# What things that we currently consider benign will eventually be labeled dangerous **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172 "2015-03-28T01:04:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/81 "2015-03-31T01:05:17Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > You’ve borrowed the car from your brother in law. You’ve bought the car used and the glove compartment is empty. What manual? > > With a display, the manual is built into the software. And I would hope that the driver is reading the “full explanation” on the screen when the car is “fucking parked” just like he would with a Manual. > > I’ve read reports from drivers using touchscreen displays (Tesla.) They’ve adapted to them unbelievably quickly. You shouldn’t need a manual to adjust basic stuff in a borrowed car. VERY user unfriendly if you do. The point is, you need to take your eyes off the road to look at a touch screen and adjust something. You don’t have to do that with a car with knobs and buttons. It’s tactile, not visual. If anything needs a manual, it’s a touch screen and the menus it goes through. I can adjust my heat, sound, cruise control, window defrost, seat heat, rear heat and cooling, 4x4, traction control and anything I have forgotten without ever taking my eyes off the road with regular knobs. And at night, I don’t have a screen come on screwing with my night vision. It’s cheaper for car companies to put all this in a touch screen I suppose. Interesting that if you dare touch your smart phone, you can get a ticket but apparently these new 6x6 inch displays are ok. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/82 "2015-03-31T02:39:05Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > You shouldn’t need a manual to adjust basic stuff in a borrowed car. VERY user unfriendly if you do. > > The point is, you need to take your eyes off the road to look at a touch screen and adjust something. You don’t have to do that with a car with knobs and buttons. It’s tactile, not visual. > > If anything needs a manual, it’s a touch screen and the menus it goes through. I can adjust my heat, sound, cruise control, window defrost, seat heat, rear heat and cooling, 4x4, traction control and anything I have forgotten without ever taking my eyes off the road with regular knobs. And at night, I don’t have a screen come on screwing with my night vision. > > It’s cheaper for car companies to put all this in a touch screen I suppose. Interesting that if you dare touch your smart phone, you can get a ticket but apparently these new 6x6 inch displays are ok. Fiddling with knobs and buttons, especially if you have no idea what they do, is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than a touchscreen. I can’t find the dad - blasted temperature control on my steering wheel in the dark, and wind up using the touchscreen to adjust the AC. And that’s on a car I’ve owned for ten years! ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/83 "2015-03-31T07:14:03Z")
Hook-up sex/casual fornication hopefully will be recognized in a more civilized future as not exactly the best sort of behaviour for one’s psychological condition, regardless of STDs and risk of pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![Fossil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/47e85d/32.png) [@Fossil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fossil)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/84 "2015-03-31T10:13:31Z")
> [@chiquitita](#): > > Tanning beds. > I have a hunch that skin cancers witll be the next big public health issue, once smokers have been reduced to a tiny minority, and when the fight against the obesity epidemic has become tedious. It’s not around the corner, though. I Live in Victoria, Australia and tanning beds have already been banned ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/85 "2015-03-31T12:45:14Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Hook-up sex/casual fornication hopefully will be recognized in a more civilized future as not exactly the best sort of behaviour for one’s psychological condition, regardless of STDs and risk of pregnancy. Once STDs and the risk of pregnancy are eliminated by more advanced medical technology, the inability to relieve sexual tensions or frustrations will be eliminated by a much more casual attitude towards sex. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/86 "2015-03-31T12:48:55Z")
I doubt they’ll ever be eliminated entirely and new ones will crop up from time to time. Casual sex isn’t just troublesome from the standpoint of health or pregnancy. I think we’ll also see a rise in murders of passion. I’m no Victorian, but promiscuity will always be looked down upon somewhat, and for valid societal reasons. I’m cool with pure hook-ups, wish I’d had more hook-ups back in my younger days myself, but even with hook-ups you should try to be going steady with one other person for as long as possible. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/87 "2015-03-31T13:07:13Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > Fiddling with knobs and buttons, especially if you have no idea what they do, is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than a touchscreen. I can’t find the dad - blasted temperature control on my steering wheel in the dark, and wind up using the touchscreen to adjust the AC. And that’s on a car I’ve owned for ten years! You’ve owned the car for 10 years and can’t find the temp control for the heat/ac? Unless you look away from the road and operate the touch screen? There is no fiddling with buttons for me (and I suspect most of us). I know where they are. I reach to it with out looking for it, and make the adjustment. We will have to agree to disagree on what is dangerous here. Went for a test drive about a year ago. Wife driving, me in passenger seat, salesman in back. I knew it had heated seats. Couldn’t find the switch to turn them on. Neither could the salesman because it was buried somewhere in the touchscreen controls. Now we didn’t search too long, but it was just ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/88 "2015-03-31T13:20:17Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > Pretty quickly, I tumbled to homeopathics, specifically herbal supplements. There’s a big difference between [Homeopathy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy) and [Herbal medicine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalism). Homeopathic remedies are completely safe and totally ineffective, other than a placebo effect. Some herbal medications can be effective (e.g. various teas can be relaxing), and many of them can have [adverse effects](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_herbs_with_known_adverse_effects). ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/89 "2015-03-31T15:05:17Z")
True, but the claims made about herbal supplements tend to vastly exceed what’s been scientifically proven. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/90 "2015-03-31T15:08:34Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > True, but the claims made about herbal supplements tend to vastly exceed what’s been scientifically proven. This differentiates them from homeopathic remedies how, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/91 "2015-03-31T15:12:52Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Once STDs and the risk of pregnancy are eliminated by more advanced medical technology, the inability to relieve sexual tensions or frustrations will be eliminated by a much more casual attitude towards sex. Please note I am ONLY speaking for myself, but casual sex, while it may relieve physical tension, is not emotionally fulfilling. There is nothing to compare with sex as part of a loving, committed relationship. For my money, casual sex is like jacking off without using your hand. Maybe others find it gratifying, but that was not my experience. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/92 "2015-03-31T15:16:47Z")
Current abstinence only drug rehab, or encouragement for addicts to get clean NOW! Science doesn’t bear this out, and current medical evidence shows it not only doesn’t work but leads to OD deaths the second people get out of supervised rehab. I’m guessing in the future we will see a vast expansion of replacement and maintenance therapy, like methadone. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/93 "2015-03-31T15:20:22Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Hook-up sex/casual fornication hopefully will be recognized in a more civilized future as not exactly the best sort of behaviour for one’s psychological condition, regardless of STDs and risk of pregnancy. In the less civilised past, you meant, right? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/94 "2015-03-31T15:23:24Z")
In the past we just ostracized people for being stupid. In the future we’ll just treat promiscuous people the way we treat alcoholics or smokers. We even have “sex addiction” as a “thing” now. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/95 "2015-03-31T15:29:02Z")
> [@Paxx](#): > > There’s a big difference between [Homeopathy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy) and [Herbal medicine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbalism). Homeopathic remedies are completely safe and totally ineffective, other than a placebo effect. Some herbal medications can be effective (e.g. various teas can be relaxing), and many of them can have [adverse effects](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_herbs_with_known_adverse_effects). Fair enough, I shouldn’t have lumped them into one category. Still, IMO avoiding conventional medicine in favor of homeopathy _can_ be dangerous. And while herbal supplements can be harmless or even beneficial, there are a lot of problems with the industry, at least in the US. Some “supplements” are not on the FDA’s GRAS list (Generally Recognized As Safe), a handful are actually on the unsafe list, and most claims aren’t evaluated by the FDA. On top of all that, quality control varies wildly, so there’s a good chance you’re not even getting the dosage or even the substance it says on the bottle. I suppose homeopathy will just be lumped into history’s great big pile of ritual and spiritual remedies. As far as I can tell, herbal supplements are this generation’s closest approximation of the old mercury and arsenic medicines of the early twentieth century. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/96 "2015-03-31T15:40:51Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > As far as I can tell, herbal supplements are this generation’s closest approximation of the old mercury and arsenic medicines of the early twentieth century. I suppose they’re better than those, at least. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/97 "2015-03-31T15:42:18Z")
Absolutely, but it’s a similar principle. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/98 "2015-03-31T15:51:25Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > This differentiates them from homeopathic remedies how, exactly? homeopathic remedies _don’t do anything at all._ ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/99 "2015-03-31T16:22:14Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > Still, IMO avoiding conventional medicine in favor of homeopathy _can_ be dangerous. I agree. Perhaps homeopathic remedies should have a warning stating that they can be harmful to your health if you use them INSTEAD OF … what? This is where it gets tricky. Other treatments that have been shown to be effective, despite their risks? Unfortunately, the drug companies don’t have an unblemished record. For example, I was stunned when [Vioxx](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rofecoxib) was taken off the market in 2004 after having been approved by the FDA five years earlier. And, after my doctor had prescribed it. Also, my decades of experience with accredited medical professionals (for myself and for family members) have been far from perfect: incorrect or incomplete diagnoses, incorrect medication, mediocre record keeping, poor explanations, and poor attitude. Sometimes. Things were pretty good most of the time. I’m surprised at how rarely doctors use computers to help with diagnosis and treatment. There have been many advances in imaging equipment and in the testing of body fluids and tissue but, at the practitioner level, it seems to be whatever is in the doctor’s head. I think that eventually it will be considered dangerous to have a human diagnose you and decide on the course of medical treatment without first consulting something like [IBM’s Watson](http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibmwatson/watson-oncology.html). ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172/100 "2015-03-31T16:41:46Z")
Why not just apply truth in advertising laws? You can’t make a claim you can’t prove. So intead of “Buy Fish Oil, it improves brain health!” They can only say, “Buy Fish Oil, it is er, good for you!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-things-that-we-currently-consider-benign-will-eventually-be-labeled-dangerous/716172.md?page=6)