External Monologue

Because under the post about giving minors the right to medically consent, people are spreading a ton of misinformation on this - largely because they just do not question the stuff they just assume are "normal". Which here is: "kids are all afraid of needles and therefore if we let them consent or not to medical proceedures, they would just not consent and not get vaccinations, because needles hurt".

And, look. Here is the thing: no, needles do not actually hurt a whole lot. And while, yes, certain procedures that involve being stabbed by a needle hurt more if you are younger for a bunch of reasons... that is actually not the main reason children fear needles. Because, again: the pain is not that bad. And most kids, especially young kids, whose motor skills are still developing, usually will have a bunch more hurting scratches, bruises and the like at any given moment than there will be pain from the needle.

No, from what research can tell, the main reason kids are afraid of needles, is more that for many of them needle procedures are very traumatizing. And that is largely because of the consent issue.

Imagine you are a person who is still pretty darn new to that whole human thing. So for one, yes, your brain is actually not that great in understanding what pain is dangerous and what pain is a safe limit of pain. So yes, someone intentionally hurting you (like with a needle) is really kinda scary. But then there is also the thing where this person hurting you is not telling you why they are doing. The people who you normally trust with keeping you safe (your family) is betraying you, by just holding you down and scolding you for crying over it. Or maybe it is not your family, but some strange nurse who is holding you. And while you are scared, because someone is intentionally hurting you, while someone else is restricting you, the adults around you are telling you, that your emotional reaction to this is actually bad and you are wrong for reacting that way. They might in fact lie to you and tell you that something that is insanely scary to you is "not that bad", instead of just understanding that it is super scary to you. And that is then what you start to expect whenever you see a doctor prepare a needle: people holding you down, hurting you without reason, and telling you that you are wrong for being upset, actively gaslighting you.

We have research on this. And this research is pretty clear: most kids are actually somewhat okay with needles, if you inform them why you are doing it, allow for them to have their emotions, talk to them about their emotions, and allow for them to set at least some conditions.

And frankly, I hate how many people just accept the framing of "kids are naturally afraid of this because it hurts". Like, folks, I know y'all are fucking Americans and that in your culture it is kinda normalized to like put kids into like some sort of fortified hamsterball to stop them from like doing typical kids stuff. But... let me tell you: if you do not do that, kids will actually very regularly engage in dangerous play that they know will often end up in injuries that are going to hurt. And, no, they are not to dumb to understand that. The kids know that this is what might happen because of their play. They actually just take the risk. Yes, they will cry if they get hurt, because - again - their nervous system is still calibrating how it relates to pain. But they will likely do that thing again and again. I can tell you: I fell down a tree so often during my childhood, and I still climbed it. Again and again. So did most kids I knew. Like, fuck, we lived next to a forest. We played "Tarzan", and tried to go along paths without touching the ground. And we fell. A lot. And we still did it.

look up “child life specialists”

— the profession is fully dedicated to supporting kids and families in the health care setting, and a significant portion of that is educating kids (in a way they can understand, developmentally) and making plans With them to make the experience easier!

And there is SO MUCH research out there! If you explain to kids what’s going on, they need less anesthesia, get better quicker, and have less medical trauma— which leads to a willingness to accept preventative care in the future!

the authors have developed a "phubbing scale" and demonstrated that it has strong correlation with the existing "maladaptive technology use" scale. from this, they conclude the "phubbing scale" is a valid and useful metric.

the "maladaptive technology use" scale, if you go and read that paper, has shown strong correlation with the "problematic smartphone application use" construct.

have you caught the problem yet? nowhere has it been proven that scoring high on any of this is actually bad for you.

> express annoyance with a common failing of academic writing in your field

asked students to volunteer to take a "screen-free challenge" where they didn't use electronic devices in class for a semester

recorded students' views on the challenge at the end of the course, and found that most of the students who participated had positive views while most of the students who didn't participate had negative views

completely ignored that this might just mean "people who thought something was a bad idea didn't do it", and instead concluded "the screen-free challenge leads to more positive views on the learning experience"

No parts of it extended beyond the lines, and the paper ticket was clearly displayed, impaled on a horn.

Turtle Quilt by Laurraine Yuyama

"Gamified physics?" You ask, hopefully.

No! ❤

(This is the simple chapter, where you only need to know rocket science. We'll get into orbital mechanics, relativity, nuclear physics, and the three-body-problem later.

Apropos of nothing: How's your calculus?)

Very few, but yes! Lichens are hardly ever a preferred food source (they resist cultivation, are slow growing, labor intensive to prepare, not easily digested by the human body, and don't taste great) but are sometimes used as thickeners, flavoring agents, traditional medicines, or as a back-up food source in times of famine. A few of note:

Cetraria islandica, aka Iceland moss, fjallagrasa The only lichen I have really eaten! It is used as a flavor additive, tea, and cough medicine (the efficacy of which is debatable), and is made into alcohol becuase people will make anything into alcohol. I have had traditional Icelandic flatbread made with C. islandica, and regularly drink C. islandica schnaps:

It has a grassy, earthy, kind of musky, tanic flavor. It's an acquired taste, to say the least. But it's grown on me. Bryoria fremontii, aka Wila, edible horsehair lichen

This lichen is incredibly culturally significant to the First Nations people of western North America, and has historically been used as food, medicine, bandage material, building material, diapers, dyes, fiber, and much more! Traditional Salish food preparation involves cleaning, soaking, and baking the lichen in an underground pit oven, the whole process taking several days to form dense, almost gelatinous loaves.

Be warned, however, if this has you thinking about going out and eating some right now: certain chemotypes with a yellow tinge contain toxic vulpinic acid, which is bad for you.

Parmotrema sp., aka, black stone flower, kalpasi, dagad phool

Lichens of this genus from eastern Asia are used as an aromatic spice and thickening agent in some parts of India, and are often hailed for their medicinal properties.

I had a jar of homemade curry spice gifted to me that used it, but can't say that I could really distinguish it from all the other spices.

Circinaria sp., aka manna or heavenly bread

You may have heard how god blessed the Israelites wandering in the desert with "manna from heaven" to stave off their hunger, and there is some ethnobotanical evidence that this was referring to vagrant Circinaria/Aspicilia lichens. It makes some sense: when dry, the lichen is pale and small, and difficult to distinguish from the arid dirt of its preferred habitat, but after rain, it swells and darkens in color, and looks as if it just fell out of the sky! The evidence is let's say, dubious, but it is fun to think about.

This is by no means an exhaustive list--just a few I have looked into. If anyone else has experience with edible lichens, feel free to add on!