"They say this cold lasts for 3-4 weeks." I wasn't happy to hear that from my wife. I think a cold should be over in a week. Maybe it hasn't even been a week - I'm not sure. It feels like a week but of course, I think I have 'suffered' forever and mightily when it hasn't been bad, actually. Still, time to leave, Cold!
I got to wondering if scuttlebutt has been improving in sophistication and useable accuracy. I think it might be. As more and more people develop the habit of using the internet with smartphones, tablets and computers, it might be that more comments and guesses are quickly checked with good sources. About colds, say, the Center for Disease Control and university medical and research centers. Just in writing this paragraph, I Googled "scuttlebutt" and found it is the cask or barrel where the crew can get a drink of water on a ship, the naval office water cooler, where people stopped and talked. I was impressed at the number of different, attractive sources of information on the anatomy, chemistry and biology that relate to having a cold and on the current cold and flu situation.
As more people carry a smartphone on their person, a mini-computer that can be used for Googling and fact-checking and communicating using many different sites and methods, it seems that general talk and writing might well climb in quality and accuracy. Gallup and other survey research centers can give a visitor current information that would have required specialized knowledge, access and expense 20 years ago.
Among professors, it isn't cool to just spout opinion. It is much more acceptable to be able to cite sources and to have current information. Even though we have to use opinion too and are reluctant to admit it, we are alert to counter-opinion and evidence. I seem to have too much of a tendency to discount rules of thumb and general talk, but it can be surprisingly correct. I sure hope I have lost this cold by Jan. 20.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
