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Comment by mlindner | Hacker News Reader

It amazes me people freak out about GMOs and the material Starbucks cups are made out of yet will breathe vaporized chemicals of who knows what sorts directly into their lungs. Mind boggling.

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You're acting like "people" is one cohesive group. I'd largely suspect there's minimal overlap between the GMO group and potent THC vapers.

While what you're saying is probably true, many people forget that humans are walking contradictions.

And also the important side point that being a hypocrite doesn't inherently make your point wrong. Sure it means you don't live consistently by it, but as you said, humans do this sort of thing constantly. Someone's arguments/beliefs should be evaluated on their own merits first and foremost.

Why are you assuming it's the same people?

It's not like a majority of the population vapes... while it seems to be at least somewhat popular, it's still very much the minority I see vaping.

Apparently 20% of US high school students vape.

Which is a minority, of an already small subset of the population.

Reminds me of the old joke about the guy at the fast-food joint: I’ll have a double bacon cheeseburger, a large fries, and a diet coke.

Like — why are you buying this totally unhealthy meal and then getting a diet coke? Who are you kidding?

Yet — I’ve been that guy. So it’s not so mind boggling.

Some groups like T1 diabetics can not have the amount of sugar in "normal" fizzy drinks. That amount of sugar can cause issues from nausea to messed up glucose levels needing hospitalization. Hamburgers and fries are not a problem (not healthy but not dangerous).

"Diet Coke" is just a stupid name for sugar free drinks.

Other advantages: no need to brush you teeth immediately after drinking soda to prevent cavities, lighter mouth feel, safer in a car (if you spill the drink there's no sticky residue), T2 diabetes risk reduction vs drinking regular soda, no added insulin response, and if you drink a lot of liquids you can have a few refills without thinking about calories.

You get all those benefits from water also.

Artificial sweeteners also increase appetite and cravings for sweet food, so if you are suffering food-related illness, it's better to stay away from them as well.

Is that actually true? Bread contains very high carbohydrate levels, I'd imagine a hamburger bun is not much worse than a glass of coke.

Drinking sugary liquid like coke causes very rapid rise in blood glucose levels and will require excessive amounts of injected insulin to maintain glucose in reasonable limits (which may lead to dangerous drop later).

Eating something with high carbs is much slower and can be managed with normal insulin doses. White bread is not the healthiest diet, but a burger and fries every now and then is not a problem for a T1 diabetic whose treatment is under control.

Not an expert, but I would imagine the speed at which these carbohydrates get metabolized is a factor in whether or not it messes them up? Carbs from bread take a much longer time to raise blood glucose levels and do so for longer than a spike induced by drinking what is essentially liquid sugar.

I've been that guy too. Reason: I like diet coke.

(Possible reason #2: a fat meal with diet coke is still healthier than the same meal with regular coke.)

yes, I don't see any problem with that order. Seems more like gatekeeping to me.

Not making it worse by piling on a huge amount more sugar?

I mean, it's not a weight loss strategy but it's some form of harm reduction...

You’re not wrong. Lungs are for air. If we came with instructions there would be a page on this.

That's because you can opt out of the former. "No, I won't buy from Starbucks because of their cups. No, I won't eat that because it has GMOs." It's a lot harder to make that commitment when it's the air you breathe - you either have to wear a mask all the time or move away and live in the wilderness.

wut? the conversation is about vaping. your comment makes no sense.

Oooor you can choose not to vaporize things to inhale? This isn't in normal air, it's specifically from vaping

No you can’t if someone is vaping near you. In fact it’s worse, since vapids make a point of blowing as much “smoke” as they can to make sure everyone sees them.

When you buy a cup from Starbucks you typically are only buying a single dose. If you buy a vape cartridge, you have dozens of doses. It's much harder to throw the latter away than the former.

Suppose someone bought a car, and found out that the car vents were spewing somewhat toxic that has a slight chance to kill them. If they needed to go to work in it to put food on the table, can you see how someone might say they had no choice but to use it?

Now take that logic and apply it to a vape cartridge. Say someone bought that cartridge which carries so many doses, along with paying the cost of the physical vape machine and the cost of electrically charging the machine, and spent the necessary time and emotional cost to wait for the machine to do so. Then they find it out it may be toxic. Is it really a realistic choice to take the financial and emotional burden of throwing away the cartridge, if it provides a needed soothing relief to their mind?

> Suppose someone bought a car, and found out that the car vents were spewing somewhat toxic that has a slight chance to kill them. If they needed to go to work in it to put food on the table, can you see how someone might say they had no choice but to use it?

It's funny to read this here because that's exactly what happened to me. I was driving a diesel car with a damaged firewall, which meant carcinogenic diesel exhaust fumes came through the floor and vents. I had absolutely no budget for a car, as I was paying for expensive medical insurance and bills. I had no choice but to drive it with the windows down. My clothes would smell of diesel after driving. I took it multiple times to the dealership until they found the problem, and they said it would be more costly to repair it than to buy a new car.

Fortunately, I eventually bought a new car. But I still might get lung cancer in the future.

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