thesimplebest:

Sam Harris:

The case against burning wood is every bit as clear as the case against smoking cigarettes. Indeed, it is even clearer, because when you light a fire, you needlessly poison the air that everyone around you for miles must breathe. Even if you reject every intrusion of the “nanny state,” you should agree that the recreational burning of wood is unethical and should be illegal, especially in urban areas. By lighting a fire, you are creating pollution that you cannot dispose. It might be the clearest day of the year, but burn a sufficient quantity of wood and the air in the vicinity of your home will resemble a bad day in Beijing. Your neighbors should not have to pay the cost of this archaic behavior of yours. And there is no way they can transfer this cost to you in a way that would preserve their interests. Therefore, even libertarians should be willing to pass a law prohibiting the recreational burning of wood in favor of cleaner alternatives (like gas).

I have discovered that when I make this case, even to highly intelligent and health-conscious men and women, a psychological truth quickly becomes as visible as a pair of clenched fists: They do not want to believe any of it. Most people I meet want to live in a world in which wood smoke is harmless. Indeed, they seem committed to living in such a world, regardless of the facts. To try to convince them that burning wood is harmful—and has always been so—is somehow offensive. The ritual of burning wood is simply too comforting and too familiar to be reconsidered, its consolation so ancient and ubiquitous that it has to be benign. The alternative—burning gas over fake logs—seems a sacrilege.

And yet, the reality of our situation is scientifically unambiguous: If you care about your family’s health and that of your neighbors, the sight of a glowing hearth should be about as comforting as the sight of a diesel engine idling in your living room. It is time to break the spell and burn gas—or burn nothing at all.

Of course, if you are anything like my friends, you will refuse to believe this. And that should give you some sense of what we are up against whenever we confront religion.

I can say truthfully that I’m aware of the health issues surrounding the burning of wood, as well as sustainability issues that Sam Harris doesn’t even begin to mention.

And yet.

To me, the smell of woodsmoke is one of the most comforting and relaxing scents I know. The very act of sitting around a fire with several close friends or family members has a talismanic effect, providing me with a feeling of safety and general well-being—however false that feeling may be. My personal suspicion is that this positive feeling about sitting around a fire with fellow humans was evolutionarily advantageous, and the early humans who didn’t have this reaction wound up—quite literally—out in the cold, and had few children. Regardless of the ultimate reason, this is certainly a hard feeling to shake.

This is an enlightening experience for me. While enjoying things that are bad for me personally is nothing new—desserts are my favourite vice—I have until now avoided knowingly partaking in behaviours that are dangerous to my fellow humans. And yet it’s truly difficult for me to imagine totally giving up the experience of sitting around a fire a few times a year.