Friday, July 10, 2009

Dimly Enlightened.

Today's blog is brought to you by The Training Institute for Flying Squirels


Between the research I'm doing for my current WIP and my wonderful antique Children's Literature Text book, I've been thinking a lot about the past, the present and how generations change, how thinking and idea's morph over time.

Each generation thinks they have an enlightened view of the world. Each era has it's own sense of superiority.

It makes me wonder what we hold or reject in society today. What do we believe to be true, or how do we see ourselves as "enlightened" only generations from now we will be proven wrong?

For example: In my research of Medical History past, I've found that doctors were skeptical of the use of antiseptic. Here's a blurb from the Book "The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800's" by Marc McCutcheon. (a google search will also provide similar info)

This section of the book comes from a glossary of terms re: Health, Medicine and Hygiene in the 1800's:

carbolic spray: an antiseptic spray strongly recommended by Lister to disinfect operating rooms of germs but used only by a handful of surgeons even as late as the 1870's. Pysicians were ignorant of the importance of cleanliness for most of the century. Antiseptic practices were not widely adopted until the 1880's and consequently cases of septicemia were common.

Her's a bit from Samuel Gross, Professor of Surgery, Philadelphia, in a medical review:
"Little if any faith is placed by any enlightened surgeon on this side of the Atlantic in the so-called carbolic acid treatment of Professor Lister."


Does that hit you like it hits me? Kind of makes you wonder. . . . huh?
What thoughts or people are though of in a negative way that will one day be praised? What of these do we see as good, that will go on to be thought of as "bad?" What is absurd now that will be commonplace in the future? what is common now that will be absurd in the future? hmmmmm . . . . Dang. My thinker is set in overdrive.

Will Diet Coke one day be found to be as destructive to our health as smoking (I hope not.)?

Will the key to good health be found in chocolate?

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?








13 comments:

Deb Logan said...

I'm banking on chocolate being hailed as the miracle drug / fountain of youth! *lol*

C.R. Evers said...

me too! I'm keeping my fingers crossed! :0)

Mame said...

Thank you, evolution of common sense, for hand sanitizer!

MG Higgins said...

Whatever it is, I'm very hopeful, since dark chocolate, wine and coffee now have beneficial and healthful properties. Cool!

Corey Schwartz said...

Great question. I hope in the not-distant future, people will look back with shock at 2009 when gays did not have equal rights in this country.

Kate said...

Chocolate keeps me happy. It must be good for me!

I always find it interesting how many 'old wives' remedies are later found to be scientifically sound.

Adrienne said...

This reminds me of how much the pediatrician's waiting room drove me crazy when my kids were babies - all those plastic toys! I'd wonder if they'd learned nothing about how germs spread...

Angela Ackerman said...

I think about this a lot--I think it's having kids. We explain to them that when we were little, there was no internet. In a way it's neat to explain how the internet was born, how it started to show up and what it was like, but on the other hand, the look on their faces clearly states that we're right up there with dinosaurs.

Often I think, what new things are there to invent? But one look into the past shows that we are constantly evolving, constantly coming up with new ideas. Nothing is static. Our lives will always be filled with new inventions, ideas and ways to do something. All I can hope for is that they do us and the planet more good than harm.

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

pls let it be! "chocolate and cheese keeps the fat away" - my dream heading in the WSJ

Carrie Harris said...

I think about this kind of thing all the time. After all, they did used to put cocaine in Coke.

Kelly H-Y said...

Oh, yes ... definitely the chocolate!!!! :-) Great post!

Angela said...

Yes, I wonder about exactly that. I love to find old medical texts and then I look forward, everything we know to be true will be ancient (even blogs!) I really like to find exercise prescriptions and I love interviewing the active elderly people I meet about what has change -and surprised them- over their lifetime. (Everyone over 100 gets an interview!!!)

Angela said...
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