Have you ever needed a pair of scissors and couldn’t find one? No doubt you were extremely frustrated. Although scissors are one of mankind’s most low-tech inventions (two strips of metal joined at a pivot point), their uses are manifold and there seems to be no substitute. Imagine trying to cut a piece of paper without a pair of scissors, cutting out an article from a newspaper or magazine without scissors, opening a package tied up with string without scissors, etc.
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Soap: Extraordinary Ordinary Things
I remember as a child my parents always insisted I wash my hands with soap before sitting down to eat. I have never forgotten this, and sometimes get odd looks because of it.
In a restaurant, I always go wash my hands before the food is delivered even though no one else at the table does. Worse, when I visit friends in their homes, I do the same thing. I imagine they must think I have some kind of mania about cleanliness on a par with Lady Macbeth: “Out, out, damned spot!” While the good lady does not explicitly mention soap, there is a Lady Macbeth soap on the market anyhow. I don’t have a cleanliness mania. But I do have due consideration for the advice I received from my parents—and continue to receive from the medical community.
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Coronavirus: Psychological Pain, Psychological Gain
It is no secret that for many people, the “stay at home” policies that have been adopted by many countries to combat the spread of the coronavirus is causing considerable psychological pain. However, there may also be a psychological benefit to be gleaned from this otherwise bleak situation. And that is a fundamental readjustment of our expectations, particularly in so-called “first world countries.”
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I’d Rather Be Wrong Than Be Corrected
Some time ago I heard the story of an eminent scientist (I don’t remember the discipline) who had developed a controversial ground-breaking idea, which had been under attack for several years. Each time it was attacked, he had been able to successfully repel the criticisms.
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