That's why they build special showers (that are on floor level) for elderly people. No reason to sleep under a dead tree.
Not to mention hand rails, non-slip mats to stand on, chairs in the shower and other risk reduction strategies.
That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer
51–60 of 251 posts
Re: That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer
#52Solution: a bathtub. I have some combination bathtub + shower so I sit down and wash myself -- it doesn't take longer and I can fall (since I am already at floor height.
I can easily think that climbing in and out of a bathtub is way more risky (wrt. falling) than merely stepping under a shower. I believe people don't fall when they stand in the shower. They fall when they step out of it on moist surface. Sorry if I ruined your day. :)
Re: That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer
#53The CDC has keeps statistics on how people in the USA die http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm Looking at the 2011 prelims "Accidents (unintentional injuries)" comes in at #5 with 122,777 deaths and Intentional self-harm (suicide) is at #10 with 38,285. Assault (homicide) is no longer in the top 15. Also, Assault (homicide) by discharge of firearms is 11,101 with all other Assault (homicide) totaling 4,852. To gi…
> Looking at the stats and what kills us, we spend a lot of time looking at the stuff that is actually going down versus the stuff that is increasing.
We need to be careful: maybe things that are going down are going down because of how much time we have spent looking at them.
Re: That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer
#54The CDC has keeps statistics on how people in the USA die http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm Looking at the 2011 prelims "Accidents (unintentional injuries)" comes in at #5 with 122,777 deaths and Intentional self-harm (suicide) is at #10 with 38,285. Assault (homicide) is no longer in the top 15. Also, Assault (homicide) by discharge of firearms is 11,101 with all other Assault (homicide) totaling 4,852. To gi…
It's important to remember that causes of death are often also activities which carry utility and even outright life-saving capability.
Accidental poisoning, for example, is often due to exposure to cleaning chemicals and drugs which have massively reduced illnesses and deaths. Spending more to make them less accessible may actually be self-defeating, in that it could well cause more deaths than it prevents, by making it harder to get and use those things for their intended purpose.
Further, many of the more prominent killers in society have already been the subject of safety campaigns. Cars are massively safer today than they were in the 70s and earlier, as a direct result of safety research and societal effort. As returns on such efforts have been diminishing for some time, the next dollar of safety research or societal effort is quite likely to impact more net lives when directed at a "lesser" killer that hasn't been the subject of as much study.
One must keep those two considerations in mind, when making judgements about whether we're spending an undue amount of time and money on a given threat.
Simply looking at a stack-rank of 'killers' isn't enough.
Re: That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer
#55A handy technique for evaluating situations is this: how many mistakes am I away from death/injury? If I drive without a seatbelt, I've put myself 1 accident away in many cases. My Scouts are young, and love to climb things. I tell them, I know you're strong and skilled. But a loose rock or slippery foothold puts you at risk anyway. So wear the harness - now it takes two mistakes to kill you (e.g. loose rock + badly…
Sometimes you hear things that instantly change your views on the world.
I have to say that this above post, in about 10 seconds of reading it, has completely changed my views on assessing risk.
The idea of quantifying risk by counting the number of mistakes you are away from catastrophic failure is an excellent way to visualize risk. It's a simple way to calculate risk, and an even easier way to teach my kids. Thank you.
Re: That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point is not lost, but the author does attribute it to a specific culture: >"I first became aware of the New Guineans’ attitude toward risk on a trip into a forest..." >"I now think of New Guineans’ hypervigilant attitude..." >"Traditional New Guineans have to think clearly about dangers....In contrast, Americans’ thinking about dangers is confused." The truth is it's a common, learned attitude of anyone who spen…
It's just another example of the "magical natives, so in tune with the natural world" bullshit myth.
I was about to respond to the GP with "Jared Diamond uses New Guineans in many of his examples because he spends an extraordinary amount of time with them. He's not trying to say they are unique."
But you're right, he's a native fetishist.
Re: That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer
#57Yep. This is why every dollar spent on the TSA would be better spent on preventing car accidents, heart attacks, and falls in the shower. http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/01/the_comparativ... But I like the OP's more practical point: personal attention to normal activities that are actually risky, based on a realistic view of those risks.
Especially since the TSA actually accomplishes almost nothing in preventing deaths. All a terrorist about to be discovered at the airport security gate would have to do to complete his deadly mission would be to detonate his bomb right then and there. It would cause people to fear airports and security gates and mess up the whole system. Terrorism is all about sowing fear that the government can't protect you. The TS…
Of course people interested in increasing government control over the population love security checks and any excuse to increase them.
Re: That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
No. I'm pretty sure it was about why and how European civilizations were able to conquer technology and the world, and specifically why many of the developments critical to the rise of European supremacy are not found in other societies. Yes, the judgments made in the book tend to be more fact-based and objective, e.g., a gun is more effective than a spear. It is not a screed extolling the virtues of European civiliz…
In my opinion, the book is about 1) How geographical location and natural factors (accidental agriculture etc.) resulted in some part of the humanity accumulate certain knowledge that helped accelerate them over others 2) Advancement of certain civilization is not a necessary indication they are better, smarter, more hard working, but an indication of accumulated knowledge resulting from #1 over a long period of time…
I've read the book and feel your brief is more accurate, but less useful. The shorter one is close enough and many more people will read and grok a short one.
Re: That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer
#59The NYT headline is clearly link bait. If it had simply said "Some thoughts on everyday risks we underestimate" if would go nowhere.
That said there is a clear benefit and need to take a shower for many people as opposed to sleeping under a tree or crossing the street in the middle for which there is a work around.
Re: That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point is not lost, but the author does attribute it to a specific culture: >"I first became aware of the New Guineans’ attitude toward risk on a trip into a forest..." >"I now think of New Guineans’ hypervigilant attitude..." >"Traditional New Guineans have to think clearly about dangers....In contrast, Americans’ thinking about dangers is confused." The truth is it's a common, learned attitude of anyone who spen…
It's just another example of the "magical natives, so in tune with the natural world" bullshit myth.
I read it as an example of natural selection. The natives who attune themselves to a particular risk, are much less like to die, and more likely to pass along, this particular idea.