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The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

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Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#171

When you read article, it is important to note the before state and after state. There a lot of things that happen in between. First, you need to understand that this culture existed well before colonization, and it existed in peace. Secondly, the culture's history and knowledge, specifically on how to survive in such a harsh environment, was oral as the Inuit did not pass things on by reading and writing. This is a…

Unlike knowledge stored in books, oral traditions and knowledge can't be "got back to". Once the line is broken, it is gone.

Yes and No. I think they can never go back to how it was. But having memories and remembering the old ways is a start. A point of departure if you will. From this point of departure, I think this where we will see how they will evolve their ways.

Much like how after a tragedy, people talk about it to get over it, the next talk has to be about what happened to them, so that they can move forward.

This, along with remember the ways of the old, can give them roots, and a feeling of belonging, a feeling of who they were, and a feeling that traditions can evolve and continue on.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#172
post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that doesn't show up in the data about well-being, where the nordic countries outperform the mediterranean ones.

They are wrong. Most of those surveys are designed by people with a very clear view of what life should be that doesn't reflect the values of less materialistic societies. A good example is the corruption index published every year, when the US always comes out as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. We all know for a fact there's tons of corruption in this country, we just decided to legalize most of it.…

Ok, but you're asking us to trust your opinion, and your opinion on data, coming from a position of being angry about where you live. Whereas most of us choose to live somewhere that makes us happy.

But anyway, I'm sure there are great reasons to discount the corruption studies and the studies of quality of life.

I haven't seen any of them in this thread, though.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people really believe +4C is likely in 80 years, why aren’t they out marching and demanding a move to nuclear power? It’s the only option that doesn’t decimate the poor and drastically increase the price of food, and this magnitudes more likely to be acted upon. Yet the overlap between people against nuclear power and terrified of climate change is a massive majority.

> it's the only option that doesn’t decimate the poor and drastically increase the price of food This is an unsupportable assertion. Nuclear power costs far more than the alternatives (mainly Wind/Solar), none of which impoverish people nor drastically increase the price of food.

The difference is that one (nuclear) can deliver energy consistently, while the other (wind/solar) simply cannot. Wind/solar just aren’t comparable at this point. If an energy source isn’t producing energy when you need it, it isn’t an energy source.

As GP said, nuclear is the only option.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people really believe +4C is likely in 80 years, why aren’t they out marching and demanding a move to nuclear power? It’s the only option that doesn’t decimate the poor and drastically increase the price of food, and this magnitudes more likely to be acted upon. Yet the overlap between people against nuclear power and terrified of climate change is a massive majority.

> it's the only option that doesn’t decimate the poor and drastically increase the price of food This is an unsupportable assertion. Nuclear power costs far more than the alternatives (mainly Wind/Solar), none of which impoverish people nor drastically increase the price of food.

Wind and solar just aren't viable at the scales needed.

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/10/large-scale-w...

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#175
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people really believe +4C is likely in 80 years, why aren’t they out marching and demanding a move to nuclear power? It’s the only option that doesn’t decimate the poor and drastically increase the price of food, and this magnitudes more likely to be acted upon. Yet the overlap between people against nuclear power and terrified of climate change is a massive majority.

Not everybody is looking at the same statistics you are, and not everyone is as hopeful about our ability to store nuclear waste safely indefinitely. I'm pro-nuclear power, but it's foolish to act like their motivations or beliefs are less real than yours because they have a different risk assessment.

Wind and solar just can't scale to what is needed to stop climate change, and if they did scale that high, would become active in increasing climate change themselves. Never mind the complexity of keeping power on 24/7 when your predictions of wind and solar availability are off.

It isn't statistics, but cold hard math.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I quoted you.

You quoted me, then made a very insincere and uncharitable implication of what I said. I don't have any ideology, I was just pointing out how post-hoc explanations always fit the data. But that you could take other examples and come to opposite conclusions.

> I don't have any ideology

Yes, you do. Regardless of if you want to or not, you have an ideology.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#177
post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a statistical standpoint, it's logical that the most extreme numbers come from the lowest populations. So if the lowest rates are also in remote rural areas, this says more about statistics than anything else.

I'm not sure which of these two points you're trying to make: 1) These specific counties could be flukes because of their small population. We can account for that by making multiple observations--i.e. look at multiple years of data--and seeing if the counties change rank. The visualization has yearly data for 1980-2014, and the specified counties are consistently high compared to the national average https://vizhub.…

I was trying to make point 1, but you definitely showed this is not the case.

That last graph is a really nice one, as it shows more variance on low populations, but on average still way higher than on high populations.

Thanks for the clarification! :)

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#178

When you read article, it is important to note the before state and after state. There a lot of things that happen in between. First, you need to understand that this culture existed well before colonization, and it existed in peace. Secondly, the culture's history and knowledge, specifically on how to survive in such a harsh environment, was oral as the Inuit did not pass things on by reading and writing. This is a…

This is a pretty good insight. I think it's the same issue affecting many other groups.

In bizarre twist, although I am in the IT world, I've had the good fortune to listen to some knowledgeable people that know far more than me about this.

In addition, I think I knew and have worked with Bonnie who is mentioned in the article. Iqaluit/Nunavut is a small place, so even by first name, I think I'm kind of sure who it is. If she is who she is, then she knows a lot about this topic and I would trust her words.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not the latitude that is causing the suicide rates. The at-risk populations just happen to be there. Causality does not equal causation.

Pretty sure you're the one who has it backwards, and extended periods of darkness and/or vitamin D deficiency have causal factors in suicide.

Yes, this is one of the factors at play but there are no proof that seasonal depression is the main one. All of northern countries have this issue without having such high suicide rates.

This issue is a sociocultural one. There has never been any proof that Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can increase suicide rates that much. Living up north, I can assure you that everyone is aware of SAD and is taking steps to minimize it. Omega-3, vitamin supplements, light therapy, etc.

Re: The Highest Suicide Rate in the World

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's the only option that doesn’t decimate the poor and drastically increase the price of food This is an unsupportable assertion. Nuclear power costs far more than the alternatives (mainly Wind/Solar), none of which impoverish people nor drastically increase the price of food.

The difference is that one (nuclear) can deliver energy consistently, while the other (wind/solar) simply cannot. Wind/solar just aren’t comparable at this point. If an energy source isn’t producing energy when you need it, it isn’t an energy source. As GP said, nuclear is the only option.

You'll have to help me out. The assertion is that all things that aren't nuclear "decimate the poor and drastically increase the price of food".

Can you suggest some reading material that would tell me how wind and solar do those things?

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