

Air quality in this context is not about smells or the sterility of the air, but simply just about the oxygen level.

Re: A candle produces roughly the same amount of energy as a resting human

#12

Post by jackmott42 »

h2odragon wrote: post #3

People concern for "air quality" lately has me wondering how in the world humanity survived to this point, in utter ignorance of the horrid damage everything they could smell was doing to them. Perhaps we should be encased in sterile bubbles at birth, with all inputs filtered for purity and consistency. Surely that would be the best way to avoid all the dire consequences of the pollutants surrounding us.

1. there were far less people with far less industry, so a lot of the problems we have didn't exist yet

2. there was, in some regions, lots of living indoors with fires and candles and sleeping with animals, because they had no other choice, and they died in their 30s or 40s at best anyway so it didn't really matter. Probably breathing soot all the time while indoors was part of the reason they died in their 30s and 40s a lot though?

3. In the distant past a moderate IQ drop due to particulates wouldn't have been as big of a hindrance to survival and success as in the modern world, perhaps. I see lots of hints that even small shifts in a societies IQ in the modern world has pretty dire consequences. I'd love for that to be investigated more.

Re: A candle produces roughly the same amount of energy as a resting human

#13

Post by dsfyu404ed »

LinuxBender wrote: post #5
dekhn wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

except that candles don't just produce CO2, they produce soot and many other molecules which have been clearly associated with negative health outcomes.

they produce soot As my bathroom walls can attest to. It took a long time to clean that up. I don't use candles for scent any more. Now I just keep them as one of many sources of emergency light and heat.

The chemical alternatives don't exactly give me confidence (though who really knows what's in a modern candle?). At least candles are a known-known even if non-optimal.

Re: A candle produces roughly the same amount of energy as a resting human

#14

Post by delecti »

h2odragon wrote: post #3

People concern for "air quality" lately has me wondering how in the world humanity survived to this point, in utter ignorance of the horrid damage everything they could smell was doing to them. Perhaps we should be encased in sterile bubbles at birth, with all inputs filtered for purity and consistency. Surely that would be the best way to avoid all the dire consequences of the pollutants surrounding us.

> how in the world humanity survived to this point

By outbreeding the fact that we also died a bunch for unknown reasons.

And I think this tweet is actually a fairly calming view on things. I wouldn't hesitate to share a room with a couple extra people, so I won't worry about a few candles occasionally, because they're a nice benefit to the space. Meanwhile it's an absolute no-brainer (for me and many other people) to avoid gas stoves, because they don't have any ambience benefits and my local power grid is quite stable.

Living in bubbles might be biologically safer, but we're also creatures that need to live, so it's not a tradeoff most people would (or should) accept. We can make gradual incremental change as we learn more though, and we should try to do so.

Re: A candle produces roughly the same amount of energy as a resting human

#15

Post by paulryanrogers »

h2odragon wrote: post #3

People concern for "air quality" lately has me wondering how in the world humanity survived to this point, in utter ignorance of the horrid damage everything they could smell was doing to them. Perhaps we should be encased in sterile bubbles at birth, with all inputs filtered for purity and consistency. Surely that would be the best way to avoid all the dire consequences of the pollutants surrounding us.

Humanity survived, poorly and with many ailments, by being few in number and less capable of causing long term damage to our habitat. Until the invention of fire and agriculture anyway. Then came industrialization with little thought to future generations.

Re: A candle produces roughly the same amount of energy as a resting human

#16

Post by Gordonjcp »

degif wrote: post #11
h2odragon wrote: post #3

People concern for "air quality" lately has me wondering how in the world humanity survived to this point, in utter ignorance of the horrid damage everything they could smell was doing to them. Perhaps we should be encased in sterile bubbles at birth, with all inputs filtered for purity and consistency. Surely that would be the best way to avoid all the dire consequences of the pollutants surrounding us.

Air quality in this context is not about smells or the sterility of the air, but simply just about the oxygen level.

Maybe your house shouldn't be a sealed plastic bubble.

Re: A candle produces roughly the same amount of energy as a resting human

#17

Post by Gordonjcp »

delecti wrote: post #14
h2odragon wrote: post #3

People concern for "air quality" lately has me wondering how in the world humanity survived to this point, in utter ignorance of the horrid damage everything they could smell was doing to them. Perhaps we should be encased in sterile bubbles at birth, with all inputs filtered for purity and consistency. Surely that would be the best way to avoid all the dire consequences of the pollutants surrounding us.

> how in the world humanity survived to this point By outbreeding the fact that we also died a bunch for unknown reasons. And I think this tweet is actually a fairly calming view on things. I wouldn't hesitate to share a room with a couple extra people, so I won't worry about a few candles occasionally, because they're a nice benefit to the space. Meanwhile it's an absolute no-brainer (for me and many other people) t…

> Meanwhile it's an absolute no-brainer (for me and many other people) to avoid gas stoves

Surely you mean avoiding dangerous electric stoves, which emit hazardous electromagnetic radiation?

Edit: Yup, everyone bit. Christ you're a bunch of dafties.

Re: A candle produces roughly the same amount of energy as a resting human

#18

Post by musingsole »

delecti wrote: post #14
h2odragon wrote: post #3

People concern for "air quality" lately has me wondering how in the world humanity survived to this point, in utter ignorance of the horrid damage everything they could smell was doing to them. Perhaps we should be encased in sterile bubbles at birth, with all inputs filtered for purity and consistency. Surely that would be the best way to avoid all the dire consequences of the pollutants surrounding us.

> how in the world humanity survived to this point By outbreeding the fact that we also died a bunch for unknown reasons. And I think this tweet is actually a fairly calming view on things. I wouldn't hesitate to share a room with a couple extra people, so I won't worry about a few candles occasionally, because they're a nice benefit to the space. Meanwhile it's an absolute no-brainer (for me and many other people) t…

> By outbreeding the fact that we also died a bunch for unknown reasons.

You really do the robustness of the human body and immune system a disservice.

Re: A candle produces roughly the same amount of energy as a resting human

#20

Post by idopmstuff »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #13
LinuxBender wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they produce soot As my bathroom walls can attest to. It took a long time to clean that up. I don't use candles for scent any more. Now I just keep them as one of many sources of emergency light and heat.

The chemical alternatives don't exactly give me confidence (though who really knows what's in a modern candle?). At least candles are a known-known even if non-optimal.

I have something like this: https://www.amazon.com/ElusiaKa-Ceramic-Electric-Fragrance-A...

Melts the wax and gives you that lovely smell without any fire. The wax also lasts much longer in one of these than in candle form.

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