[Cantor]

I read about these things just a few months ago, and according to what I could find out only the "sensation press" seem to have been able to find proof that these things exists.

NPR is "Sensation Press"? Wow.

Well, in Sweden we have so called "kvällstidningar", i.e. newspapers that in reality are little more than tabloids (unlike most American tabloids, these are released daily, and a handful of people actually consider them worthwhile newspapers, most people see them for what they are though). Also often called sensation press, at least over here.

Yeah, we have tabloids here in North America. Some people believe them, most don't. Sounds the same as Sweden. NPR isn't a tabloid. It's the public radio network and is generally considered VERY reputable.

You might want to do a little more research before throwing around terminology where it doesn't belong. Just some friendly advice. 

[KarmaInferno]

Yeah, we have tabloids here in North America. Some people believe them, most don't. Sounds the same as Sweden. NPR isn't a tabloid. It's the public radio network and is generally considered VERY reputable.

You might want to do a little more research before throwing around terminology where it doesn't belong. Just some friendly advice. 

Yeah, but did NPR actually come out and say, "EM Sensitivity is real", or did they just say "Some people complain that they have it"?

Pretty much all the 'reputable' news sources out there that have talked about it have stuck to the "some people have complained about suffering from it, but there have been no conclusive tests" bandwagon.


-k

[Joush]

OR, most people could have an underdeveloped sense that detects (electro)magnetic fields.

Evidence of a nonlinear human magnetic sense

While the study is interesting it's not quite conclusive. No human sense behaves in a non-linear fashion or unreliably , sometime triggering with stimulus, sometimes with the cessation of stimulus, and sometimes not at all. Claiming a 20 gauss field is detectable by humans is a very, very bold claim and frankly one that should not be taken unsalted from a minor 17 person experiment. I'd prefer to see more study on this in a fully blind test where the subjects are not informed as to the goals and general methods of the test.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

The eternal PEBKAC...

Two.  Fragging.  Years.

Consider my soul irreparably stained by the Dark Side.  And, no, it turns out they don't have cookies.

Clearly you didn't go to the kitchen.

[CanRay]

No, I went to the kitchen many times.  They stuck a fork in me when I was done.

[Cantor]

Yeah, we have tabloids here in North America. Some people believe them, most don't. Sounds the same as Sweden. NPR isn't a tabloid. It's the public radio network and is generally considered VERY reputable.

You might want to do a little more research before throwing around terminology where it doesn't belong. Just some friendly advice. 

Yeah, but did NPR actually come out and say, "EM Sensitivity is real", or did they just say "Some people complain that they have it"?

Pretty much all the 'reputable' news sources out there that have talked about it have stuck to the "some people have complained about suffering from it, but there have been no conclusive tests" bandwagon.


-k

The second option. My link goes directly to the story. Go read it.

[KarmaInferno]

My point:

Fnord said, "I could find out only the "sensation press" seem to have been able to find proof that these things exists."

And he's right. NPR did not "find proof that these things exist". They merely reported that people were complaining about being sensitive and some studies were being done. At no point did they claim that EM sensitivity exists.

The only media sources that HAVE made claims that they have "proof" of EM Sensitivity have been sensation press/tabloids.



-k

[JoeNapalm]

The light sensitivity thing kind of sucks. I live in a very very very sunny environment (approximately 2m from the Sun, itself), and unpolarized light can give me migraines. I pretty much have to wear good sunglasses to even THINK about going outside.

Inside, I can see the flicker in anything under about 75-80hz (if I concentrate, I can see higher frequencies, but it's annoying so I don't do that). Best I can tell, that's due to fast nerves. (I don't recommend anyone get tested for this...they use an EMG...actually, if someone offers to use one to test you, I suggest you kick them somewhere sensitive, two or three times, and then run.)

Having a slightly higher clock speed than your average bear can be useful, but it actually has some pretty ubiquitous downsides, such as florescent lights (at 60hz) or your average old CRT monitors (typically set to under 75hz by default) being really @#$%ing annoying. At least most monitors and TVs have moved away from damned slow-scanning tubes to LCDs.

-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist
 

[Bio ex Machina]

I'm sensitive to loud noises, and high pitched noises at any sound level, even that which can't be heard by most people.  I've had to learn how to filter it out, as I also have a higher range of hearing than your average person (The high-end of the human norm.).  Luckily, that last bit is starting to go away due to age and my choice in music.

But things like cathode ray tubes, some types of florescent lights, certain toys, and so on will distract me if I'm not ready for them.  It takes effort to filter them out using mental exercises I learned at a very young age (Guess what types of lights my grade school used?).  If loud enough, it causes quite a bit of pain.  I tend to avoid young children because of this, as even a happy voices from them literally causes me physical pain.  ASA (Generic Asprin) is a standard everyday carry for me whenever I'm expecting to have to go on a bus or be in a crowd that isn't Adults-Only (Ozzy rocks, BTW!).

I figure someone with EM Sensitivity would do similar acts, avoiding crowds as much as possible, limiting the EM Emissions in their house (EMP shielded electronics would help), carry headache tablets.  Tend to get really annoyed at line-ups at coffee shops.  Take public transit at low-passenger times.

Since my home is now fitted out with LCD Flatscreens, I've noticed such a lack of noise that it's quite...  Freeing.

don't even get me started on that "dog whistle" app! there are people who actually play them when i'm around just to marvel that not only can i hear the higher pitches, but that they're painful to me. teenagers can be so sadistic sometimes...

[CanRay]

Sometimes?

[hobgoblin]

People of any age are in general, they only get better at hiding it with age.

[CanRay]

Yeah, right.  I worked tech support...

[Phylos Fett]

Now I kinda feel not to hard done by by my occasional light sensitivity (the kind that makes me wear sunglasses inside shopping malls when it strikes).