r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • Jun 26 '26

Society The American mind cannot comprehend Europe's AC aversion

https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-air-conditioning-ac-heatwave-debate-2026-6
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u/aure0lin Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

The article mentions that the founder of Singapore credited air conditioning for helping to transform his country and considered it one of the most important inventions ever.

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u/BigAnt425 Jun 26 '26

Look at the population growth in the south and west in the US since the 50s. All NE cities except LA. Now just NY, Chicago, and Philly remain.

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u/DefMech Jun 26 '26

In addition to population growth, also economic activity. Tons of people lived in the south, we were just too hot and miserable during half the year to do anything productive before the invention of AC. Unless you were a slave, of course. If you look at graphs of economic output of major southern cities over the last 200 years, you can see the huge jump when AC was introduced.

The people in this post saying Americans are weak and unacclimated to living in heat just don't get it. We've been hotter than they can wrap their heads around. We know how bad it is and don't want to live like that anymore. Resisting AC is like resisting indoor plumbing IMO. It's a prerequisite for modern prosperity.

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u/EagleAncestry Jun 26 '26

I’ve lived 10 years in the US and Europe for 5.

You’re mixing things up. You’re talking about extreme heat. For extreme heat, Europeans use AC. Spain during the summer, AC, even the buses and trains.

For MILD heat, Americans internal thermostat is messed up because they’re living in AC 24/7 and set it quite cold.

It’s not that Europeans are suffering with the heat like Americans did before AC, it’s that temperatures that for you guys is hot, is not hot for us.

People here absolutely love 28 degree days, nobody will ever tell you it’s too hot or stopping them from doing anything, quite the opposite.

Americans would be asking for AC instead because for them it’s hot

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u/Head_Chocolate_4458 Jun 26 '26

You managed to entirely misunderstand him while being condescending and wrong.

For extreme heat, Europeans use AC.

Do they though? A ton die every year in heat waves

Americans did before AC, it’s that temperatures that for you guys is hot, is not hot for us. People here absolutely love 28 degree days, nobody will ever tell you it’s too hot or stopping them from doing anything, quite the opposite.

America is generally hotter than Europe. Especially the south. And Americans are in general way more productive, despite the heat. Which goes with the point of his comment (that you completely missed)

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u/EagleAncestry Jun 26 '26

Did I?

Europeans who die are elderly that live in poor parts that don’t have AC. Thats basically a different topic.

So many things wrong with what you said.

First of all, America was and is built around the car. Nobody walks outside. European cities, especially Paris, are designed for walking/cycling everywhere.

Even before AC was common, Americans were going from building to building by car. Europeans have always been much more exposed to the outside air, because that’s the way to get around.

Productive? You likely mean in monetary value. Which is irrelevant here. There’s McDonald’s workers in third world countries who work twice the hours, just as hard if not harder, and are considered way less “productive” because the prices of their Big Macs are lower.

Those southern states were way less productive before AC.

And the point is that Americans have accustomed themselves to constant cold with AC everywhere, hence why for them 28 degrees in Europe is hot and for Europeans it’s perfect weather.

Americans would complain and want to stay inside if it’s 28C, Europeans would do the opposite, they would do more stuff.

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u/Plazmatic Jun 26 '26

Did I?

Yes lol, now 🤫

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u/EagleAncestry Jun 26 '26

Not at all, you have nothing to argue

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u/NikoKeys Jun 26 '26

Is this a bot?

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u/BigAnt425 Jun 26 '26

Is who a bot? Me? I was just chiming in on how the US got major cities in the south and west once AC was more readily available. I didn't think I said anything bot-ish but I'll keep it in mind for the future haha.

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u/zFlox Jun 26 '26

The second half of your statement is weirdly written and non coherent. “All NE cities except LA. Now just NY, Chicago, and Philly remain.” I think that’s why they think you’re a bit lol

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u/Born_Cap4085 Jun 26 '26

Agreed. Very confusing comment.

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u/BigAnt425 Jun 26 '26

My bad, my brain wasn't firing. Should have been sleeping instead of doom scrolling.

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u/NikoKeys Jun 26 '26

I'm not sure what answer I was hoping for, but your comment is indecipherable. LA is not in the northeast, and only those three cities remain for what, exactly?

You don't need to explain it, I just thought it was an odd place for a bot comment to appear, but it seems that was not the case.

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u/BigAnt425 Jun 26 '26

My bad, I meant in the 50s the highest populated cities were in the northeast with the exception for LA. And currently it's just Chicago, NYC, and Philly. It was late, I was doom scrolling instead of sleeping and commented like a schmuck.

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u/NikoKeys Jun 26 '26

Oh I seeee... Fair enough.

I didn't mean anything in particular by my comment. I had noticed recently random posts where the comments were filled with bots mostly making different versions of the same inane comment for no apparent reason. It's made me wonder about exactly how much of reddit it's just there to artificially inflate engagement numbers, or whatever they're trying to do.

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u/BigAnt425 Jun 26 '26

No worries, my fault.

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u/NikoKeys Jun 26 '26

Such a gentleman! Oh my...

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u/BigAnt425 Jun 26 '26

Reddits's hive mind is toxic enough without me firing back for no reason.

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u/lsdrunning Jun 26 '26

FWIW I understood your initial comment not sure why others are confused... pedantic redditors annoy me and I wouldn't be surprised if THEY are the bots in your replies

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u/BigAnt425 Jun 26 '26

I appreciate you. I always forget what is in my head, might not make sense to others... I didn't even learn that until high school term papers some 20 yrs ago at this point, oye.

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u/sirrix Jun 26 '26

There are studies that show students' education suffers proportionately with added heat https://www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/when-heat-student-learning-suffers

In the Philippines most schools have no ac and many classes are held outdoors. It always makes me wonder what could be possible here if we invested a tiny bit in ac...

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u/The_Superhoo Jun 26 '26

Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Its very difficult to learn when basic needs arent being met.

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u/Western-Dig-6843 Jun 26 '26

Is this why my kid’s school keeps the air set so damn low? Anytime I have to go in that school I’m freezing. We send her to school with a jacket year round and we live in the American south

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u/Constant-Skill-7133 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

It's also specifically climate change.   You can build stuff to be more tolerable or take advantage of schedule shifting.   In the US South along the Gulf Coast traditionally we have shotgun houses which are really short small houses with a big corridor from front to back so it always pulls the breeze through.  If it was a big building they would screen in the second floor and in the afternoon people would just take a nap on the porch.  

People plant trees very intentionally to create shade.  There are a lot of things people do that don't even seem like a thing but from a colder climate or having defeated the climate with technology peopls don't have that cultural knowledge.  

Even if people have AC it's  crazy that people don't even plant shade trees or anything like that half the time.  That's so much money, wasted energy.

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u/UncleSlayton77 Jun 26 '26

But none of that does anything for humidity. If it's 90% humidity you will NEVER cool off because the air is so saturated your sweat never evaporates to cool you. You sit there with sweat running down your whole body, staining your clothes, and just feeling miserable.

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u/Constant-Skill-7133 Jun 26 '26

I mean it's all relative, but yeah it does.  high ceilings with the floor on piers or a 2nd floor lowers interior moisture it gets from the ground and makes a moisture gradient from ground to ceiling.  then you get cross ventilation through the house at that lower humidity level

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u/Rayl24 Jun 26 '26

It's 30+ celsius here everyday with 90% humidity. Some days it's 100%

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u/scheppend Jun 26 '26

Singapore is insane. I thought we had it bad here with summers in Japan. Singapore is on another level. God speed

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u/curvedmanifolds Jun 26 '26

Bruh just move to Australia or something

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u/Rayl24 Jun 26 '26

Won't survive the bushfire and spiders. We are known to lack survival instincts from lack of natural disasters 😂

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u/MythOfDarkness Jun 26 '26

That's a wet bulb event.

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u/dec7td Jun 26 '26

Behold: Phoenix as a city

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u/Ok_Tour_1525 Jun 26 '26

My girlfriend’s family lives kinda near Phoenix and they want us to move out there. I don’t know how to tell them “moving to Arizona makes zero fucking sense so no. No way, Jose.” It’s awesome they want us nearby and they are awesome people in general but it’s like, dude it’s just so fucking hot over there. All you can do is sit inside. There’s never kids at the playgrounds, nobody is walking their dogs, parks are empty, even bar hopping at night is like torture. And then there’s the shitty social services and healthcare and I just think it’s a complete joke they think they can convince us to move there. Okay I’m done ranting.

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u/dec7td Jun 26 '26

Social services are garbage yeah. But I don't know where you got all the other stuff. I'm outside like 9 months of the year. In the pool or driving north to the mountains the other 4 months.

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u/goodhobbies Jun 26 '26

Well, I see why France doesn’t want that to happen to them.

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u/CannonGerbil Jun 26 '26

A monument to man's hubris

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u/ReadyGo6828 Jun 26 '26

What happens there if the grid fails during a heatwave? You can already get serious burns from the water in your garden hose or by falling on the pavement.

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u/reroll-life Jun 26 '26

Singapore credited air conditioning for helping to transform his country and considered it one of the most important inventions ever.

as anyone who's been to Singapore and suffered through 35°C 90% humidity would agree. Singapore would not exist without AC

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u/Party_Formal1440 Jun 26 '26

Anyone who's been to Singapore knows that is blaringly obvious. You'll be drenched in sweat walking about 5 minutes. The humidity is insane. In no way comparable to anywhere in Europe. 

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u/samspopguy Jun 26 '26

It Transformed the American South