That is an extremely cavalier take, especially considering:
> His six-year-old daughter, Leide das Neves Ferreira, later ate an egg while sitting on this floor. She was also fascinated by the blue glow of the powder, applying it to her body and showing it off to her mother. Dust from the powder fell on the egg she was consuming; she eventually absorbed 1.0 GBq and received a total dose of 6.0 Gy, more than a fatal dose even with treatment.
Yeah, tragic. They are no less human than you are. They had no clue what they were doing, like all of us in general. What fraction of the population is aware of the effect of radiation and the toxicity of medical sources? How would they go about assessing the risk in this situation?
Uncontrolled contamination can also harm innocent bystanders, in this case children.
I know that low-empathy privileged commenters are to be expected on HN, but I nonetheless find it impressive that such a short comment can illuminate so many biases in one go.
Flip take : using social media to feign empathy for abstract contexts - ones that you actually have zero emotional connection to - is merely how left leaning people signal their bona fides.
Right, they are so poor that they are using their what little knowledge they have to scavenge an abandoned building for scrap they can sell to feed themselves and their children.
If you had never been taught about radiation, you wouldn't know what to do about it either. It is not like radioactive materials are a common everyday occurrence for everyone.
What is wrong with you that you cannot see that they are also humans just like us, and were born into horrible circumstances that they never got the education to learn about this, through no fault of their own whatsoever?
There are so many things we could have if we actually could somehow have faith that the required (for safety, pollution mitigation, etc.) full lifecycle was actually honored.
Instead, everything is dominated by lazy jerks. The other day, I noticed my neighbor's house painter digging a hole. I said hello and asked what was up, and he said "Yes, I need to dispose of the water and paint from my sprayer, so I dig holes and pour it in. Don't worry, I will fill the hole back in when I'm done." This was in the bay area.
People just will not do the right thing by default if it is even remotely more work and for most people, thought is the hardest work there is.
"People just will not do the right thing by default if it is even remotely more work and for most people, thought is the hardest work there is. "
My theory is simply low education.
Since aeons we burried our garbage and it was never a problem. It only started quite recently, that our technology is so advanced, that it simply will not decompose. But rather contaminate.
But only a very low percentage of people actualy understands this.
So sure, that painter surely was "educated" at some point, that doing this is bad. But they simply do not believe it. "Not a big deal, you know". Same with plastic bags, same with climate change.
Maybe we should start proper science education a lot earlier?
Is something less tragic if the victims weren’t fully participating in capitalism at the time of injury? If they’re performing a societal function that you obviously think is beneath you?
justusthane|3 years ago
> His six-year-old daughter, Leide das Neves Ferreira, later ate an egg while sitting on this floor. She was also fascinated by the blue glow of the powder, applying it to her body and showing it off to her mother. Dust from the powder fell on the egg she was consuming; she eventually absorbed 1.0 GBq and received a total dose of 6.0 Gy, more than a fatal dose even with treatment.
Maybe read the article before commenting?
ssizn|3 years ago
[deleted]
kergonath|3 years ago
Uncontrolled contamination can also harm innocent bystanders, in this case children.
ssizn|3 years ago
Bakary|3 years ago
pxmpxm|3 years ago
toss1|3 years ago
If you had never been taught about radiation, you wouldn't know what to do about it either. It is not like radioactive materials are a common everyday occurrence for everyone.
What is wrong with you that you cannot see that they are also humans just like us, and were born into horrible circumstances that they never got the education to learn about this, through no fault of their own whatsoever?
DonHopkins|3 years ago
foobiekr|3 years ago
There are so many things we could have if we actually could somehow have faith that the required (for safety, pollution mitigation, etc.) full lifecycle was actually honored.
Instead, everything is dominated by lazy jerks. The other day, I noticed my neighbor's house painter digging a hole. I said hello and asked what was up, and he said "Yes, I need to dispose of the water and paint from my sprayer, so I dig holes and pour it in. Don't worry, I will fill the hole back in when I'm done." This was in the bay area.
People just will not do the right thing by default if it is even remotely more work and for most people, thought is the hardest work there is.
ethbr0|3 years ago
I'd assume soil sequestration (we're not talking lead paint here, presumably) is preferable to storm drain dilution?
hutzlibu|3 years ago
My theory is simply low education.
Since aeons we burried our garbage and it was never a problem. It only started quite recently, that our technology is so advanced, that it simply will not decompose. But rather contaminate.
But only a very low percentage of people actualy understands this.
So sure, that painter surely was "educated" at some point, that doing this is bad. But they simply do not believe it. "Not a big deal, you know". Same with plastic bags, same with climate change.
Maybe we should start proper science education a lot earlier?
triceratops|3 years ago
poulpy123|3 years ago
jcoder|3 years ago