I just came from the grocery store. You see people you know there if you live in a relatively small town. As I was checking out, I saw one of Hannah’s respiratory therapists outside the front of the store. I knocked on the window to get her attention, and she reacted, but didn’t seem sure what the noise was or where it came from.
She then put a cigarette to her lips and pulled a long drag.
You don’t have to know a lot about history to know that people used to think illness could be caused by too much blood, and so the way to cure illness was to bleed the patient. I heard that George Washington died as a result of being bled to treat pneumonia (turns out it was actually “acute epiglottitis“). We just shake our heads and sigh at the ignorance.
You may not realize that the idea of “having too much blood” made perfect sense, supported by evidence and observation. (more…)
Liz Strauss has some good insights into the relationship of these two elements of credibility, as well as some good observations about the possible effect that social networking media have on perceptions we develop of people through those media. Check out her article “Hidden Assumptions and Business Likeability.”