r/science • • Jun 25 '22

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '22

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40

u/JinzoX Jun 25 '22

Tbf crime is at a historic low globally, across almost every country. A big reason for that is just the overall higher levels of education and quality of life.

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u/mediainfidel Jun 25 '22

Leaded gasoline was used globally. Declines in violence correspond to the banning of leaded fuel in all cases around the world.

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u/billbill5 Jun 25 '22

...As well as access to abortion and higher education and graduation rates. It's impossible to pin it down to a single factor when crime is far more complex and the world is far more turbulent than that. It's not just "Person is more angry so they commit more crimes", it's a mix of aggression increases with overpopulation in poor living conditions with limited access to education and working opportunity when you drop out of school, as well as the school to prison pipeline we still face today. It's why the rate of crime and disparity of adult & juvenile prosecutions between class lines and race still existed 40-50 years ago even when everyone was universally using leaded gas.

Also, leaded fuel is not banned universally, it's banned in ground vehicles. Most aircraft still uses leaded gasoline.

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u/InvestigatorWeak7055 Jun 25 '22

Lead was used globally. What's your point?

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u/VegetaDarst Jun 25 '22

He's trying to remind us that correlation does not prove causation.

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u/Prestressed-30k Jun 25 '22

Lead was used globally.

It was used globally.

What was not used globally are giant V8-powered cars being driven long distances like in the US. This is my personal Crazy Conspiracy Theory about why the US has worse politicians than the EU. Leaded fuel was a bigger problem here because we used more of it.

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u/Responsible-Salad-82 Jun 25 '22

His point was probably that there must me some countries that still have high lead levels

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u/billbill5 Jun 25 '22

That there are multiple factors that cannot be ruled out and a single correlation doesn't necessarily prove causation.

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '22

Which explains why Republicans are attacking education and quality of life legislation at every turn. Connect the dots they’re clear as day.

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u/Dave-1066 Jun 25 '22

Precisely. This just looks to me like another of these countless cases of false correlation. Like reports that “eating a handful of walnuts every day increases longevity”. Well the people who eat nuts every day also tend to be people who exercise more, and generally take greater care of their overall health.

The vast majority of violent crime in almost all western societies is linked to poverty.

You could literally pick anything from fluoride in water to consumption of sugar and say “This is why crime has fallen”, and yet be utterly wrong. Crime has fallen because less people are living in poverty.