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Cigarette filters and other pointless safetyismtheconversation.com/cigarette-filters-do-nothing-for-smokers-health-and-just-create-plastic-pollution-they-should-be-banned-263374
167 sats \ 5 comments \ @Scoresby 13h mostly_harmless
I'm sure there are examples of safetyism that have really made people safer with low downside (hand-washing in hospitals? Bicycle helmets?) but very often there is the kind of situation described in this article: things actually get worse.
In this case, it seems that cigarette filters led to people inhaling more deeply (leading to higher rates of cancer) and some filters were made out of toxic materials (asbestos) and the filters become a non-biodegradable piece of garbage that just cruds up the place.
I don't like safetyism. What are some other examples of stupid things humans do in the name of safety that make things worse?
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121 sats \ 1 reply \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 13h
I remember a character in one of Isaac Asimov's Black Widower books (his mystery short stories) griping that diet soda would make someone feel virtuous, and as a result they'd eat more during the meal, and they ended up eating more calories as a result.
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184 sats \ 0 replies \ @freetx 12h
Its potentially physiological.
There is some science that says that GLP-1 (the hormone that makes you feel hungry) is messed with when you consume fake sugar. Your tongue and gut sense "sweet" and start preparing for the caloric hit....but there is a mismatch between the calories that actually arrive and your hormones....so you feel hungry and eat more to compensate.
https://fortune.com/well/2025/04/04/sugar-substitute-may-increase-your-appetite-study/
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102 sats \ 0 replies \ @karanjbhatia 6h
Everything done during Corona mania.
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102 sats \ 0 replies \ @satgoob 8h
Too many fire drills so that people are conditioned to not evacuate
Like in this one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boland_Hall_fire
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scroogey 3h
It's not just that some safety measures are counterproductive.
It seems that people actually prefer counterproductive measures over effective ones, because they (the people) don't focus on worst-case scenarios and underestimate their probability.
That explains why helmets (improve only worst-case) are effective, while ABS (anti-lock braking systems) are counterproductive (lead to risk compensation, aka "forgetting to be afraid").
On Safety, Protection, and Underweighting of Rare Events by D. Cohen & I. Erev (2018)
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