Your Wi-Fi is Making Me Sick
By Dave Hitt on Jan 12, 2010 in Featured, Junk Science
Few things can make life as miserable as idiot neighbors. Imagine someone next door demanding you give up your cell phone and wi-fi because he’s allergic to electromagnetic radiation.
If you life in Santa Fe, you don’t have to imagine it. Arthur Firstenberg is demanding his neighbors turn off everything to cater to his imaginary allergy to EMF. He’s banded together with other idiots who are insisting that all wi-fi be banned in all public buildings. “I get chest pain,” he says. “It doesn’t go away right away. I suffer for a couple of days. If I walk into a room of a building that has Wi-Fi, my most immediate sign is that the front of my right thigh goes numb. If I don’t leave, I’ll get short of breath, chest pains and the numbness will spread.” He’s banding together with other neurotics, trying to use the American’s With Disabilities Act to force everyone to cater to their nonsense. (I wonder they get together?)
This reaction to our wired world is somewhat popular among those claiming Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, another imaginary disease. (When typing this, I misspelled “sensitivity.” My spelling checker suggested the correct word was “senility.”)
These people are suffering. Their pain and symptoms are quite real. The problem is with their self diagnosis. They are not suffering from EHS, MCS, or any of the other long lists of diseases they whine about to anyone who makes the mistake of asking them, “How are you?” Their real illness is severe hypochondria. There are treatments for that, but since they won’t accept a legitimate diagnosis they’ll continue to wallow in their self-imposed anguish and demand that everyone else change their lifestyle until they’re just as miserable.
I’ve found the best way to deal with such people: avoid them as if they had a real and contagious disease.
Add-On: Mike Tighe sent me this link about locals whining about the horrible things a local radio tower was doing to them. There was just one little problem: The tower had been turned off for weeks.
Looking at the story a second time, those are all the symptoms of a panic attack. Some Ativan would clear that right up.
Michael | Jan 12, 2010 | Reply
Could also be Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS) which Dr. Sarno wrote several books about. It’s caused by suppressed anger in the subconscious mind affecting the body – usually manifested as back pain, but other body parts are often affected as well. A type of hypochrodria I suppose.
This is how “nanny-ism” gets started.
John E. Bill | Jan 12, 2010 | Reply
Easy enough to test..hang a wifi sign in a place with no wifi and see if he flips.
johnny virgil | Jan 12, 2010 | Reply
Sounds like a great JREF million dollar challenge claim to me. I wonder if he (and the JREF) would go for it. Seems like it should be a pretty simple thing to set up as a double blind test.
If he wins, he’ll get a million bucks, which should be enough to buy a really nice Faraday cage, and a leg to stand on when he’s asking others to turn off their wi-fi.
I have a strong feeling that he isn’t willing to put it to an objective test. He could prove me wrong.
Lowell | Jan 12, 2010 | Reply
Tell them if they’re suffering that much to go live in a cabin in Alaska. It’s hard to find WiFi there.
Hank | Jan 12, 2010 | Reply
Great idea – hang the WI-FI sign up where there is no WI-FI. I love it!
John E. Bill | Jan 13, 2010 | Reply
The article says that he only feels ill if he enters the building, my my informal survey in Seattle shows at least 3 (usually 5+) wifi signals everywhere downtown. My own (quiet, affluent) suburb has some empty spots, but they are small.
I wonder if this data would cure him or break him…
Kneil | Jan 15, 2010 | Reply
Kneil, I think he’s already broken.
Hittman | Jan 16, 2010 | Reply
He is certainly damaged, but appears to be somewhat functional.
Kneil | Jan 17, 2010 | Reply
I am a healthy forty year old, I work out 5 days a week, play soccer and golf at the weekends and can’t remember the last time I visited a doctor but I can tell you straight up that I had to get rid of my wireless router at home as it was making both myself and my wife sick. Count yourself lucky that you don’t have this sensitivity, I work in the IT industry and suffer from it and I can tell you it’s very real.
Brian Mac Sweeney | Feb 26, 2010 | Reply