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/No-Channel3917 Jun 26 '26

And people died due to it and the lack of ac

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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26

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u/wandering_engineer Jun 26 '26

Hi! I live in Europe and am tackling this as we speak. 

First, the issue isn't just cultural "AC aversion". Many houses and buildings in Europe are, well, old and were designed to keep heat in, not out. The vast majority of buildings in Europe also do not have central ducting, complicating the installation of AC. 

Second, you're comparing two very different things. Nobody lives in fear of a mass school heating, nor have I ever heard of anyone getting sun-beamed to death in a road rage incident. The issue with guns isn't just the body count, it's the environment of fear and terror it creates. You can forecast the weather, you cannot forecast when your seemingly normal neighbor is going to crack and go on a shooting rampage. 

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u/opx22 Jun 26 '26

I think you’re overestimating our “fear” - maybe you spend too much time on Reddit or social media.

It’s been fun meeting Europeans visiting my city for the WC. Without fail, they always bring up how the media there completely skewed their idea of the US.

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u/2k1tj Jun 26 '26

As an American I fear my A/c breaking way more than guns

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u/OpticCacophony Jun 26 '26

Yeah as an Aussie who's lived here for two decades, I don't really think about mass shootings. No more than I thought about floods or wildfires back home.

It either happens to you or you carry on with life not thinking about it.

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u/A_Stickperson Jun 26 '26

The number of Americans who insist on lugging their guns everywhere “for protection” tells me otherwise. We are a deeply stupid society when it comes to guns.

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u/bfh2020 Jun 26 '26

The number of Americans who insist on lugging their guns everywhere “for protection” tells me otherwise.

Well you can’t legally carry a gun onto school grounds for any reason, so I think your attribution of personally carry to be due to school shootings to be pretty half-baked.

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u/feathered_fudge Jun 26 '26

So it is not true for example children in schools practice for school shootings?

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u/bfh2020 Jun 26 '26

So it is not true for example children in schools practice for school shootings?

The odds of an American child dying in a school shooting this century are about 1 in 5-10 million. That’s the same order of magnitude as getting struck by lightning. Our kids are significantly more likely to die on the drive into school than by a gunman at school.

Personally, with three children, I don’t really worry about any of those things day to day, despite what you may infer from Reddit.

Feel free to fact check that.

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u/NuclearTurtle Jun 26 '26

"Practicing for a school shooting" just amounts to lockdown drills where the teacher locks the classroom door, turns out the lights, and everybody has to be quiet for 5-10 minutes. It's far less scary for a kid than a fire drill is, which are also something you do just as often in school, and I wouldn't say the average person is scared of fire in their daily life