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The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

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Re: The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

#361

Post by WalterBright »

zirgs wrote: post #336
WalterBright wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We should probably repeal and replace the First Amendment while we're at it, and tie up some loose ends like Citizens United and the inability of U.S. governments to criminally punish hate speech. I am not a gun nut, and have little interest in owning/shooting guns. I've done it, and found it boring. But my defense of the 2nd Amendment is based on the domino theory that if the 2nd can be ignored, there goes the Fir…

There's still freedom of speech in countries with stricter gun laws. Also in my country prostitution and abortions are legal. So stricter gun laws don't always lead to other restrictions.

The difference is the 2nd Amendment is not a law, it's in the Constitution. The Constitution ain't worth nothing if it is not respected.

I don't care about gun rights. I do care about the Constitution, and I very much care about the First Amendment.

Re: The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

#362

Post by sgc »

epups wrote: post #358
sgc wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You claim this is the most important point, I am saying it is important, but not the most important point. The charts show the difference already, show that this difference is largely related to medical / health reasons (as I said above, cardiovascular alone accounts for more of the difference than all those reasons combined), and don't support your conclusion.

We are talking past each other. You are claiming that cardiovascular diseases and other factors are more important to the US having a lower life expectancy than all these other countries. But not in the age range that is the main thrust of the thread we are in, 5 to 40 years old. The first graph you posted is a bunch of counterfactuals on the aggregate life expectancy, suggesting that the overall impact of these earl…

Even the person who started this HN context has agreed I made a good point about these premature deaths not being primarily (their words) from the age range / causes in question, so I am not sure why we need to continue.

You are trying to make the conversation about something it is not, and have changed their point to my point (from primary to important but not primary) to then say I am being unreasonable because I don't understand their point, which is in fact mine. There is no reason I should accept to be shut into your box. Read the twitter thread, and this comment thread again, and it is clear you are the one trying to force the conversation to be about one very specific thing while refusing that it is legitimate to place it into a larger context - the overall causes of lower US life expectancy.

The only reason I care is I don't want a bunch of people running around with the false idea in their head that we just need to deal with the important social issues of our younger generations, and we have solved the bulk of the problem. They are certainly important, even critical issues, but that is not true.

Re: The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

#363

Post by WalterBright »

maxerickson wrote: post #343
WalterBright wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We should probably repeal and replace the First Amendment while we're at it, and tie up some loose ends like Citizens United and the inability of U.S. governments to criminally punish hate speech. I am not a gun nut, and have little interest in owning/shooting guns. I've done it, and found it boring. But my defense of the 2nd Amendment is based on the domino theory that if the 2nd can be ignored, there goes the Fir…

Repealing am amendment isn't ignoring it. It's the opposite. You could clarify that you mean the rights stated in the amendments of course.

The while we're at it, let's get rid of the rest of the Bill of Rights, is terrifying.

Re: The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

#364

Post by bobthepanda »

grecy wrote: post #353
bobthepanda wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYU is also more vertical than most universities in the US. How many university buildings in the US are 12 floors or higher?

I don't care if the building 100 floors - the problem is not the height of the building. The problem is that young people in the US who are clearly privileged enough to attend a very prestigious university are driven to suicide.

Tall structures everywhere are suicide magnets because they are fairly accessible and the means of death is easy and (seems) fairly certain. It’s why you can’t build a large bridge with a pedestrian walkway without some kind of safety netting, and that’s globally.

Re: The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

#365

Post by zirgs »

WalterBright wrote: post #361
zirgs wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's still freedom of speech in countries with stricter gun laws. Also in my country prostitution and abortions are legal. So stricter gun laws don't always lead to other restrictions.

The difference is the 2nd Amendment is not a law, it's in the Constitution. The Constitution ain't worth nothing if it is not respected. I don't care about gun rights. I do care about the Constitution, and I very much care about the First Amendment.

The Constitution is not set in stone - it can be amended. If the Constitution is amended in a legal way then how is it disrespectful?

Re: The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

#366

Post by sokoloff »

zirgs wrote: post #365
WalterBright wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is the 2nd Amendment is not a law, it's in the Constitution. The Constitution ain't worth nothing if it is not respected. I don't care about gun rights. I do care about the Constitution, and I very much care about the First Amendment.

The Constitution is not set in stone - it can be amended. If the Constitution is amended in a legal way then how is it disrespectful?

So long as it’s respected until/unless amended, I’m entirely in agreement.

Re: The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

#367

Post by whakim »

sgc wrote: post #214
whakim wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a fair point; I was simply trying to paraphrase the FT article in pointing out the importance of "social factors" (including diet/obesity/etc. leading to cardiovascular disease) in explaining US life expectancy and picked the three examples they used. I hadn't seen the chart you linked. I still think drugs, guns, and accidents are worth specifically highlighting even if they aren't the single biggest driver of…

They are definitely important issues that I have been aware of for some time, just due to where I have lived over the years. However the author went a bit too far and lost sight of the forest for the trees.

One thing that isn't clear to me (and didn't seem to be addressed in any of the charts) is the percentage of the life expectancy disparity that is explained by the "likelihood of dying before age 40" disparity. To me, this is the key statistic that the author is missing because the original article isn't really about causes - which are only tangentially mentioned.

Re: The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

#368

Post by tbrownaw »

jessaustin wrote: post #344
Symbiote wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may leave less room for rear seat, adult passengers if you drive a compact car. It's still manageable, and fine for occasional trips, but I wouldn't choose that car to drive 4 adults daily.

...I wouldn't choose that car to drive 4 adults daily. Is this a typical thing that cars do? I'm not sure if I've seen 4 adults in a car in the last month.

Before the plague forced pervasive WFH, this was every Friday when a bunch of us would pick somewhere for lunch and all pile into the fewest cars needed.

Re: The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

#369

Post by sammalloy »

helaoban wrote: post #252
nukeman wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bigger vehicles by volume are safer, as there is more space for crumple zones. Bigger vehicles by mass are more dangerous, as there is more momentum and kinetic energy involved in a collision.

Bigger vehicles by volume are taller vehicles, they impact pedestrians closer to the vital organs in the upper torso and head. Pedestrians are also more likely to be swallowed / run over by cars with higher ride heights.

> Pedestrians are also more likely to be swallowed / run over by cars with higher ride heights.

It would be very interesting to see more studies on this. Where I am, the car of choice is a lifted truck that I don’t think has been accounted for with regards to pedestrian safety.

Re: The average American has the same life expectancy as the worst part of England

#370

Post by wolverine876 »

chii wrote: post #234
wolverine876 wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The encouragement of hate, outrage, prejudice, and mis- and disinformation. It's pretty transparent - we see the expected outcomes.

this is how a high-trust society devolve into a low trust society. It's quite alarming, and it seems to me, that nothing is being done to reverse it. By the time the "regular" people feel it (ala, the rich people), the problem may be irreversible.

What are you doing about it? Let's start now.

> By the time the "regular" people feel it (ala, the rich people), the problem may be irreversible.

I think they definitely feel it. You can see it here on HN. You can see it everyone resigning, in the vogue of despairing and not caring.

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