Friday, January 27, 2006

A truth hard to stomach

Let's first see exactly why smoking is bad. So it causes Oral cancer, lung cancer, bronchital cancer, cancer of the trachea, emphysema, and I am even going to go ahead and accept the little evidence for intestinal cancer. Then there is the degrading eye sight, premature aging, reduced fertility, pregnancy risks, damaged circulation, cardiac arrests, strokes, gangrene, smoker's cough and damaged skin. Let's just go all out and even accept nicotine-stains on fingers and teeth, damaged taste buds, damaged olfactory lobes, lack of energy, poor concentration, and... to stretch it a bit too much, amputation.
In fact, let's even look at the repercussions, children at health risk of asthma, cot-death, bronchitis and glue ear, spoilt clothes and furniture, and even increased risk of fire at home. Although these can be easily circumvented by smoking in designated areas, let's consider them anyway.

Consider that you are living in the twenty first century, (which you are) and in an urban area anywhere in the world, (Again, more likely than not, you are, because you are reading this). You are likely to work on a computer at office, go home and work on a PC, and carry around a mobile phone.

Now the radioactivity and the radiofrequencies emitted by your average mobile phone (if you must know, in the frequency range of 800-1800 Mhz) is carcinogenic too - it causes cancer - like nicotine or tobacco. Because of the thermal effect of the radioemissions on the body cells, the average temperature increases by as much as a degree, probably more. these radioemissions also cause apoptosis in cells - which basically means they do not die. This is not a cure for mortality, instead there is an accumulation of cells, and then there are tumors, treatment for which includes very harmful radiotherapy and chemotherapy - let alone the risks of paralysis and death due to the operations. Keeping cell phones in the pockets can lead to impotence - the gamete (sperm or ovum) count decreases with every phone call you receive while the phone is in your pocket. Also there is this disease known as the acoustic neuroma which affects your ear (only mobile phones, not landlines though).
If you are allowed to bring up amputation in the cigarette argument, I guess the skeletal and muscle disorders brought about by holding the phone in improper ways and overuse must be mentioned, along with the risk of accidents caused by talking on the phone and driving.
There are many more biological and genetic repercussions that are not as yet proved.
AND there is this risk of ignition at petrol pumps. (Don't get me on this one, the energy generated by a cellphone battery CANNOT generate a spark big enough to ignite a stray wisp of petrol, but the warning appears on phone boxes and petrol pumps, so I am going to fucking use it. In fact, what the hell, just to prove my point, I WON'T)

Wait till you see what happens because of computer use: Excessive typing on the keyboard can cause Repetitive stress injuries (RSI), which may not seem like a big deal, but it is very much like oral cancer not seeming like a big deal for a smoker. RSI is a permanent injury which affects the skeletal and nervous pathways in the hands - it strains the tendons of the fingers to the limit, and then some. Eye strain experienced by computer users was often related to screen illumination and screen glare. The damage to the eyes by the monitors include, apart from Eyestrain, Tired eyes, Irritation, Redness, Blurred vision and Double vision. The Carpel Tunnel Syndrome fucks up the neurons in the wrist area. Disorders like Bursitis, Tendonitis, Epicondylitis, Ganglion cysts, Tenosynovitis and Trigger finger are all brought about by excessive computer use.
There is also the harm cause by the radioactivity and the electromagnetic fields in the bloody computer, which includes all the ills of the mobile phone.
Then you must consider the muscular and skeletal disorders of the back, legs and neck brought about by improper seating, lack of support et cetera. This actually amounts to so much trouble, that companies have ergonomics counselors...
All this is again, NOT considering the attention deficit disorders, trauma and stress and the psychological and social repercussions of computer/net addiction.

So give a point for every disorder that doing something can bring about - and the tally is:

Smoking: 29
Mobile Phones: 12
Computers: 33

An electromagnetic field from any electronic gadget is harmful to the skin, the cells, and is carcinogenic to some extent. Which means that if you have an iPod, a pocket PC, an mp3 player, a walkman or an electronic watch, or in fact, any such device, it is fucking harmful to you. Let's throw in two points for all of the above. Getting all technology together, the amount of harm cause can be assessed.

Smoking: 29
Technology: 47

Now here is the crux of the argument. Not only is smoking bad for your health - it is bad for the health of technology too. The smoke and the chemicals fuck up circuitry worse than they fuck up human beings. Smoke, is actually protecting you, and in fact, the more you smoke around technology, the safer are you.

Proof is right here, and am going to print and distribute this under the banner "Smoking saves." So, smoking is advocated if you are living in an urban area and in the twenty first century.

No comments: