Tattoos? Not a fan

Walter Savage

Vaccines (yay!)

Pasteurization

Implementing and enforcing food quality and sanitation standards. Did you know White Castle was called as such because their gimmic was that they continually cleaned and bleached their stores inside and out to prevent food poisoning.

The invention of antibiotics! The first sulfa drugs dropped in the 1930s-40s

Widespread access and distribution of enriched food products! Enriched flour did a lot to prevent malnutrition, and it’s how Wonderbread got its name!

We got a hell of a lot better with medical care for sick and premature infants. The first incubators for premature babies were actually used as something of a sideshow attraction at Coney Island! It was the only way the doctor who invented them could get funding to keep them running because no one thought it would work. It showed a lot of people that really premature babies could survive with the right treatment and eventually was adopted by hospitals.

The green revolution in agriculture that prevented around a billion people from starving to death

"It's NOT that Mormons won't listen to ex-Mormons because they think they're WRONG. Rather, they're terrified ex-Mormons might be right."

How the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Act of 1973 influenced for-profit insurance 

Incentivized private sector growth: The act provided grants and loans to start or expand HMOs, which included both non-profit and for-profit versions.

Encouraged competition: By encouraging the growth of HMOs, the law spurred competition among health plans, with the belief that this would lead to lower costs.

Required employers to offer HMOs: The law mandated that employers with 25 or more employees must offer a federally qualified HMO as an option alongside traditional indemnity plans.

Promoted a different model: The HMO model was designed around a "prepaid group practice" model, where subscribers paid a flat fee for services, creating a financial incentive to focus on preventative care. 

The long-term impact

The legislation is considered a significant factor in the growth of managed care and the increasing role of for-profit health insurance companies in the U.S. healthcare system.

I started doing it when after brain surgery my husband had trouble forming responses to questions for a while, and realized that the habit was helping my students engage more truthfully with me.

Some examples:

Yes/No: “Did you clean up your room like I told you?”

This/That: “Did you clean up already, or do you still need to do that?”

Yes/No: “Are you going to sit quietly?”

This/That: “Are you ready to sit and do our quiet activity, or do you need some time by yourself first?”

Yes/No: “Are you doing anything fun for your birthday?”

This/That: “Are you having a party on your birthday, or are you going to relax?”

I think many children (and adults!) are averse to telling adults “No,” especially when a command is implied. (“Did you clean your room?” “Are you going to sit quietly?” Hmmm if I say ‘no’ I will be in trouble with the adult.) So they are actually pretty likely to just lie and say what they think you want to hear.