I'm going to have to take another night off. I had the surgery on my injured finger today and I'm supposed to keep that hand up above heart level, which doesn't go well with sitting here typing. The doctor seemed proud of her work and showed me a picture of it. She told me she thought there was a good chance that I'll end up with both a full length finger and full nail.
Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a favorite quote from one of my favorite role models, physicist Richard P. Feynman. It goes well today with the "follow the science" crowd arguing for the removal of human rights.
A followup idea to this is another quote of his: "Since then I never pay attention to anything by "experts." I calculate everything myself." The idea of ruthlessly questioning everything you think you know is missing today. We need to get back to that. If experts weren't questioned and challenged, there would be no progress of human knowledge.
Question everything. And calculate it yourself.
Glad ya got it taken care of and, fingers crossed, all goes well.
ReplyDeleteMafz and sciencez iz hard. But always worth the payoff.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for the finger thing.
Sorry to hear of your injury. At least it's not a fretting hand. Unless you are a leftie.
ReplyDeleteLOL, it's not the fretting hand. But it could mean my attempts to become a fingerstyle player are about over.
DeleteAnd why is it that banjo players never doubt for a minute they need finger picks, but guitarists think that only natural fingernails are acceptable?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteFeynman was an amazing guy. I saw him speak once at Fermilab, and he's one of the few "inspiring" Scientists I've ever heard speak.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago I skimmed through a textbook of plastic surgery. I was amazed at just how complex a hand is. Layer after layer of fascia and tissue. I'm glad to hear that you got to an expert for this sort of surgery.
ReplyDeleteAs for "ruthlessly questioning everything you think you know", that goes to the essence of epistemology. The very core of a skeptical mind is to question our own confirmation biases (and the smarter you are, the more subject you are to such bias because you're more able to find it). With the entire knowledge of the human race available in the palm of our hands, and knowing that 90% or more of what we see is garbage, we are always looking for correlation, confirmation, and if I may use a much abused word: truth.
I've learned more by researching what I already *knew* than in any course I've ever taken.
ReplyDelete^That, right there.
DeleteIn medical knowledge, the best way to learn something is to have to teach it.
In weapon skillz, it's the Travis Haley approach:
"This is what I know, what I do, and why I do it. It may or may not work for you, but now you know why we say to do it this way, and encourage you to try it yourself, and see what works best."
Transparency and repeatability, and entirely absent any appeal to authority, other than the evidence of your own lying eyes.
That's science in a nutshell, bitchez.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAs a retired dentist, please believe me when I say that I truly feel your pain
ReplyDeleteHope the surgery is a complete success, sounds like things are headed in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the comments about Richard Feynman. The gentleman was a genius that we lost way to soon. Amazing ability to explain things clearly.
EdC