The Benefits of Being Cold • Hacker News Board

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#71

Post by Someone » Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 9:42 AM UTC

Cutets wrote: post #61

I remember camping when I was younger in the Boy Scouts, and coming home after a weekend trip and always being tired. I always thought that it was due to all of the energy I spent regulating my body temperature in the elements. Years later, in the military, we would spend 3-14 days in the wilderness for training. I was in much better shape, and would not get tired from simply being outside. This may be anecdotal, but…

I can think of some other potential factors that are more likely causes:

- body area/volume. The smaller you are, the easier it is to lose heat. You probably have twice the weight, but only about 30% more body area now.

- I expect you were trained to pay attention to how you dressed in the military, and paid more attention to it than when you were young.

- advancements in clothing technology.

On the other hand, chances are that military training included doing things you should avoid when out in the cold.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#72

Post by eropple » Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 9:43 AM UTC

arjie wrote: post #17

As someone who was a grad student in an apartment with poor heating: it's not worth it. Eat appropriately, and exercise. The bloody cold numbs your brain too. I also remember reading, though I can't find a good source now, that programmers perform better when warmer (until a point, maybe 27 degrees C). Besides, exercising feels good, while this feels bad. Might as well enjoy yourself.

I think you're projecting with this. I find 60 degrees F (around 16 degrees C) comfortable and I'm happy and productive working at that temperature. Getting up past 21 or 22 degrees C and I start hating life.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#73

Post by aragot » Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 9:45 AM UTC

jmnicolas wrote: post #45

What's funny is that the article never suggests that the simplest solution would be to go swimming (Phelps example) instead of resorting to things like the cold vest or sleeping without a blanket. And swimming has more advantages than just being cold : it provides your cardio in a non damaging way (contrary to running) and you gain a valuable skill that can save your life.

The article never talks either about "getting cold" (and being sick). How does it work? Each time I spend a few hours in the cold (e.g. at work in Sydney in summer, they keep the A/C at 19C), I feel like I have a mini-fever for 24hrs. Is it a natural reaction of the body? Does it go away after adaptation?

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#74

Post by arethuza » Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 9:51 AM UTC

3pt14159 wrote: post #69

sidek wrote: post #24

People's reactions to the cold always astonish me. I spend a lot of time in Canada and Hong Kong. In Canada, it can be 12 C (~53F) and lots of people will be wearing t-shirts and jeans, and it isn't too uncommon to see the odd person wearing shorts. In Hong Kong, 12 C necessitates a cold weather warning, and a fair amount of people die when it drops to 10 C (50F). It would be interesting to try this article's suggest…

I played soccer outside on Dec 26 in shorts and a soccer jersey in a balmy 6C here in Toronto. Would not have been possible without the sun shining right on me.

6C doesn't strike me as that cold for playing football in t-shirt and shorts. Actually, compared to most school football matches I can recall that seems quite civilized...

[It's been a while, so my memories of school PE do seem to becoming more like something from Ripping Yarns with each passing year.]

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#75

Post by Xylakant » Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 9:55 AM UTC

udalov wrote: post #68

jmnicolas wrote: post #45

What's funny is that the article never suggests that the simplest solution would be to go swimming (Phelps example) instead of resorting to things like the cold vest or sleeping without a blanket. And swimming has more advantages than just being cold : it provides your cardio in a non damaging way (contrary to running) and you gain a valuable skill that can save your life.

Could you please elaborate on running being damaging?

Running, especially when heavy or overweight puts a lot of stress on your joints, most notably the knees. The effect is worse when you're untrained and don't have a proper technique. Swimming does not, since your body weight is suspended by the water.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#76

Post by saraid216 » Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 9:57 AM UTC

udalov wrote: post #68

jmnicolas wrote: post #45

What's funny is that the article never suggests that the simplest solution would be to go swimming (Phelps example) instead of resorting to things like the cold vest or sleeping without a blanket. And swimming has more advantages than just being cold : it provides your cardio in a non damaging way (contrary to running) and you gain a valuable skill that can save your life.

Could you please elaborate on running being damaging?

It messes with your knees and heel. When you take a step during a run, your leg lands with your entire body slamming into it.

There are ways to run that are less damaging (better equipment, like socks and shoes, or using the technique where you largely only make contact using the balls of your feet), but it doesn't change the fact of a shock happening.

That said, it's unlikely to be so damaging to you as to outweigh its benefits. Swimming is better mostly because water has less resistance than the ground, and pushing off isn't really a shock to anything.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#77

Post by Someone » Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 9:57 AM UTC

maga wrote: post #43

I'm in Europe. I've been using only (cold) tap water in my house for more than a year. It began with a broken heater in the midst of last year's summer when I decided to postpone buying new one to see how long I can last with cold water. I thought that sooner or later I should catch cold and then I would switch back to using warm water. That summer was hot (up to 35 degree Celsius) and tap water was warm, slowly it b…

AFAIK, there is no proof that cold showers have an effect on catching cold. And there was plenty of research, for example in the Common Cold Unit (http://blog.wellcomelibrary.org/2013/09/fighting-the-cold-wa...)

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#78

Post by saraid216 » Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 10:04 AM UTC

thisisdave wrote: post #5

>Seven million years of human evolution were dominated by two challenges: food scarcity and cold. Almost all of that time was spent in Africa. Even during glacial periods, was it ever icy? I don't know much about the paleoclimate, so I'm not sure.

I'm really not sure what "seven million years" actually refers to and it's oddly specific. Past a million years, you're talking about primates, not humans.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#79

Post by trhway » Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 10:07 AM UTC

jmnicolas wrote: post #45

What's funny is that the article never suggests that the simplest solution would be to go swimming (Phelps example) instead of resorting to things like the cold vest or sleeping without a blanket. And swimming has more advantages than just being cold : it provides your cardio in a non damaging way (contrary to running) and you gain a valuable skill that can save your life.

>What's funny is that the article never suggests that the simplest solution would be to go swimming

or how about some thinking/learning - brain consumes a lot of energy when it works. I mean when it really works - to save energy we push (as result of training/repetition) many things into habit, automatic response territory and thus most of the times our brain doesn't actually "work".

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#80

Post by arjie » Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 10:09 AM UTC

thrownaway2424 wrote: post #23

arjie wrote: post #17

As someone who was a grad student in an apartment with poor heating: it's not worth it. Eat appropriately, and exercise. The bloody cold numbs your brain too. I also remember reading, though I can't find a good source now, that programmers perform better when warmer (until a point, maybe 27 degrees C). Besides, exercising feels good, while this feels bad. Might as well enjoy yourself.

Would like to see a source for that claim. 27C is pretty hot and multiple studies have found that temperature to be suboptimal for classroom performance (which may not by indicative of programmer productivity, I guess). "... the performance of two numerical and two language-based tests was significantly improved when the temperature was reduced from 25°C to 20°C (77°F to 68°F)." http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.…

It's probably this source that I misremembered (the numbers are close enough for me to have made a mistake). That explains why I couldn't find anything. Thanks.