Posted on by Jo Gent

Is My Job Bad for My Health?

Recent news, by which I mean an item recently reported as news although it actually is not news because we’ve known it for a long time, indicated that authorities in the United States now believe that no amount of alcohol is good for our health. The New York Times, always quick to jump on trends whether it can add useful information or not, posted an article in which someone interviewed a fellow whose career involves wine and asked him how it felt to have a career that’s bad for your health.

News flash, by which I mean something you know already because it’s, well, obvious: Since the start of the industrial age most humans have had careers that are bad for our health.

For example, any job that involves doing the following for multiple hours per day:

  • Sitting;
  • Focusing your eyes at a distance of less than 30 inches;
  • Staring at a backlit screen;
  • Being indoors in a home or office that contains any building materials, furniture, equipment, or decorative items that could not have existed 200 years ago;
  • Repetitive motion of your hands and wrists;
  • Standing in the same place;
  • Repetitive bending or stooping;
  • Lung, nose, or skin exposure to toxic substances; and perhaps even
  • Consuming alcohol or ultraprocessed food.

There are occupations that might be hazardous but don’t have to be if you’re careful, well-trained and use recommended procedures and gear, such as working with firearms or munitions, criminals or the mentally ill, heavy equipment, pathogens, or wild animals. Risk-takers such as trapeze artists, skydivers, giant wave surfers, free climbers, and stunt pilots can mitigate their risks, though occasionally some participants will be injured or killed. The thrill, they say, is worth it.

Decades ago I read that forest ranger was the job with the longest health span. That makes sense; the person is outdoors, getting a lot of exercise, looking into the far distance, and surrounded by nature, which is calming to humans, as long as it doesn’t include a predator bearing down on us. Primary and secondary school teachers also seem to be quite healthy, enjoying active retirement for decades, possibly because their work involves movement, occasional outdoor excursions, and a variety of focal lengths. It isn’t really correct to consider children a health threat.

Preindustrial-style family farming is not in my view a healthy employment choice, at least not the kind that involves growing plants in artificial rows created by destroying natural environments. If nothing else, it disrupts your circadian rhythm for most of the year, especially if you are one of the 40% of humans who are not morning people.

I’m retired though, so every day I can choose whether to prioritize my health or not. Often I do not; To be human is to make bad choices. Then there are those aging considerations, the real possibility of doing a head plant after you trip over a chair or burning down the house after leaving the gas burner on. So even if you survived your unhealthy job, as I did, more obstacles await.

I hope this post is not a source of stress to anyone! If we strive to be kind and caring to everyone every day, no matter what we did the day before, we have a good chance to live with no worries and no regrets.

Posted on by Jo Gent · 1 Comment

Knowledge v. Learning

Knowing was a barrier which prevented learning. -Frank Herbert

As anyone debugging a computer program who has ever skipped over a routine they “know” is working can attest, knowledge can impede insight. Knowledge is a stone, a wall, a fallback position, an opt-repeated aphorism, a discussion-ender, an assertion of superiority, a casual rebuke to the curious. Learning is a river, a tide, a question, a detailed observation, a discussion-starter, an admission of ignorance, an invitation to the curious.

This intro leads me to a bifurcation, as I feel equally able to confirm or dispute this assertion, the curse of the former debater. I started writing with the expectation of confirmation so I will continue, though I admit that knowledge has some use in our world, used as a guide rather than a bludgeon, though I personally prefer lore.

Everyone today knows raw milk is dangerous to consume. That’s because raw milk was demonized to the public over doctors’ objections after industry was able to monetize homogenized and pasteurized milk in the 1920s. Milk is a natural substance that evolved to help baby animals grow–as opposed to nut milk, which is an oxymoron–and any human mom who has gone to the trouble of expressing her milk would never waste that effort by blending or microwaving it. This knowledge has nearly eliminated access to this therapeutic substance a century later, and led to a deluge of unnecessary “lactose-intolerance.”

Everyone knows that wild turkeys are quite dumb and really do drown by holding their mouths open in rain. Yet they are actually quite smart, as described by a variety of sources ranging from bamboozled hunters in North America during the 18th century to police reports of a wild turkey gang systematically terrorizing Brookline, Massachusetts in the 2000s. This type of knowledge, the assumption of human superiority over wild animals of all kinds, continues to prevent us from understanding numerous interconnections between us and wild animals, such as sharing of disease vectors.

In a recent poll, over 60% of Americans, almost everyone, were found to believe, or know, that crime is a huge problem in our country, though only 17% believe it is a problem for them locally. Statistics suggest that the gap may be due to media influence rather than reality. This knowledge leads to a fearful populace and to wasting community resources solving non-existent problems.

Everyone knows homelessness is caused by drug use, laziness, illegal immigration, lawlessness, and financial downturns. Those factors may contribute to anecdotal cases, but homelessness as a phenomenon is definitely caused by two few homes. It simply does not exist where there are plenty of homes. This knowledge guarantees we will never solve it.