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> Strange, that same observation and the corresponding 3 million worldwide deaths yearly didn’t change our attitude towards fossil fuel combustion and its air pollution.

Stranger still, alcohol is still legal even though there's "no safe level of consumption"[1].

[1] https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-...

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It's different when someone wants to put something into their own body vs someone wants to put something into the air and water we all share. Stop pretending it isn't.

Every activity carries risk of one form or another.

True, but as we remove various forms of risks and prolong life, for sure there will be a point in the future where our 200-year-living descendants will say: why were those idiots actively, massively and collectively poisoning themselves?

Probably not. They’ll understand it was the best we could do at the time, just like we understand that about our ancestors.

In a world where a decent amount of people are teetotalers, your explanation strikes me as optimistic :-)

I don't understand. Are you saying it is good that people are teetotalers and that is an example of doing your best?

Yeah, since there are multiple studies that show that alcohol in any quantity is bad for you. People are (slowly) poisoning themselves as replacement for therapy or lack of a support network.

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