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Shoot, I didn't clarify enough. I know antibiotics in surgery and medical procedures and all the jazz in that subject DO make a difference, and does matter even in life and death.  

I'm asking in simple individual everyday routine. Like, I wake up, go to school, eat, blahblahblah, go to bed. That's where I want this to be clarified in if it actually helps or not.

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Post edited at 11:16 am on Oct. 15, 2008 by SpM

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Washing your hands can reduce the risk of food poisoning.

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I can believe that. But is the reduction of risk substantially altered to being worth the difference? I could argue that .00001 percent difference is logically a difference. But that isn't logical in the sense of taking more than 10+ seconds just to reduce risks by a percent so low that it literally makes a difference, but not in a conceptual sense.

I don't have any scientific evidence to prove it makes a difference, but there IS scientific evidence nonetheless.

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The VAST majority of bacteria is harmless.

Yes,w e're covered in it, but it's harmless. Wahsing your hands rids us of the harmful bacteria, therefore makign a huge difference. Did you know if you didnt bathe long enoguh you'd die from it?

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Yes, actually. He also explained that the majority of bacteria really IS harmless, and that was new to me. But look at my reply I just made to whats-his-face about reduction in food poisoning---is the reduction of risk honestly worth it?

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More than anything, it should be about the consideration of others. You go to the bathroom, you wipe your ass/crotch, you get an unnoticeable amount of piss/shit on your hands/fingers (an unnoticeable amount, but an amount nevertheless), or you touch items (such as door knobs, light switches, computer keyboards/mouses, etc) that other people (WHO MAY HAVE COME INTO CONTACT WITH SHIT/PISS AFTER USING THE BATHROOM) have touched. Which is why you'd wash your hands with soap, simply because it's gross to NOT wash them after coming into contact with piss or shit or raw foods or items others have touched after they used the bathroom, sneezed in their hands, blew their nose, etc.

I don't have any scientific evidence to prove it makes a difference, but there IS scientific evidence nonetheless.

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Very reasonable, hence the fact that I'll probably still continue washing my hands due to habit even if this all was proven otherwise, lol.

Post edited at 11:33 am on Oct. 15, 2008 by hokie

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Quote: from littlenicky40 at 2:15 pm on Oct. 15, 2008

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The VAST majority of bacteria is harmless.  

 Yes,w e're covered in it, but it's harmless. Wahsing your hands rids us of the harmful bacteria, therefore makign a huge difference. Did you know if you didnt bathe long enoguh you'd die from it?

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Yes, actually. He also explained that the majority of bacteria really IS harmless, and that was new to me. But look at my reply I just made to whats-his-face about reduction in food poisoning---is the reduction of risk honestly worth it?

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The idea about washing your hands comes from the fact that your hands are what come into contact with your environment most often. That environment is where those "bad germs" are picked up. Every time you wash your hands, you may not be saving yourself from a life threatening disease or illness, but once in a while you just might be.

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"God does not play dice" - Albert Einstein
"God does play dice" - Stephen Hawking

Bohica

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Quote: from hokie at 1:21 pm on Oct. 15, 2008

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Quote: from littlenicky40 at 2:15 pm on Oct. 15, 2008

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The VAST majority of bacteria is harmless.

  Yes,w e're covered in it, but it's harmless. Wahsing your hands rids us of the harmful bacteria, therefore makign a huge difference. Did you know if you didnt bathe long enoguh you'd die from it?

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 Yes, actually. He also explained that the majority of bacteria really IS harmless, and that was new to me. But look at my reply I just made to whats-his-face about reduction in food poisoning---is the reduction of risk honestly worth it?

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Actually, a lot of the bacteria on and in your body is beneficial. Without some of those we wouldn't survive.  

The idea about washing your hands comes from the fact that your hands are what come into contact with your environment most often. That environment is where those "bad germs" are picked up. Every time you wash your hands, you may not be saving yourself from a life threatening disease or illness, but once in a while you just might be.

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True. I guess the level of specificity I was going for just ends up a tad unreasonable. Nevertheless, it looks like washing those hands in the long run COULD make a difference, even if it isn't likely. Wash away, world. Better safe than sorry, right?

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True. I guess the level of specificity I was going for just ends up a tad unreasonable. Nevertheless, it looks like washing those hands in the long run COULD make a difference, even if it isn't likely. Wash away, world. Better safe than sorry, right?

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http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/CRDWeb/ShowRecord.asp?View=Full&ID=12006001292

http://www.physorg.com/news135270036.html

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Incidentally this signature is available in the foyer.

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kapow.

http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/CRDWeb/ShowRecord.asp?View=Full&ID=12006001292

http://www.physorg.com/news135270036.html

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Interesting. Seems more and more like my suspicions are lowered, what I expected for the most part. lol I feel a little ridiculous asking for sources for this stuff and getting them, just about washing hands. Such a simple thing; yet, even against what I'd expect, I wouldn't have been surprised to have been proven that washing hands wouldn't be a huge deal. If anyone else wants to throw in here, go ahead, but thanks everyone else. My knowledge has expanded.

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Okay, let's get things straight. I know soap kills germs. I know washing your hands kills germs. That's proven. But so what? Prove to me with scientific evidence that it makes a "difference."

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That is generally incorrect. Soap act as a surfactant, lifting germs and bacteria away from your skin. The water removes them from your skin. Anti-bacterial soap or alcohol based kill germs, but the run of the mill soap does not. And we should ban anti-bacterial soap from the planet due to its ability to create superbugs.

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"I give the probability of this working at zero" - Dan DeMatteo