There have been studies in recent years that show that lowering the body temperature does lead to an increased risk of illness, specifically respiratory infection and pneumonia. As a cite, I offer this article which mentions that “cooling the whole body can increase the risk of infection and pneumonia,” but I have read abstracts of the studies where they got two groups of healthy people, chilled one set and not the other temporarily. The chilled set subsequently became ill at a much higher rate than those who did not receive the chill.
So, although I was taught by my science teachers that cold weather doesn’t have anything to do with people catching colds, aside from making them more likely to congregate in enclosed spaces and anyone saying anything to the contrary was being superstitious, that is no longer the current position of science.
You’re in the same boat? My mother totally believes in the evil eye, witches, and spells. She also is highly religious (Catholic) and has a strong mistrust of Mexicans. (She’s actually part Mexican; trust me it’s really complex.) She grew up in a migrant family and never got past eigth grade. After a lot of reflexion, I think it’s part of her rough upbringing. When you grow up in the threadbare enviornment she did, there is very little you can do to change you lot in life. You’re pretty much at the mercy of nature and others. Believing in magic is about the only way you can convince yourself you matter.
Can you change your mother? No. These weird beliefs got her through a lot of suffering I could never imagine surviving, and why give them up now? My college educated reflective mind sometimes gets upset about what she thinks, but also means I lack the emotional strength she has. Plus my mom, even with her many prejudices, is very sweet and caring toward others of any backround. I notice a lot of people who pride themselves on their tolerance tend to treat actual people much more roughly than my mom.
How about a pair of 80 year old Ukrainians sitting in a unairconditioned 87 degree house at 9 pm in July, when it’s currently 75 degrees outside, because godforbid opening a window to let out the day’s heat might let in a breeze and you’d catch pneumonia? Does that honestly sound more scientific than superstitious? I’m not trying to be snarky or hyperbolic. That was my fiance’s parents last summer. People aren’t talking about a chill, they’re talking about a breeze.
Well, it feels chilling to them I suppose. But if it is 75 at 9 pm, you could fall asleep with the window open and it could get cooler at night. I don’t know about where you are, but I have been places which can be hot in the day and as cool as 50 at night, and that is a bit chilly. My personal observation is that old people like rooms to be much warmer than young people do.
The main point I want to make is that “superstitions” about how chills cause pneumonia have a root in how the world really is and they have long been decried as complete nonsense. This kind of dismissal doesn’t help the cause of rationality.
Eh, similar in Spain, you’re supposed to open the freaking windows before baking to death but stay out of the current.
Must be a Mediterranean thing. Dog80, you may be able to succesfully attack pieces of your Mom’s notions, but frankly, if your Dad reckoned that wasn’t a war worth fighting, I don’t think it’s yours. And you’ll never be able to bring the whole building down at a swap.
Meanwhile, c’mere and vent whenever installLSC, my quadroon Jamaican landlady in Miami cracked me up every time she muttered darkly about “dem colerd.” Specially when she did it in front of and even adressing her best friend, who was about 4x as black as my landlady and would toss me a :rolleyes:/ combo and her a nod.
Landlady’s first husband (and father of her two bio daughters) must have been black, judging by the daughters’ coloring. She didn’t have a single picture of him (they were only married for three years, in Jamaica and in the 40s if I’m not miscounting a decade).
Why would you want to? Her beliefs obviously lend color and meaning to her life and don’t harm anyone, so rock on, Magic Momma. I salute you. I think it’s great. My grandmother believed in magic as well, as is common among the natives in South America who pretended to convert to please the Spaniards, and I loved the fact that she held on to her beliefs and customs and that I got to experience this side of her.
I find that since I have not lived with my parents 24/7 from the age of 18 on, that love and tolerance makes it all bearable and not something to stress over. ( actually my parents never did much to make me squirm anyway although some of my siblings think other wise) That has give me 47 years of one less thing to be crazy about. YMMV
I’ve been hearing a lot about this stuff since I’ve been seeing a woman from Iran. For example, her mother and father are divorced and separately remarried. The Mom has emphatically and explicitly prohibited us from visiting the Dad at his house, because the Mom believes the Dad’s new wife is a practitioner of black magic and will serve us “cursed food” to break up our relationship. If we meet the Dad and Stepmom outside their house, like at a restaurant, we are not to share their food or accept anything from their plates for the same reason. The Mom further believes that her son (the gf’s brother) married another sorceress, and has largely cut them off as a result.
The gf rolls her eyes at this almost as much as I do, but has begged me to humor her mother.
Me, I’ve suggested having some fun with it. “Hey, yeah, we went and had lunch with her father. His wife is a really good cook. <flat, robotlike affect> It was. the best meal. I have ever had. and I can’t wait. to go back. They are such. wonderful people. I love them.”
combo and her a nod.