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Comment by bakies | Hacker News Reader

Older generation has lead poisoning from all the leaded gasoline burned

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

Funny you should say that

The concerning part is that peak lead exposure was with Gen X. We're still being led by boomers and silent generation. So any contribution from lead stands to get worse before it gets better.

The younger generation is way less cognitively developed, to use a bland term. What we find find next, that lead was actually good?

It's entirely possible that things don't get better (or continue to get worse) for reasons unrelated to lead. The addition of the internet is way too big of a confounding factor to say that lead was actually good though, IMO it's more likely that we haven't learned how to parent children in the modern world yet (though arguably that has always been true).

And "cognitively [un]developed" is a weird way to say it; I wouldn't call that a "bland" term at all.

> The younger generation is way less cognitively developed

Interesting premise, do you have a source to back it up?

Edit: or is this a creative way to say "younger" that sailed over my head on first read

I hate this theory. It is extremely condescending, offers nothing, has no proof, but sounds plausible enough that many people believe it.

It is much more likely that our economic system rewards hostile behavior and that money has outsized influence in politics and a criminal justice system which lets rich people get away with crimes. That money correlates more with hostile behavior then lead, Instead of blaming lead, blame capitalism.

Just think about all the people who put lead in the gasoline in the first place, did they go to prison for their crimes, or did they make a bunch of money and retire in luxury.

It's spelled lead, and it has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to cause brain damage. There is no safe level of lead exposure, it causes neurological damage at any level of exposure and it stays in your body permanently.

You're wrong on every count and simply spreading disinformation. Please don't do that.

I never claimed lead does not cause damage, it does. I dispute it is the primary fault in bad politics, and I offered an alternative theory.

It's probably more than one thing but it would be shocking if the lead had no impact.

Seeing how much influence money has, I think that impact is negligible.

Perhaps you just dislike facts then

I think we all understood the comment implied it’s been a factor, not THE driver. I’d be a little more generous in your interpretation of their comment, even if it is a bit flippant.

Wow I never knew about this theory! But I like your comment because ... idk, if its true at least its as simple as "Lets avoid that, and we ensure each Empire of today exists forever." I wish that was true! So how can we be sure, as somewhat smart people, that this is true and responsibly communicate it? Because everything else is dishonest and hurts our society.

Im no history expert but I know there were other Empires thru different times and sizes and places, and since now they're not the same, they "Failed"? Did they fail exactly due to the same problem or others? Are we treating those too? What is our method and how strong did we criticize it and see and understand it flaws?

At a time with fake news, AI slop and whatever the Internet has become today, its our job to treat every statement with the highest from of critical thinking at our disposal.

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