# What is the most wasteful human activity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515 "2009-06-30T21:12:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![otorophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3ab097/32.png) [@otorophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otorophile)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/1 "2009-06-30T21:12:25Z")
My first guess would be [gas flaring](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_flare), which apparently wastes $30 billion of natural gas every year, because the proper transportation infrastructure isn’t in place. Note that I’m not talking about wars, because those **do** serve a purpose, whether right or wrong, and have a major impact on the region in which they occur. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/2 "2009-06-30T21:52:01Z")
Car brakes (or any brakes on all vehicles such as trains and such)? There are [regenerative braking systems](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_braking) but not sure how efficient they are. Still, overall, I bet that trumps gas flaring for total energy wasted when you consider all the vehicles in the world. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/3 "2009-06-30T21:55:22Z")
As much as I love manned space flight, would jump at the chance to do it myself, and think one day it may save our collective asses in one way or another, a bunch of damn money is spent doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_B.Itt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@Al\_B.Itt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_B.Itt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/4 "2009-06-30T21:55:45Z")
> [@otorophile](#): > > What is the most wasteful human activity? Posting questions on message boards? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/5 "2009-06-30T22:14:15Z")
Staring at the Windows log-in screens. I’d love to have all the time back in my life that I’ve spent watching various bars and counters incrementally count up. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/6 "2009-06-30T22:31:49Z")
Drinking alcohol in excess. Though it also is very useful in combatting depopulation. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/7 "2009-06-30T22:40:12Z")
> [@Al\_B.Itt](#): > > Posting questions on message boards? 😉 Answering pointless questions on message boards? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/8 "2009-06-30T22:43:25Z")
Procreation is the worst by far. If you take that out of the equation, all of the other problems listed go away (not that I advocate this). ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/9 "2009-06-30T23:03:42Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Procreation is the worst by far. If you take that out of the equation, all of the other problems listed go away (not that I advocate this). Depends on what exactly “wasteful” means. You can make an argument that masturbation is the most wasteful activity. I won’t, though. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/10 "2009-06-30T23:11:42Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Depends on what exactly “wasteful” means. You can make an argument that masturbation is the most wasteful activity. I won’t, though. LOL. Nor could I, being married as I am. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/11 "2009-06-30T23:38:32Z")
You are arbitrarily choosing purpose here. Why cant the Iraq war be seen as 100% wasteful? Its not a war of defense, completely optional, billions have been spent, billions have been lost, lives have been lost, etc etc. Burning excess gas serves a purpose here too: keeping the plant from exploding. ---
**Author:** ![otorophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3ab097/32.png) [@otorophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otorophile)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/12 "2009-07-01T01:22:30Z")
> [@HorseloverFat](#): > > You are arbitrarily choosing purpose here. Why cant the Iraq war be seen as 100% wasteful? Its not a war of defense, completely optional, billions have been spent, billions have been lost, lives have been lost, etc etc. > > Burning excess gas serves a purpose here too: keeping the plant from exploding. A teacher I once had told me that military bases used to fly air tankers in a circle above the base to use up their allotment of gasoline for the month, lest it be reduced the next month. That’s more along the lines of what I was thinking of. The cumulative effects of small-scale actions that serve no purpose. Not an act of conflict that doesn’t have the desired effect. Does that make sense? Like, say, leaving light bulbs turned on when they don’t need to be. If there are 10 billion 100 Watt light bulbs left on an hour a day unnecessarily (very rough estimate, please correct with better idea if you have one), that would be 10^8 kwh/d \* 365d \* .1 $/kwh = $3.65 billion wasted electricity per year. Of course that might be off by 1 or 2 orders of magnitude. Is gas flaring really for pressure release/safety reasons? I thought it was because the infrastructure to transport the natural gas wasn’t in place, so they burned it off because it wasn’t economical. On looking closer at my source: > [@](#): > > On oil production rigs, in refineries and chemical plants, its primary purpose is to act as a safety device to protect vessels or pipes from over-pressuring due to unplanned upsets. :smack: To hijack my own thread then: if flaring is a safety issue, how do countries plan to combat it, and why are some so much worse offenders than others? Better designed plants? ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/13 "2009-07-01T02:23:02Z")
Automotive sports. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/14 "2009-07-01T02:34:50Z")
Golf. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/15 "2009-07-01T02:36:55Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > Automotive sports. The same thought crossed my mind when I read the topic. I wouldn’t call it “the most wasteful” but in my mind its entertainment to waste ratio is on the low end. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/16 "2009-07-01T02:38:39Z")
Rent control. Sitting in traffic. Elaborate flirting rituals. Office politics (same thing.) Arguing non-local politics. Making [this graph](http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/song-chart-memes-michael-jackson.jpg?w=504&h=497) true. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/17 "2009-07-01T02:50:53Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > Automotive sports. More than recreational piloting? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/18 "2009-07-01T03:09:10Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > More than recreational piloting? :rolleyes: Butthurt NASCAR fan? Just add that to the list. There’s no need to add the very insulting rolleyes. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/19 "2009-07-01T03:14:35Z")
The E! Channel. What else could be more vacuous, unnecessarily and mind numbing? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515/20 "2009-07-01T03:26:54Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Butthurt NASCAR fan? > > Just add that to the list. There’s no need to add the very insulting rolleyes. No, I like racing that doesn’t go around in circles. You’re right, though. The rolleyes was directed at **glowacks** , but I quoted the wrong post. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-wasteful-human-activity/501515.md?page=2)