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Comment by 1024core | Hacker News Reader

I grew up in India. I remember elder folks in my family talking about how the "water" of a place made people different. And that if you moved to that place, slowly you'd become like them too. They attributed certain characteristics (aggressiveness, smartness, etc.) to the "water" of a place.

Now, of course, this had no scientific basis. But it would be interesting if what they thought was the "water", was actually the microbial composition of the traditional water sources there.

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Curiously, they may be right - see "Lithium in drinking water and the incidences of crimes, suicides, and arrests related to drug addictions." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1699579

The same can be said of lead. I'm fairly certain I've read of a study / theory that the drop in crime rates can be tracked back to removing lead from paint, gasoline, etc.

Full disclosure: I don't recall if this jumped the gap between correlation and cause.

I think that explanation is pretty widely accepted as being a cause of the past few decades' drop in crime rates (though not the only one). It's probably not possible to prove cause better than we have without obviously unethical experimental studies.

Obviously unethical government policies might suffice: Flint, MI.

As a side note, n=1 thing, over the counter lithium orotate is great for me as a mild anxiolytic when work related stress kicks in.

"There must be something in the water" and variations thereof is a common saying in the west, too. It's often heard as a response to learning that families of tall people or smart people come from the same town.

Let me play the devil's advocate for a just moment: water in the west is much more regulated. I doubt that some small difference in our water's mineral levels would change much in the brain. Something like chemicals or harsh or bacteria from heavily polluted water might be really different. Rivers downstream from pharmaceutical labs, heavy industrial area, etc. could mess up your body's balance.

e.g. http://www.asianews.it/news-en/(East-Asia,China)-Shandong-fa...

Tell that to the thousands upon thousands affected by lead poisoning in the West. The "heavy" regulations are not that comprehensive.

If there were no regulations, the water in those cities would be the same to this day and wouldn't have made the headlines. A law is only as good as it is enforced. The Flint water crisis should be big enough of a wake up call to put the focus on the EPA and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and hopefully avoid similar issues in the future.

The situation is miles better than it was in the 1950s thanks to those regulations.

> Let me play the devil's advocate for a just moment: water in the west is much more regulated. I doubt that some small difference in our water's mineral levels would change much in the brain.

Different water softness, different strains of bacteria. Back to step one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_Whole_Mess

"of course this has no scientific basis"

You probably mean- I haven't seen any research that tries to associate water impurities as parameters to human behavior as parameters.

Why do Indians always sound so defensive about their practices? As someone whose parents spent a decade in india- they attributes their happiness to the lifestyle they learnt in india. None of which had a clear basis in modern science.

> Why do Indians always sound so defensive about their practices?

I'd be tempted to sound defensive on scientific subjects if my country were taking this route: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46778879

> You probably mean- I haven't seen any research that tries to associate water impurities as parameters to human behavior as parameters.

That's what I mean, but I put it more succinctly.

> Why do Indians always sound so defensive about their practices?

Um... because I'm a scientist, and I haven't seen any peer-reviewed scientific articles on this subject?

Why do (some) Indians always have a chip on their shoulders? See, both of us can play silly question games.

"Why do Indians always sound so defensive about their practices?"

I feel like that's a broad overgeneralization, but regardless I'd wager a guess that it would have something to do with not wanting to sound like a charlatan or a fool. Even if it works for them, people can be awfully bristly about health and lifestyle practices when it comes from someone they don't know.

A similar saying exists in Turkish as well.

If a relative of yours moves to a far away town and comes back for visit and he acts very differently from how he used to, you might say to him: "oh that place's water has changed you".

Hmmm, Rome, Flint MI, . . .

I also just saw a video about 60 years fox breeding experiment in Russia to see how selection would change their behavior (they're now tame to human, not dog friendly but halfway).

Consider this to the relationship between climate/location/genes/culture.

I'm not sure what connection you're trying to make. Selective breeding is textbook "nature", and effects of things like the local composition of water is textbook "nurture".

not if people live there for ages, it will end up as selective pressure toward peers and future generations

But the comment you replied to mentioned how moving to a place could change your personality even as an adult.

yes and these adults might settle unknowingly

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