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I don't often read Noah Smith's writing, but this headline caught my eye for two reasons:

I'm from the Pacific Northwest and I believe we used to have a similar cultural resistance to ac.
some weird lizard part of my morality engine (do humans have such things? Is this just a tech-influenced way of saying conscience?) is very sympathetic with the seemingly unreasonable European resistance to ac that Smith describes.

Anyhow, he does a good job of detailing a pretty inane societal response to AC:

Do Europeans really believe these things about AC?

European governments do a great deal to discourage air-conditioning, whether central AC or window units. You might need a hard-to-get permit to install an AC unit, and in Geneva you have to show a medical need for it. Or in many regions of Europe, the air conditioner might violate heritage preservation laws, or be illegal altogether. In Portofino, Italy, neighbors have been known to turn each other in for having illegal air-conditioning units. The fines can range up to €43,000, though most cases are settled out of court by a removal of the unit.

In France, media outlets often warn that cooling a room to more than 15 degrees Fahrenheit below the outside temperature can cause something called “thermal shock,” resulting in nausea, loss of consciousness and even respiratory arrest. That would be news to Americans[.]

First of all, every one of these people has a story about visiting the USA and nearly freezing to death in an over air-conditioned store or office. Every. Damn. One…To these people, A/C is the ultimate American solution to a problem. Instead of accepting nature as it is, Americans use expensive, wasteful technology to artificially change the environment to fit their fat, lazy lifestyles. They insist on defying and conquering nature, not "cooperating" with her. And they don't care if they cook the planet while they do so…

He's got a bunch of other anecdotes about European attitudes toward ac, and comes to the conclusion

The climate-based crusade against AC is a little infuriating, because it probably kills a lot more people than the reduced emissions save. Right now, Europe is responsible for only about 13% of global carbon emissions from fossil fuel use, meaning that the climate impact of installing AC all over the region is pretty minimal. Does anyone think that incredibly tiny margin of emissions reduction is really worth tens of thousands of lives a year?

It's so much nicer when you give in to the energy consumption

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202 sats \ 1 reply \ @sox 14h

I have solar panels so I'm virtually polluting nothing with 3 ACs running. They also get to cool the house down to 22-24° pretty quickly so they just stay in idle until there's a 1 degree variance.

That being said, ACs in the USA are too much man, I think the insulation is not enough and the ACs just run freely without ever reaching the temp limit (or they have mad limits like 16°). I mean I was the only one with long jeans at PlebLab lmao

Here there’s also the anecdote of catching a fever while using air conditioning, but it’s not AC’s fault directly. The colder you are, the more vulnerable you become to catching a fever, especially if you experience quick temperature changes. And if you don't clean the damn AC filters you're gonna get sick.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby OP 14h

I will also admit I don't understand the people who wear shorts and t-shirts in AC spaces. The cold is unnatural and weird-feeling, to me.

185 sats \ 0 replies \ @Kael_Yurei 15h

I live in the "poor" south of Europe, as they say. In my country, nothing like that applies, there are air conditioners everywhere. Even in homes you can see from 2 to 3 air conditioners, it's excessive, but it's reality.

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @rootmachine 12h

Yes. Europeans are pretty weird in manner of AC installing and usage. Same goes for hearing in winter. For me (also an European) is super weird. Out of them all, Italians are the most... well, the most. You have to beg for AC, you have to beg for heating. Literally. I can confirm the turning on each other thing (though I think it applies to Positano or to Positano also). I suffered from heat in Rome and in Positano two years ago. Last year I was in Italy in December for a short holiday and I literally had to turn on all radiators in the rented apartment. I used the AC on heating. 4 days in and the radiators where barely starting to heat. I literally can't understand them. Germans are also kinda weird in the same way regarding heating. Greeks (and Croats people) have poor and/or old AC units in most of the locations. In my country normally you should not install ACs on facades, but nobody cares about this in many parts of the country. There is a stupid trend with central heating, central AC, being strong and adapting to outside temperatures, that it kills me. I don't get it. I don't want it. I want comfort.

112 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 15h

Guys, globe is warming, therefore we need to cut down on AC use!! And the hotter it gets the less we should use it!

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @Akg10s3 14h

I'm from a tropical country with a lot of heat! I spent at least a full decade using air conditioning, which I used at its maximum power or capacity... If that's considered bad for my health, then my lungs are dead!! I remember in the afternoons after noon, when I left my room for the living room, I felt the hot air from outside hit my face, it felt like steam... And then I would quickly return to my room to watch my soccer game!

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @BeeRye 15h

thermal shock...wtf lol

102 sats \ 1 reply \ @stack_harder 15h

i'd argue that when temps are getting above 30 degrees (86°F) it's almost dangerous to not have an AC. hot as balls all the time, can't concentrate, hard to sleep etc

France just being over dramatic , as usual

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @sox 14h

True, while France is dumb as usual, here you get tax reductions on ACs based on age.

102 sats \ 1 reply \ @Lumor 15h

ACs are alright, but don't give yourself a cold.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby OP 15h

You know what's funny? I'm from Seattle, and I've heard all these ghost stories about "shocking your system" when walking from cool to hot air and about catching a cold from the cold air. Maybe it's just a thing people living in the North do.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Catcher 2h

some weird lizard part of my morality engine - humans have lizard part of the brain, but this is not the part where morality engine is located:))
In Germany the biggest issue is to get permission for this outside unit, if you live in the Appartement building. And installation is so expensive, my friend used to fly people out of former Soviet Union countries just to put it on the wall:) was cheaper that way.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 7h

For regions near the equator i t amazes me how they lived before AC. It's so sticky and wet. A fan just blows around hot wet air.

Once you have AC it's hard to go back.

You have great food and beautiful cities, why not add a little AC?

Do Europeans really believe these things about AC?

It's so much nicer when you give in to the energy consumption