Live data from Hacker News

Getting your hands dirty is good for you

bbc.com

81–90 of 214 posts

Re: Getting your hands dirty is good for you

#81
Curious what people's thoughts here are on grounding as another benefit. Article talks about benefits of bacteria on the skin, but I'd say the other and maybe bigger benefit is discharge of electrical energy in our bodies to the ground. Which, can sounds weird depending. Some papers on the subject[0] talking about similar results as this article, almost implying that it's not the microbes, but grounding making the difference.

I also got a $30 "grounding mat" that you plug into the ground part of electrical socket, and I dunno, it feels amazing to have skin touching it. I put it in bed and literally slept the best I have in years in the last two night, by far. Comments online generally are snake oil, but many others are first person accounts saying that for whatever reason, the grounding mat worked for them. (I have theories that the people who it does nothing for are those who already have an outlet. Like a dog where you're in nature and on walks, and also a dog can do the discharge for you). Other comments online are stories of how when the mat is plugged to ground, their cats love sitting on it, but if unplugged, the mats are ignored. That seems like some study that would be interesting at animal shelter, seeing if animals can tell and prefer.

But anyway, wondering what others opinions on this topic are.

[0] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4378297/

Re: Getting your hands dirty is good for you

#82

I heard the most ridiculous thing the other day: That GenZ and Gen Alpha have started doing this thing they call “private podcasting”. Where they invite a friend over and discuss topics like one of those podcasts where dudes just talk about stuff…but they don’t record it or post it anywhere. I was stunned. Is this generation really so socially starved by the attention parasites that human beings are starting to reinv…

There's absolutely no reason to assume that getting your hands dirty would be "good for you". Playing outside and getting dirty is fun and is arguably great for enrichment and character building, but I think it would come as a surprise to just about anyone that it has health benefits.

When I say "come as a surprise" I mean they would be unable to articulate the exact mechanisms behind the health benefits before being told what they are or that they exist. Liking a thing and presuming it must have health benefits aren't the same.

Re: Getting your hands dirty is good for you

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is like the dumbest take ever, do you think people go and take a shit on the park in big European cities? I live in Berlin and compared to most other European cities it’s a shit hole, but one thing I can tell you is the cleanliness and green nature of the public parks. Most of the time people actually care about the public parks (with exception of few) However, one thing to worry about is the tick bites or any o…

In Spain dogs have taken over city parks, so pretty much the description is correct... nobody in their right mind lets their children play with the sand in parks in Spain

That is sad, so people don’t pick up after the dogs or are they stray dogs?

Re: Getting your hands dirty is good for you

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is like the dumbest take ever, do you think people go and take a shit on the park in big European cities? I live in Berlin and compared to most other European cities it’s a shit hole, but one thing I can tell you is the cleanliness and green nature of the public parks. Most of the time people actually care about the public parks (with exception of few) However, one thing to worry about is the tick bites or any o…

Where do you think ticks come from in a city park...?

Through animals of course

Re: Getting your hands dirty is good for you

#85
Not just your hands.

Walking barefoot, over all manner of surfaces, feels good, increases your connection to your surroundings, and slows you down.

I've done it lots, both in the countryside and in the city. You have to watch out for spiky plants and fox shit in the country, and in the city you soon learn which surface textures require more care :-)

"Where would I find enough leather to cover the entire surface of the earth? But with leather soles beneath my feet, it's as if the whole world has been covered." - Shantideva, 8th century Buddhist monk

Re: Getting your hands dirty is good for you

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're getting colds that often (and you're not immuno-compromised) then it might be worth getting checked out. I was getting sick constantly, and it turned out I had chronic sinusitis, and surgery made it much much better. (Just friendly advice, I know nothing about your situation).

doctors kept pitching tonsillectomy to me; i'm just hesitant of the knife :( glad it was just poor hygiene :P

If you have tonsilitis / tonsil stones, that means you have a biofilm there and it’s a very common place for that to happen.

Regular mouthwash and even antibiotics won’t get rid of it, but a solution of vinegar, lemon juice and salt will.

https://youtu.be/0he8BCs8VD0

Re: Getting your hands dirty is good for you

#87
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mean you literally sit in the sauna for hour?

I don't think anyone is capable to sit in a 90-100C sauna for a whole hour without breaks, otherwise with breaks I surely have been in a sauna for more than an hour. Just this summer I was at a cottage by Vänern (the largest lake in Sweden), the sauna was built right at the lake with a pier setup for jumping into it, we had a party going late into the night where you constantly moved from the sauna into the lake, out…

>I don't think anyone is capable to sit in a 90-100C sauna for a whole hour without breaks, otherwise with breaks I surely have been in a sauna for more than an hour.

Yes, I definitely do agree with that. I too love what you're describing - we have some of that in Poland too :)

However, I was not sure if we're talking about it - or some American version I know only from various memes - where people are coming in with phones and in shoes.

Re: Getting your hands dirty is good for you

#88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mean you literally sit in the sauna for hour?

> I assume going to sauna takes an hour, [...] but beyond that the minutes inside/outside are a mystery... I understand that as the general act of getting up, starting the sauna, going for your clothes change, resting a couple times, going to the kitchen for water, shower, switch off, kitchen again, whatever... you've filled an hour of your time.

That interpretation does make sense. Just heating the sauna can take even longer.

Re: Getting your hands dirty is good for you

#89
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mean you literally sit in the sauna for hour?

I don't think anyone is capable to sit in a 90-100C sauna for a whole hour without breaks, otherwise with breaks I surely have been in a sauna for more than an hour. Just this summer I was at a cottage by Vänern (the largest lake in Sweden), the sauna was built right at the lake with a pier setup for jumping into it, we had a party going late into the night where you constantly moved from the sauna into the lake, out…

If you ever basta in winter, try bringing ice into the sauna. Smearing yourself with ice while in the heat is really nice :)

Re: Getting your hands dirty is good for you

#90

I look forward to seeing a lifehacking hyper-optimizer streamline this to a polished daily workflow... "I have a bucket of mud, in which I stick my hands for 15 minutes every morning. Every weekend, I inoculate at a 1:5:5 ratio with biologically active stream dirt (after petri-dishing to check for activity), and a mix of poor-quality soil cover, and some compost; I finish by adding a 10-10-10 balanced fertilizer. Rec…

There's something very sad about all these people spending so much energy on crazy intensive n of 1 experiments.

If we could only get them to collaborate, we could get some real knowledge out of it!

Post reply on HN