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hmmmmmmmm
i'm actually with you there on the air conditioning concept. At least as a contributor to obesity.
The first thing that popped into my mind was the image of a plant in a growth chamber - it grows like crazy because it is under "ideal" conditions, but this growth isn't always best for the plant. You take a full-grown plant out of a growth chamber, and put it in the ground, 5/10 times it's going to die back, if not die completely, because it hasn't been exposed to real weather during its formative stage.
Air conditioning puts us in an environment where we're comfortable all the time. Our bodies aren't as used to adapting to temperature fluctuations, so we view 90 degree temperatures as impossibly hot, whereas really, our bodies are perfectly capable of dealing easily with 90 degree weather - if properly hydrated.
Air conditioning takes us away from our body's connection with the changing climates of the season, it makes our internal clocks out of whack by placing us in a continual springtime.
Obesity - sure. If nothing more, air conditioning makes a sit-on-your-bum-all-day office environment a less stifling place to spend your days. Think of how hot, sticky, and generally gross an office would be without air conditioning or proper ventilation. You can't tell me that most people would choose to work in an enclosed office in 90 degree weather/ 90% humidity without air conditioning. It'd be better than roofing, but I still wouldn't want to do it.
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"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq
"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy
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