Do You Have a PC Posture?

prostoalex writes "PC Magazine takes a look at 'PC posture' and the problems associated with the workstyles of those who spend hours in front of the PC. They talk about proper sitting styles, the erroneous name of 'wrist rest,' monitor height and the need for periodic exercises to help alleviate potential repetitive stress injuries."

Comments

Proper posture

[ben there...]

I'm convinced that the best way to sit at a computer is to sit in different awkward positions each time. Slouch, sit upright, lean to the side, sit at an angle, bring one leg up on your seat and sit on it. It really doesn't matter. Just don't do the same thing all day.

I should probably have carpal tunnel by now, considering how much I use computers at work and at home. Yet it's the people who aren't very into computers and only do data entry at work that seem to get it.

Re:we are not supposed to live longer than 40 year

[arkhan_jg]

This is misinformed. The reason we 'live longer' in modern societies is primarily due to an improvements in child health and childbirth. Children dying young, and young women dying in childbirth dragged the mean lifespan down - people lived about as long as they do now, just less of them got a decent run at it. Basically, they didn't just drop dead at 40, they lived to 70 or 80 if they didn't die before the age of 5.

A better 'average' lifespan is around 70. It's difficult to say, as many of the side effects of a modern industrialised society - poor diet, lack of exercise and chemical/toxic pollution drag us down just as modern medicine helps individuals live longer.

Your post also assumes a 'designer'. We've evolved like all animals, and part of the evolution that allows us to stand upright also involved bending the spine into a rather unusual shape, leaving us prone to lower back problems. We also have wear and tear on the joint surfaces (which usually starts kicking in seriously about 70). We have a number of evolutionary weaknesses, which have often been caused because they gave us an advantage in another way, or simply weren't detrimental enough to the population to be weeded out. There's no 'natural' age to live to though, it really just does depend upon luck and maintenance.