# Fighting ignorance -- how are we doing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846 "2022-08-17T20:03:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/21 "2022-08-18T12:38:44Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Why compare it to soft drinks which are straight poison Poison? I guess this one goes up on the list. I wouldn’t exactly call soft drinks a health food, but they are far from poison. They are super high in sugar, so it’s very easy to overload in calories by drinking a lot of soda. But in moderation there’s nothing wrong with soft drinks. Heck, I’m diabetic and I can drink soda if I want. I just have to count it into my total carb/sugar budget for the day. Yes it’s a bit acidic, but it’s nothing compared to the acids that are in your own stomach. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/22 "2022-08-18T12:39:32Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > You’d know if it’s induction, as the surface doesn’t actually get hot (other than heat radiating back from the cookware). OK, ours must be a glass-top conventional electric cooktop then. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/23 "2022-08-18T14:02:51Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I haven’t heard this one much in the U.S., though I have heard it some. Seems to be much more common in the UK, at least in my experience. It’s like Korean fan death. People just know it’s true, but Americans have fans in their bedrooms and drink distilled water from Walmart, and somehow we don’t die from either. Not that long ago distilled water was supposed to be good for you because it removed toxins from your body left by ordinary undistilled water. After distilling can water maintain the homeopathic memory of all the beneficial drugs that were once dissolved in it? Seems the medical community has a lot to get straightened out. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/24 "2022-08-18T14:49:44Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > The point is that gas company’s have been using this particular slogan as part of a larger campaign to convince people that gas stoves are really super important for one’s quality of life My 4th grade math teacher was an older woman who said many things that went straight over our heads. If you gave a correct answer after others were incorrect, she’d point to you and say, in an excited voice, “Now you’re cooking with gas”, This was way before the internet, but I somehow looked up the phrase at the library, so I knew what she was talking about, but nobody else had a clue. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/25 "2022-08-18T18:19:31Z")
I think we are talking about eating in the early morning. Not assuming one will never eat again. Though technically you are correct, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/26 "2022-08-18T18:37:47Z")
That ‘toxins’ are even a thing to worry about. You liver and kidneys and other organs have developed over millions of years to clean these things out of your body. Just drink water and take a shit regularly and they just do the rest. If you don’t crap regularly, have it looked into. And the recent, what I call over-hydrating fad is not neccessary. Everyone carrying a water bottle with them at all times is silly, drink when you are thirsty, your body knows when water is needed. Monitor what your pee looks like, if it is dark, more water or you may have other issues, clear, you are over-hydrating. And when you read people talking about ‘toxins’ you should just quit reading. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/27 "2022-08-18T18:54:33Z")
Regarding hydration; my wife is one of those people. She has a 2 or 3 liltre bottle that is always with her or on the coffee table. It has graduated marks on the side telling you, starting at the top: 7am Good Morning! 9am Do it for yourself! 11am Keep it going! 1pm Drink more! 3pm Tons of energy! 5pm No excuses. 7pm Allmost there! 9pm Yay! You did it! I can accomplish the same thing with beer. At least she probably won’t get a kidney stone soon. Don’t get me started on Smart Water because if you are drinking that or some vitamin water, you are not smart or getting vitamins. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/28 "2022-08-18T18:55:53Z")
Gluten isnt as bad as everyone believes. Not a great amount of people have celiac disease. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/29 "2022-08-18T19:00:26Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Not that long ago distilled water was supposed to be good for you because it removed toxins from your body left by ordinary undistilled water. Heh. The usual explanation of why distilled water is bad is that it leeches out all of the minerals from your cells and kills you. We need to get the people who think it leeches out the good stuff in the same room as the people who think it leeches out the bad stuff and let them fight it out. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/30 "2022-08-18T22:48:25Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Not a great amount of people have celiac disease. True, testing confirmed celiac disease? The incidence of that in the US estimated to be about 1%. My beloved daughter is in that group. All the rest of that gluten free dieting is woo. It’s this decade’s snake oil unless a physician has confirmed you have gluten sensitivity or intolerance. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/31 "2022-08-20T04:09:20Z")
It is fictitious in many cases, but confirming cases of gluten insensitivity is not always straightforward. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/32 "2022-08-20T23:45:46Z")
My wife can’t eat wheat. The doctors said it’s not celiac – just gluten sensitivity. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/33 "2022-08-20T23:56:56Z")
**Politicians are less honest now than in the past.** This is clearly the case for the Fascism Party. There wasn’t one of those until recently. **Newspapers did more investigative journalism in the old days.** Speaking as a child of journalism, they sure the fuck did. **Schools used to really prepare kids for the world.** Sadly, no. **You need eight large glasses of water a day.** This has only been exploded very recently. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/34 "2022-08-21T00:02:37Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > And when you read people talking about ‘toxins’ you should just quit reading. Generally it’s all woo, but medically, not entirely so. One can have an overall response to environmental toxins. One can have a generalized infection which affects whole systems in the body. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/35 "2022-08-21T00:04:35Z")
The acid and sugar in sodas are bad for your teeth, refined sugar is ‘empty calories’, and although not poison there’s nothing good for you in them either, except water. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/36 "2022-08-21T01:55:13Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > **Newspapers did more investigative journalism in the old days.** > Speaking as a child of journalism, they sure the fuck did. I bet we have different definitions of when the “old days” were. > [@Ulfreida](#): > > Generally it’s all woo, but medically, not entirely so. One can have an overall response to environmental toxins. One can have a generalized infection which affects whole systems in the body. Those are never the “toxins” people are talking about. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/37 "2022-08-21T06:33:30Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > **You need eight large glasses of water a day.** This has only been exploded very recently. Well, if [2011](https://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d4280.full?keytype=ref&ijkey=ZD92BtTrOIdw3Rv) is very recently… Actually, this cite refers to another from 2002. > In 2002, Heinz Valtin published a critique of the evidence in the _American Journal of Physiology_ . He concluded that “Not only is there no scientific evidence that we need to drink that much, but the recommendation could be harmful, both in precipitating potentially dangerous hyponatremia and exposure to pollutants and also in making many people feel guilty for not drinking enough." ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/38 "2022-08-21T11:30:59Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Well, if [2011](https://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d4280.full?keytype=ref&ijkey=ZD92BtTrOIdw3Rv) is very recently… Actually, this cite refers to another from 2002. Yes, that’s recent, in my book. Takes a while for such things to spread. I mean how long did that “you’ll get stomach cramps and drown” thing persist with zero evidence? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/39 "2022-08-21T11:31:35Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Those are never the “toxins” people are talking about. So true. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846/40 "2022-08-21T11:36:02Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I bet we have different definitions of when the “old days” were. My old days are the 1950’s through the 1980’s, before the corporate takeovers and the gutting of print media. Those are the days that people would be referring to, the days when most everyone got a morning or evening paper. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fighting-ignorance-how-are-we-doing/969846.md?page=3)