Like Smoking, But Way More Useful.
I'm happy to see that there's finally been a high-quality study done on the potential dangers of cellphone use.
I'm less happy with the results. Especially given that their definition of "a regular cellphone user" appears to be someone who uses their cellphone for as little as one call per week. That seems a bit on the conservative side, since virtually everyone I know with a cellphone uses theirs a LOT more than that.
If it's true that brain tumors take about 10 years to develop, and that cellphones cause brain tumors, then we should start seeing a statistically significant rise in brain cancers in young people right about 2009-2010. Hopefully someone's looking into that.
I wonder if this study will get buried? It seems likely...once there was clear scientific evidence that smoking caused cancer, it still took decades for scientists to convince the general population. If it turns out that cell phones do cause cancer, I imagine that it will take most people a very long time to accept it. Hard core rationalists will be at an advantage in that case, because they'll be the first to allow new scientific evidence to alter their behaviour.
As for everyone else...well, you should never underestimate people's ability to find excuses to justify their current beliefs. People hate to change.
December 27th, 2008 - 18:09
Hmmm… interesting. Perhaps good reason to back up my ‘not having joined the cell-phone-toting majority’ position. I wait to hear more on this topic!
January 5th, 2009 - 21:37
I really think just sweeping this type of issue under the rug like smoking is incredibly unlikely. There is a wealth of information when you google the topic of cell phones and cancer and many of the sites I came across admitted there is limited information on the subject because of the relatively short period of regular cell phone usage. Europe is far more progressive than North America, and if this type of evidence breaks over there, nothing will stop it from sweeping across North America.
Unless China censors it somehow maybe?
lol
January 6th, 2009 - 00:15
Well, I don’t think it is actually the big businesses (e.g. tobacco or cell phones) that are typically most responsible for hiding this sort of bad news (though they do try.)
Rather, it is we ourselves who hide the bad news, by finding ways to ignore it. As a species, we have an amazing capacity to block out new information in cases where paying attention to it would lead to inconvenience.
That’s why, for example, only a few people are losing sleep over global warming.
But you’re right about the Europeans. They are more progressive, and will likely be the first to pass new cell phone laws, should they be needed. They’ll probably be the first to notice increased incidences of brain cancer, too, since they use their phones so much.