Who here really believes what they claim to?

[Norfolk And Chance]

Yes, this is in the science forum, because it's a question of science - not ethics, religion or even philosophy.

How many people actually believe what they claim to believe? It can't be very many people. Let me demonstrate using my own country - Australia.

1. Smoking. Supposedly this is bad for you. Most people SAY they believe this. 48% of Aborigines are smokers, therefore 48% or more of Aborigines don't actually believe it's bad for their health. The smoking rate in Australia has dropped in recent years, it's now about 18% of the adult population. So 18% of Australians don't believe that smoking is bad for their health.

That was just the first point, it gets worse with the second...

2. Overweight. 63% of Australian adults are either overweight or obese. 28% of Australians are obese. Thus, 63% of Aussies don't believe that being overweight is bad for their health, and 28% of Aussies are really confident in that belief! There is absolute proof that they don't it to be bad for them because I know people who "tried to loose weight" and then "gave up" after only loosing "some" weight.

A person cannot say the believe one thing, and do the opposite - that's nonsensical.

The sort of mindless waffle that you'd expect from a religious fuckwit.

[Aractus]

While they may know it's dangerous, they may also judge the risk to be minimized or inaccurately assess the statistics. That's an important factor you're missing in all of this. It's dangerous to walk out into a thunderstorm, especially if I'm the tallest thing in the field, but that doesn't automatically mean I'm going to get hit by lighting. I might consider the risk factor negligible in comparison to, I don't know, making a paycheck.

Yes, but we're talking about something more certain. Like driving without your seatbelt (against the law), because you wish to accept the risk of the accident. Everyone who drives a car, statistically speaking, will eventually get into an accident. Harm minimization is simply an implicit requirement of engaging in activities we know to be hazardous or dangerous. Customers shouldn't get to choose whether the workers are put at risk or not.

[thesummerqueen]

I told you it's more complicated than that - it's not just consumers, it's also the people in the industry who have to stand up against it.