People say that if there’s no risk, there’s no reward. That may be true, but there’s also a limit to that thought. There are aspects of our lives where we take more risks than we should that can be blindspots for us. When one Reddit user asked others to share which warnings they think people don’t take seriously enough, the responses became an excellent list of tips for what might not be worth risking in life.
The responses seem to have drawn on a vast variety of different life experiences and come from different fields. We think that just about anyone will find some wisdom on this list that would be worth taking into consideration in their own lives.
Letting the culture war distract you. The purpose of the culture war is to be a distraction. We don’t need to worry about pronouns and drag queens. We need to worry about the extremely rich taking advantage of us all.
The fact that we need to pay our teachers more these are the people who are teaching the next generation and we pay them a mere pittance of what they are worth. They need to be able to support their families and we do not pay them accordingly.
Quite a few of the ignored risks covered on this list have to do with our health. That’s one of the most valuable things that any of us possess, so we thought we could flesh the list out with more information about some of the most serious public health risks people face today.
Sleep deprivation.
That s**t’ll kill you. Slowly. Painfully. Insidiously. Your body will wear out. Your mind will waste away. You will be sick all the time. Your judgment, self control, and emotional continence will fail with astonishing regularity. You’ll develop cognitive decline in your 50s or 60s that shouldn’t happen south of 80 or 90. It will destroy your quality of life.
Escooters are becoming more and more of a thing. I see kids zipping around town no helmet.
WEAR A F*****G HELMET. I might look goofy but if go down at 40mph I won’t get brain damage or die.
The way you speak around your children
My mother once reffered to my little sister as chunky and said they’d have to cut back on her diet
And I had to stop and remind her that was the exact sort of thing that my dad and his gf said to me that caused me to develope an ED
Alcohol use, though mentioned on this list, is worth expanding upon. Some studies suggest that very moderate alcohol consumption can be beneficial, but many people use a bit too much. Tens of thousands of deaths every year are attributed in various ways to alcohol, from accidents and violence to a number of related illnesses.
Antibiotics. It’s imperative to follow the prescription and finish the bottle. I’ve known people who stop taking them when they start to feel better and save the rest of the bottle for “the next time I’m sick”
How fundamentally AI is going to change our society. It’s going to be bigger and more disruptive than the internet and we are still only at the very early stages. Things are gonna get real weird real fast but funny AI says silly things haha so nobody listens to me.
Food safety can be more important than many believe. Those who aren’t severely harmed or even killed by food-borne illnesses can still be seriously sickened, causing usually easily avoidable suffering.
Wearing sunscreens.
Surprisingly, more people hadnt got a grasp on how important it is on our skin in the long run.
Listening to music so loud on your headphones that I can hear it. This happens at the gym and it’s all the young high schoolers listening to their music so loudly. Gonna blow their ears out eventually
Wear your seat belt. It’s like the old PSA goes: whether it’s down the street or to the moon, buckle your seat belt.
Depending on the quality of care where you are, healthcare-associated infections can be a serious risk. There isn’t much that most patients can do to avoid this risk when in the care of medical professionals, but when relevant, be sure to carefully follow all hygiene and care instructions to avoid catching serious preventable illnesses.
I’ve spent the last year teaching at various schools in the LA area, grades 3 up to seniors in high school. I can not emphasize enough the effect of cell phone use on young people. Many of the high schools I go to don’t even make a legitimate effort to make students put their phones down. There were theater games I’d play with seniors in high school where I would have to explain the simple rules so many times that we’d barely ever accomplish getting through the game. The 3rd graders would get it immediately and play for half an hour. Every single time I’d give the high school kids a simple direction they would look at me for a second and then say “Wait…what?” It was alarming.
propaganda/advertising really bother me
I read something recently about an area of research called “consumer neuroscience” which is basically the term they are using for a collection of research and imaging to figure out how best to exploit your psychology to make it more effective to own your attention. Research into psychology should benefit people, not the interests of whoever-the-f**k, but that’s where the money is
The reason it bothers me is because manipulating and controlling people is morally wrong, this is obvious in relationships but not from outside. The reason nobody cares is because either they assume it is harmless or they think I am crazy for caring about something that seems so innocuous on the surface
Having mentioned alcohol twice in this article, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention tobacco use as well. Fortunately, general trends suggest that more and more of us are becoming aware of the risks. In the US, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports: “Current smoking has declined from 20.9% (nearly 21 of every 100 adults) in 2005 to 11.5% (nearly 12 of every 100 adults) in 2021.”
owning a fire extinguisher. you never know how fast your life can change until a natural disaster/fire hits. and yes, it could be you
Drug abuse is another serious issue. Different drugs can have different impacts on our lives, but nearly all of them can cause significant health issues and addiction problems. According to American Addiction Centers, “Drug abuse and addiction cost American society more than $740 billion annually in lost workplace productivity, healthcare expenses, and crime-related costs.”
Falling.
You can hurt yourself grievously when hitting your head on the ground or on nearby objects. Concussions are nothing to laugh about, no matter your age.
Always use fans on your plants when you are growing them indoors!
Especially seedlings.
Plants hate still, stagnant air. They are able to transpire moisture more effectively when the air is moving.
A strong breeze will also keep your seedlings from dying due to damping off.
It also strengthens the stems so that they don’t just fall over when you move them.
The importance of foot strength. A lot of knee, hip, back issues stem from weak feet/ ankles. People think they need softer insoles but it’s actually making your feet even weaker.
We all know we’re supposed to brush our teeth, but a proper dental hygiene habit goes beyond this basic step. Oral health is a significant issue for many and causes both pain and suffering and unwelcome expenses! As the World Health Organization reminds us, “Most oral health conditions are largely preventable and can be treated in their early stages.” Make sure to floss and rinse!
Recycling. I know many people who are proud of the fact that they litter, despite being college educated. They do not care about the effects this has upon our environment or the animals that suffer from human carelessness. I find it to be a mob mentality; “everyone else litters so why should I change?”
Saving/planning for retirement.
A lot of my coworkers say they will die working which is a real possibility but if you don’t die, you will need money to survive. One of my coworker is almost 50 and has zero savings, zero 401k and cannot afford to survive on her own if anything happens to her partner.
Having enough insurance for your home and belongings. Your stuff is probably worth way more than you think, once you start adding it up, and a total loss event will flip your entire life on its end, and if there’s not enough insurance money, it can be impossible to come back from.
We had a total loss wildfire, and were dramatically underinsured. We’re only able to rebuild because a family member could rewrite their will and give us an early inheritance and that, added to our insurance settlement, was just enough to build half the house we had before. Our home will be furnished almost exclusively with things we bought at thrift stores and estate sales, because we don’t have the money to rebuy all that we had.
Workplace Safety and proper claim filing for injuries. Too many times I see workers getting hurt due to haphazard working environments, then not filing because they are ingratiated to their superiors and don’t want to rock the boat (their excuse). I put safety first people, your job won’t care if you lose a limb or a life, they just write it off and keep going. At most you or your family gets a settlement. At the least you may get a plaque or written warning or termination notice, you know just a piece of paper to cement how much they care for you not going after them or for you not being safe.
Got to United States is having droughts and that some major states are losing their water supplies but I can never get anybody to have this conversation with me. Droughts I’m becoming more prevalent and big States Los Angeles Utah Colorado Phoenix these things used to only happen in Europe people need to take heat and pay attention
Working safely at heights. I work with people who worry more about sun safety than they do about working at heights greater than 2 meters.
