Yip exactly, why do people think kids can eat dirt and playdoh etc? Because their bodies need the crazy germs to prevent them from being upset by things later in life. Parents suddenly stopped giving their children peanuts and peanut butter in fear of them getting allergies to it yet they end up getting them anyway as they grow up without adequate exposure.

I think society has gone way over the top with hygiene. If we were that unhygenic the human race wouldn't have made it through the **** poor conditions of living in the past, would they?

my brother doesn't wash his hands for this exact reason. but he's not exactly the most rational person...

he also doesn't wear deodorant for fear of "aluminum poisoning." don't ask me how he thinks it's poison.

he also believes the WTC disaster was an elaborate scheme run by the government so Bush could gain enough popular support to invade Iraq. (i've actually heard this before but it's always from the mouth of conspiracy theorist stoners).

so yeah, take these things in moderation. ;)

He is a health freak?


I heard people don't stay in the same room as the microwave in the fear they will get cancer.

Phobias and being controlled by fears in your everyday life is obviously not good. It's fairly common, but those suffering from it should try to either seek help or try self-help methods.

Being scared of getting cancer from the microwave f.ex seems a bit irrational. It sounds likely that someone who worries about this will also worry about getting cancer from other things. It's the fear of something beyond our control and then an attempt at gaining control over it which will never work .. We're getting bombarded with background radiation from space every day which might also cause cancer. What are you gonna do about it? Stress from worrying about it might have a worse effect on your health than the actual radiation though.

People suffering from this need to redefine the relationship they have to what they fear which is not easy, but it's possible. For many, simply doing whatever it is scares them helps. It gives you power over your fear and it's the fear which is the problem, not the microwave.

Very good point Toretordon. it must really suck to have a phobia.I feel bad for them.

they also need to have a proper understanding of what harmful substances actually have the capacity to cause cancer.

microwaves are long-wave radiation that generally don't have much energy associated with them, the furthest inside the body they'd penetrate is likely the dermis. even gamma radiation (which is generally viewed as the most harmful) can be taken by humans in mild quantities without any adverse effects; the rays themselves basically pass through the body with almost no capacity for genetic mutation.

what the body is most susceptible to is ingested substances which emit radiation within the body -- most usually alpha particles. and it's not just cigarette smoke that can trigger genetic mutations, there's cosmic radiation (like tore said), radon (a colorless odorless gas that seeps through radioactive sources underground), sunlight, hell, even bananas.

Rationality can definetly help people with their fears, but what they need to focus on is still fighting the fear itself, I think .. The reason being that fear itself is not rational and can't be fought with rational thought alone. It takes willpower more than anything.

Someone who's afraid of spiders f.ex can be perfectly aware that the spider he or she is looking at is completely harmless .. Yet that doesn't necessarily make them less scared of it. ;)

who the hell does that

Watch Wife Swap sometime. You'll see some weird stuff.:shycouch:

love the nasty used napkin/tissue sitting on the floor.. but at least there's hand sanitizer