this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
396 points (78.1% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27231 readers
2479 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I have been thinking a lot since the election about what could explain the incredibly high numbers of Americans who seem incapable of critical thinking, or really any kind of high level rational thought or analysis.

Then I stumbled on this post https://old.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/16ires5/lead_exposure_from_shooting_is_a_much_more/

Which essentially explains that “Shooting lead bullets at firing ranges results in elevated BLLs at concentrations that are associated with a variety of adverse health outcome"

I looked at the pubmed abstract in that Reddit post and also this one https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5289032/

Which states, among other things, “Workers exposed to lead often show impaired performance on neurobehavioral test involving attention, processing, speed, visuospatial abilities, working memory and motor function. It has also been suggested that lead can adversely affect general intellectual performance.”

Now, given that there are well in excess of 300 million guns in the United States, is it possible lead exposure at least partially explains how brain dead many Americans seem to be?

This is a genuine question not a troll and id love to read some evidence to the contrary if any is available

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 54 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

I doubt that there are enough people shooting enough guns often enough for it to be more than just trace exposures, it likely must be something else.

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 42 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

It's regular old religion, shit culture, and propaganda just like it always is.

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 5 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Don't forget the deliberate effort by Republicans to nerf the public education system

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Nerf is too nice a way to say it. They want to abolish the Department of Education. Their goal is that only the children of the rich will get anything close to a good education.

[–] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago

It's by design. Keep people stupid, and use religion for its intended use, a tool for control.

We the masses are the foundation for their wealth and power.

[–] Wiz@midwest.social 11 points 16 hours ago (3 children)

Plus, Gen-X and Boomers were exposed to a lot of lead.

Gasoline types used to be "Regular or Unleaded" and Regular, I think, and required a"special" engine.

[–] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 9 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Also fungicides/pesticides can cause dementia. One of the first signs of early onset dementia is loss of empathy. So not very surprising many old rural folks have become jaded people

[–] JordanZ@lemmy.world 9 points 16 hours ago

Small aircraft still use 100LL fuel…(LL is low lead)

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 3 points 13 hours ago

Leaded ("regular") gas will destroy a catalytic converter. A car without a cat could usually run leaded or unleaded. Some may knock running unleaded if they're super old or broken in some way. I believe leaded was usually cheaper.

I wouldn't try running leaded in a modern engine even if you removed the cats. God knows what else it would screw up.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago

Nailed it! Religion, shit culture and propaganda are all major sources of stupidity!

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 18 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

Yes it's actually a pretty ignorant idea. Lead exposure is more likely from car exhaust from leaded gas, which has been severely limited since the 80s.

[–] the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 3 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Lead paint in every house probably didn't help

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 3 points 12 hours ago

Most old lead paint just gets painted over, further sealing it in. It doesn't do anything to you unless you chew on peeling paint or release it into the air by sanding it.