Do those numbers include the UK when it was in the EU? Obviously removing a large pool of sceptics would shift the numbers.
The "positive" number has recovered from a low in the wake of the Eurozone crisis but is still fallen significantly from the pre-crisis level of around 50%.
The current "positive" number from spring 2025 is actually 52%, only 5 points down from the highest number in the past 20 years, and the second highest trust number in the same time period.
Sure, the eurozone debt crisis of the 2010s was rough for the trust mumbers, taking them down to 33% but they've fully recovered from that.
it seems to be using a different measure (numbers do not match the link I posted) and I cannot see any numbers from 20 years ago.
There is graph from 2012 but that is from the low (if you look at my link).
Have a missed a pre-crisis comparable number in skimming it? If not, then what I see is still a significant decline over the last 20 years in the net positive.
IMO the Eurozone is very likely to have further crises. The architects of the Euro expected a greater degree of fiscal union but that never happened. A single currency without a large central budget is a mistake and makes it much harder to correct instability.
It happened at all because the UK was the most Eurosceptic big EU country so it could still have an impact on the numbers.
Also, negative and positive feelings are not the same thing as a vote. For example, some people who felt negative about the EU voted remain because they were worried about economic disruption (the government was predicting a severe recession in the event of a leave vote - not after leaving, merely as a result of a vote). I am sure people can think of other examples and both ways, but the point is that "feel negative/positive" and "would vote to leave/remain) are not the same number).
If they invented this for shortsightedness, which I have very slightly, I would pay a huge amount of money (in European medical cost terms) for it.
I mildly dislike wearing glasses but need them or I have a headache within an hour, I can’t overcome my blink reactions to put in contacts (after several hour long sessions with my optometrist) and my shortsightedness isn’t strong enough to convince myself to go for laser eye surgery.
I wouldn't say that cutting a hole in your eyeball and putting a foreign object inside is 'safe'. Perhaps safer than LASIK, but I have a hard time believing any surgeon that would claim there are no risks.
> LASIK/SMILE/etc were never and are not safe. At least ICL is fully reversible.
Citation needed.
All people I know and feedback I've heard that took LASIK or LASEK have said that it was a live-changing surgery. I myself underwent LASEK and have nothing bad to say.
I've never heard that it was unsafe. Quite the opposite, actually.
Then again, when I hear feedback from Americans it sounds like a different world. I live in a wealthy and medically-respected European country, though.
I've been wearing glasses for short sightedness for my whole life and also don't wear contacts because the idea of putting them in freaks me out.
I always think about it from the point of view of what would happen if I want to do extended travel. Which method minimizes risk around something going wrong.
For example:
If you put your contacts in luggage and that gets lost or stolen now you have a really big problem with your sight in a foreign country.
If you're dependent on drops, it's the same problem as contacts.
In both cases, even if you do things to minimize losing them they have a limited supply. What if you want to travel for a year, are you comfortable getting the same type you have at home sent to you in a foreign country?
If you're dependent on glasses, typically you wear them all the time so the risk is them getting broken somehow which is rare. I've been wearing glasses my whole life and have never once broke or damaged them. The biggest risk is falling asleep with them on and rolling over them so it's critically important to move them off to the side somewhere. That also means being extra careful if you're sleeping on a bus or outdoors, you need to be really mindful of where your glasses are at all times if you're not wearing them.
The downside to glasses is they can prevent you from experiences. Casual swimming is annoying, especially alone where you also want to watch your bag that could be hundreds of feet away. Also practicing martial arts with sparring is a problem. Showering without being able to see clear isn't too bad in practice but it's a daily thing.
Surgery has the highest potential upside since you effectively become "normal" but the surgery has to go well so there's a risk factor to think about now. I only know 3 people who have gotten lasik in the last ~15 years. 1 of them sees massive halos at night time with lights so they can't drive at night. 1 of them has to use eye drops for dryness even 2 years after surgery. 1 of them had it done about 10 years ago and has no negative side effects but the effects of the surgery are slowly wearing off to where they will need another surgery in the next few years since their eyes have changed.
Personally if I knew surgery had a 99.999% side effect free success rate and at worst I would only need to do it every 10-15 years I would do it but I just can't get past the risk factor. Sight is just too important. I look forward to a day where this is a fully solved problem in a non-invasive way.
The travel risks of contacts are manageable. Always travel with a fresh spare pair, a contacts case (to store the old pair), and a pair of glasses in a hard case. The glasses go in your personal bag, not your luggage.
If the risk management strategy of contacts involves having a pair of glasses on hand, why not jump straight to that (unless you don't like glasses in the first place and only use them if all else fails)?
Then again, my eyesight isn't bad enough for me breaking my glasses on a holiday to be a potential problem. I've never broken any of my pairs before, and even if they were lost, I'm still able to read and get around. It's just more unpleasant to do so. But I still prefer glasses and wear them pretty much at all times.
Before I got LASIK, I wore contacts but travelled with glasses. There are a huger variety of reasons that you might use contacts even if you have your glasses available. In fact, everyone I know with contacts also always has a pair of glasses that goes with them on travels.
In my case I worked onboard tall ships. Contacts let me be on deck in inclement weather without worrying about spray, fog, or losing a pair of glasses, let me use any pair of sunglasses instead of a ~$250+ pair of prescription glasses, as well as things like diving and snorkelling without needing a $150 prescription mask.
You can get cheap glasses from China. I found on reddit people swearing by zenottic on aliexpress and got some glasses for 20-30$. Nothing to scream about, plastic but they do the job really well.
I already lost one pair in the sea, which would have been bad if I had 200$+ glasses.
I wear contacts in water or if I lose my glasses, but try to use glasses most of the time to let my eyes breathe.
Contacts in water? A friend of mine did that and got sand in them. Really bad. It was a long time ago so I forgot details, i.e. why not just discard them?
Try having vision worse than 20/200 and getting around without glasses. When I traveled, pre-contacts, I always packed a spare and a repair kit. With contacts, I pack one pair of glasses, a repair kit and spare contacts, its essentially the same prep and experience. Except now I have peripheral vision and can wear whatever sunglasses I have on hand. They also don't fog up like glasses do, which makes the transition in and out of buildings in hot, humid climates where AC is prevalent less annoying.
I've used contacts for about 20 years and I prefer them to glasses doing anything active and generally traveling. I would be very worried about navigating the world without being able to read things 3 feet away with my prescription of -4 so I always travel with a pair of glasses.
I wore glasses since I was maybe 10 and then contact lenses for decades.
I got sick of the daily ritual of having to clean my hands, put them in and then take them out at night.
My eyesight was pretty bad with a large prescription and keratoconus on top (that I did have C3R surgery for). I was dismayed when I found out I wasn't eligible for laser surgery so I just accepted that I'd have to deal with the inconvenience of glasses/lenses during the most active years of my life.
Then I found out that you can do Refractive Lens Exchange (same surgery that they do for people with cataracts) and went for that a few years ago. It isn't perfect but - for me at least - it was worth the risk. I do get issues with glares when it's dark but when it's bright there are no side effects. I also had to get a YAG laser treatment about a year later due to some 'clouding' but that not a big deal other than the expense.
When I last went for an eye test I was told I had 20/20 vision in one eye and I didn't believe the optician. I've long forgotten what 20/20 vision is like so maybe it's just overrated.
> I always think about it from the point of view of what would happen if I want to do extended travel. Which method minimizes risk around something going wrong.
This actually happened to me. Spent two months on the other side of the planet. When I landed I realized I didn't pack my contacts. I just wore the same pair the whole time and was fine.
These were dailies. I was either wearing an Acuvue brand or I had already switched to Daysoft, I forget.
I talked to my optometrist and they told me that most contacts are the same material, and bi-weeklies/etc are just slightly thicker for durability.
I was diligent about cleaning them, while at the same time being gentle so I didn't tear them. I was also very cautious about swimming with them, touching them or otherwise doing anything that might promote eye infections. Comfort-wise, they were fine, but it felt like they shrank slightly over time, if that makes sense.
I had a similar issue with lenses. Those appointments are hell and counter-productive. Firstly, it's a difficult thing to do under pressure. Secondly the more you attempt it the more your eyes get irritated and the more difficult it becomes. Eventually I managed to sort of just shove it in when the optometrist wasn't looking. Then they gave me some to take home and I was able to practice in a less stressful environment and finally got the hang of it. Saying that, if I stop for a while and then go back to them it can take a couple of days to get the reflexes to slow down again. If you can order a pack online without a prescription I'd say it's relatively safe to do that and practice at home provided they've already explained the hygiene basics and you know how to put them in/out, you're just having issues with the blinking.
Basically, contact lenses you wear at night (which could perhaps be tolerable for you). Then, your vision stays fine during the day (mostly, it worsens gradually but it's manageable).
I don't use it myself but I have a relative that does and they love it.
The issue is getting the lenses in and out of my eyes. I simply can’t. I tried really hard for about 4 hours with a consultant and I think that I got it in successfully once, and she had to remove it for me while I held my eye open.
Not something that is recommended for ordinary bad vision - as it mostly works to treat eye pressure (one particular type of age related vision correction).
I remember some blog (maybe HackADay?) suggested sanding the back to give it a brushed aluminium look and that ended up looking so cool. Those early iPods were all-time-great products.
All the iDevices of Apple in their prime. I still have an old broken iPhone 4 as a reminder of what peak mobile phone design looked like. I miss being able to reach the whole screen with my thumb.
Moved from SE to 12 mini, now a 13 mini - just bought used last year. Will likely hold on for another year or two. Desperately want a small screen. There just seem to be no options.
Re: thumb - I have found some gesture to pull the screen down halfway so you can reach the 'top' part without moving your hand. It's close to OK, and it's almost second nature now, but still annoying.
From a few years ago with a Thumb Zone Heat Map - https://www.scotthurff.com/posts/how-to-design-for-thumbs-in... (searching around, this appears to be the source since other blog posts that include it or mention it with attribution have 'Based on Scott Hurffs "How to design for thumbs in the era of huge screens"'
> I miss being able to reach the whole screen with my thumb.
This. Oh, so much this. I have hated every phone after my OG iPhone SE so much because of this lunacy in design. It's ridiculous that we can't use our phones one-handed.
I know-- people don't want small phones. >sigh< I wonder if we're getting to the point that most phone users have never actually used a phone with a screen they can reach across with one hand.
Is Kagi getting better for places outside the USA? Last time I tried to use them (in Ireland) all of the results were US focused, while Google would realise that I'm in Ireland and prioritise Irish businesses/sources and so on. I needed to include the word "Ireland" in any search phrase like "curtain cleaners Dublin" or otherwise I'd get curtain cleaning companies in a Dublin somewhere else, with no Irish results until the 2nd page.
Also, there was significant latency in searching compared to Google.
I went through my drawers and I have a bunch of black nylon Joseph Joseph spatulas and fish slices and things [1]. ChatGPT tells me that nylon is not frequently recycled because it's tough to do so - so I'm hoping that these are safe. They also say:
> All of our food contact products comply with EU regulations which states that materials do not release their constituents into food at levels harmful to human health. [2]
and they aren't some no-name brand that wouldn't suffer from lying about that.
Mallow is in the Cork commuter zone; you can use a leap card there. The issue is more around stations where you currently can’t use a leap card at all.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1360333/euroscepticism-e...