air conditioning may be making us fat

On Sat, 01 Jul 2006 11:42:53 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

Dave Frightens Me writes:

Then why does it occur when it's cold?

It doesn't.

Colds don't occur where it's cold?

(I think you just showed yourself wrong there)
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Dave Frightens Me wrote:

On Sat, 01 Jul 2006 00:15:11 GMT, "Frank F. Matthews"
wrote:



Dave Frightens Me wrote:


On Fri, 30 Jun 2006 23:44:40 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:



Earl Evleth writes:



together with thermal shock

Cold temperatures have no effect on the common cold.


Then why does it occur when it's cold?

Mostly because that is when interpersonal interactions are closer.


Why are they not common in places like Hong Kong when it's warm?

With enough exposure you get widespread immunity. Until there is a
sufficient mutation to generate evolutionary advantage for a bit.

Dave Frightens Me writes:

Who said it was?

If it isn't, why care about agriculture allowing it?

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Earl Evleth writes:

1) first, the larger the population the more
military strength one has to oppose other
tribes.

Why must tribes oppose each other, especially if there is plenty to
eat?

2) larger populations allows surplus labor
to be put at work constructing defenses,
making pots, specializing in metallurgy
etc.

Why are these things necessary?

3) great civilisations developed from
large populations. They develop in urban
social climates.

The two are not synonymous. Ancient Greece and Rome developed with
populations orders of magnitude smaller than those of many
underdeveloped Third-World countries today.

Power comes with size.

Not necessarily. Overpopulation weakens a society. The exhaustion of
resources decimates a society, and if the resources are not renewable,
it dooms the society as well.

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Dave Frightens Me writes:

How high is high enough to stop people from achieving anything?

In still air indoors, with low humidity, around 30° C, for people
doing mental work only. For physical labor, it may be as low as 10°
C. Humidity also lowers the maximum tolerable temperature, as does a
lack of air movement.

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Dave Frightens Me writes:

Colds don't occur where it's cold?

They are no more common when it is cold than when it is warm.

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Frank F. Matthews writes:

With enough exposure you get widespread immunity. Until there is a
sufficient mutation to generate evolutionary advantage for a bit.

More than a hundred viruses cause common colds. It is unlikely that
anyone becomes immune to them all (there is no cross-immunity).
However, one might become immune to the few strains to which one is
regularly exposed.

If a person travels, she might well become sick with a cold during the
travel, if she is exposed to unfamiliar cold viruses. This is a
considerable problem for travellers, who may spend entire vacations
sick thanks to a bug they picked up upon arriving at their destination
airport, or even in the aircraft.

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On 1/07/06 17:42, in article ,
"Mxsmanic" wrote:

Earl Evleth writes:

1) first, the larger the population the more
military strength one has to oppose other
tribes.

Why must tribes oppose each other, especially if there is plenty to
eat?

Man is a predator, he will steal from others, tribes steal each
others women, children etc. Even today, we steal bases in
baseball, the other guy's ball in soccer. Man and all predators
are born thieves.

There is also the territorial imperative, anybody who comes
on your territory has to be chased off. Other species do the same
thing.



2) larger populations allows surplus labor
to be put at work constructing defenses,
making pots, specializing in metallurgy
etc.

Why are these things necessary?

Pots carry water, things are stored in them, metals are made
into tools and weapons, hunting weapons.


3) great civilisations developed from
large populations. They develop in urban
social climates.

The two are not synonymous. Ancient Greece and Rome developed with
populations orders of magnitude smaller than those of many
underdeveloped Third-World countries today.

They did not develop in a small tribe or family units

Power comes with size.

Not necessarily. Overpopulation weakens a society.

It is a question of optimal size. The first law of
optimization is that optimal conditions "never"
occur at the either end of the variable range.

On Sat, 01 Jul 2006 17:40:21 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

Dave Frightens Me writes:

Who said it was?

If it isn't, why care about agriculture allowing it?

To make money. Y'know, that stuff you don't have much of.
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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Earl Evleth writes:

Man is a predator, he will steal from others, tribes steal each
others women, children etc.

Then why is stealing so rare in society?

There is also the territorial imperative, anybody who comes
on your territory has to be chased off. Other species do the same
thing.

But human beings don't do that.

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