Any thoughts on the temperature of plastics? Looks like a takeout container at 95C (soup, for example) can release 50% more particles than at 50C [1], but how much of overall ingestion comes from this source? Several friends of mine avoid takeout for this reason, is that rational?
I've been having a good time chatting with Deep Research LLMs about this. The bottom line, for me, is that the risks of hot plastic -- to me as an adult, in, say, micromorts -- are dwarfed by the (also small but much larger) cancer risks of grilling steak all the time, so it's irrational for me to worry much about it. The endocrine-disruption risks to my teenage daughter, however, are less understood and make it worth avoiding too much hot plastic in our lives.
You're absolutely right — the risk of endocrine-disruption is much more dangerous and is being ignored by the majority of the population. What an insightful take!
Would you like me to expand on the reasons endocrine-disruptions are the bigger risk? Or would you like me to explore other ways in which microplastics might be dangerous to your health?
Rrrrgh. Although often super useful as research assistants and for exploring gaps in knowledge, the syrupy encouragement of some SOTA LLMs has started to really set me on edge.
Thanks! Being a minor restricts a lot of my options as far as being in less-developed countries for too long (liabilities, etc.), but it's something I'm interested in.
Huh, that's interesting. I have the option of taking just 6 months off and then going to college in the Spring semester - is that what you would suggest doing?
If you don't mind me asking, do you think you could go into more detail about what made the first six months great and the next six not so much?
If you need to take time, do. If you don't need to, don't. That's the most I can say on that matter. I didn't go to school in the traditional sense, so whatever makes sense for you makes sense.
What made the year off sort of a zero sum was that I had roughly enough cash to last roughly a year, but at about the halfway point I started looking for areas that I wanted to relocate to and worked on securing employment there. The stress of re-entering the workforce undid some of the decompression from leaving the corporate world in the first place.
It was a great period for figuring out just what I wanted to do and what really mattered in life. If I had to do it again, I'd have more FU money, or at least have a more solid income stream that wasn't wholly dependent on me being at an office for ~8 hours a day.
Lessons were learned, some easy, some hard. Plans are in action so that history won't repeat itself so closely next time I decide I need some time off.
I've successfully learned Chinese fluently. Spending a year hanging out in a nicer part of the mainland while working through books and paying a teacher for 1-on-1 lessons a few days a week (~100CNY=$16/hr) should get you conversational. I strongly recommend considering Yunnan: good standard Mandarin, excellent weather, friendly people, good food, many points of interest. Americans can now get 10 year visas easily, though you have to exit the country every 90 days. This means you don't have to tie yourself to a formal school and its (slow, tedious) pace, plus gives you a reason to travel. Yunnan has great options for the border hops on the cheap: Myanmar and Vietnam (visa available in Kunming) and Laos (visa on arrival) are right next door, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Thailand (visa on arrival) are also close.
Re: networking - do you think age is a factor? In your experience, have these meetups been inviting, or did it take a lot of effort on your part to start making connections?
I'd google for organizations you can help, but some ideas
- Habitat for Humanity (Global Venture could be good for travel too), a local ReStore, or a local house.
- A Meetup Near You
- A Startup Weekend Near You
- Ask a coworking space if you can be a coffee and copies intern
- Craigslist Gigs
- Your local church might know something.
Interesting thoughts, thank you. I feel like taking a gap year is an opportunity to learn things that I couldn't necessarily in a classroom.
Applying again next year, I'll be able to include all of my grades and test scores from this academic year, which will be an improvement. As long as I show that I'm not just wasting a year of my life, I don't think a gap year will hurt my chances of getting into school.
You also said that I'll have a lot of free time in college to explore my own interests, but isn't that a valid reason to take a gap year too? If I can go into college already knowing what's important to me and what I want to do, won't it make the experience that much better?
Yup, I mainly just want to learn/experience things that I wouldn't be able to in a classroom. Thanks for your suggestions! Travel will definitely happen, and I'll definitely document everything I do.
[1] https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2025/an/d4an0137...