Descartes, the French philosopher once said, "There is nothing so good that no bad may come of it and there is nothing so bad that no good may come of it."
I find this possibly the most useful philosophical statement ever uttered. Because at least in the physical world, this appears to be true. In some heaven realm or other utopian existence possibly it could be different but here on earth, at least, his saying is the way things usually are. And when something is just too good to be true it is always the right time to be suspicious of what is really going on.
The same is true of electronics whether it is Cell Phones, computers, TVs, electronic games, etc.
What inspired this particular blog article is reading about a study in England that says there is no evidence at present that a lot of cell phone usage over the years causes cancer (at least that they can presently define). In fact, a fluke of the study found that a small amount of cell phone usage actually tended to increase the cancers, whereas almost constant cell phone usage meant there was less cancer in the body generally speaking.
Don't get me wrong. I consider cell phones as emergency devices for all kinds of emergencies as one of the best inventions ever. It is better to carry a cellphone than to carry a gun (at least for personal protection in many situations). However, I think talking on a cellphone 6 to 12 hours a day like many people do for business or pleasure is a mistake unless you are using a headphone of some sort or talking hands free in your car or on the cell's speakerphone. I usually never put the phone up to my ear but almost always use the speakerphone when I use it to avoid microwaves being generated straight through my brain.
I think it is important to remember that we also use microwaves to cook our food. My father, who was an electrician and Electrical Contractor in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties in California, told me a really terrible story of someone in the 1950s who was an electrician who was wiring up one of the first microwaves. At that time the only combined microwaves with a standard electric oven. So, anyway this electrician crawled into the oven to replace some wiring regarding the light inside. However, safety mechanisms had not yet been perfected for microwave ovens like we have now. Instead, since there was no noise his brain was cooked from the inside and he had no knowledge of it until he got sick and died slowly over the next month. No one knew why he died until they looked at his brain and saw it was cooked from the inside by working inside the microwave oven while it was on.
Luckily, we don't have incidents like this anymore because microwaves aren't made that way anymore, (at least in the United States).
But, the point I'm trying to make here is that Anything that transmits like a cellphone and that is literally a transceiver (sender and receiver) that isn't connected to a line and broadcasts through the air is to a greater or lesser degree problematic. And anyone who tells you something else is some kind of fool in the greater scheme of things. Do I use a cellphone? Yes. But I limit how much I talk upon it and mostly only use it for emergencies and very quick communications. And I almost always unless there are privacy issues use the speakerphone so I don't put it up to my ear and potentially fry my brains. As an intuitive I have had phones like an early Nokia, that made my face get warm an numb just from the transmissions when I spoke. It also made my head hurt and sometimes I felt confused after using it. Though phones today are digital and not analog anymore and no longer need the higher transmission levels like they did for analog, I still am very cautious about using a cell phone very much. So, in the end I would say that a cellphone is like a car, wonderful but potentially dangerous.
Also, I would like to say that it is not just cellphones that are like this, Television, computers and computer games all need to be dealt with with caution. For example, because my son was a computer tech during his twenties he built me several desktop computers including one that another tech said was so fantastic that there was nothing on the market like it, that it absolutely had to be custom made that had a plexiglas side with lights flashing and the case was blue. So, I'm not one of these people who believe that you have to live without TVs, computers, and cell phones. No. That's not me. But I do believe it is "Caveat Emptor" or "Let the buyer beware". Just remember whatever you buy that the people who make it often finance the studies that tell you they are safe. Because nothing electronic is completely safe. That is a given. However, would I give up my car, motorhome, motorcycle, computer, wide screen TV, PS3, Wii, DVD player etc. ? Probably not. Because I tend to be a technophile(someone that loves technology just like my son). However, since my ex-wife believed one should live without any technology including TVs etc. some of this rubbed off on me too. And even though my present wife I almost would consider to be a technophobe(one who doesn't care much for technology she doesn't mind if I and my daughter and my son (when he is visiting have a lot of it).
My present wife was telling me a story she just heard on NPR radio. She was saying they said that the new X-ray full body scanners that show your private parts in real time are only equal to about 4 minutes at 30,000 feet. They said that you are constantly being exposed to Cosmic Rays at that altitude and all those X-rays are only equal to 4 minutes of flying at 30,000 feet. Many basil Cell Carcinomas are directly caused by high altitude while traveling in a passenger jet at altitude. So, the more you travel at high altitude the more likely you will get skin Cancer with Basil Cell carcinomas.
Now, just so you don't completely freakout, Basil Cell and Squamish Cell Carcinomas are NOT Melanomas. A basil cell carcinoma is only about a 5% chance or less of mortality if left untreated for years and the same for Squamish Cell Carcinomas. However, with a Melanoma if it isn't treated within about 6 months or less is almost always fatal because the cancer then moves throughout the body and will kill you. My aunt had a melanoma on her arm and was gone within 2 years from intestinal cancer caused by the undiagnosed melanoma.
So, if you have been traveling a lot by air and are prone to skin cancer be sure to have your dermatologist check for Basil Cell Carcinomas on your skin.
12 hours later: My wife had some family business that had to be dealt with so I had to wait 12 hours to finish what I wanted to say.
All electronics to a greater or lesser degree change the basic way that humans perceive reality. You might ask "Is this a good or bad thing?" I would have to say unequivocally "Likely both". So because all electronic technology is both helping us and harming us it behooves us to be aware "HOW" it is both helping us and harming us so we don't just wind up being a "Time traveling flesh covered robot" like the bad one in "Terminator" with Arnold Schwarzenegger sometime in the near future and killing off the rest of the human race. So, try to be aware the effect that technology is having upon you and your family and friends so they actually have a future that someone might actually want to live both now and into the future.
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