I heard a theory once that there is an artificially high barrier for who can become a doctor, and lowering that barrier by allowing doctors to specialize early on/not spend as much time studying fields they won't work in, we would have a higher supply of medical staff. As a layperson, this makes sense to me, but I also don't know what I don't know.

I have a lot of respect for anyone who works in healthcare.

I'm a native speaker and this was my experience as well. I had better luck manually sending the message with the "push to hold" button.

Can I ask what inspired you to go down the route of vegetable juice, vs other dietary changes? Rapid weight loss to the tune of 20lb+/month is rarely a good sign, except in the morbidly obese. Gradual, sustainable lifestyle changes tend to show good, healthy results in the short and long term.

I had a pool-related concussion a few years ago, and had to go back to the doctor because of persistent suicidal thoughts. The doctor told me, using more words than this, “This is normal, and statistically you are not likely to do anything about it. You should talk to your friends and wait for it to go away.” I was extremely frustrated that she hadn’t warned me about this at the first visit, in the way she had gone over other symptoms like light sensitivity and sleeping a lot.

She was right, though; the thoughts did stop after a few weeks. When I looked into it afterwards, what I found was typically doctors are advised not to tell patients that suicidal thoughts are a potential side effect, because knowing that made them more likely to happen.

A fairly average lifespan is 80 years, so a 4% increase would be about 3.2 years. If I were offered a "wonder drug" that would give me 1,168 more days with a loved one, I would take it.

Obviously that is not how science like this works, but stacking small victories over time is a way to achieve "significant" impact.

It's good in some ways because it drives behavior I would consider healthy in a community--thoughtfully reviewing a post before hitting 'reply,' respectful discourse, and thorough fact-checking.

But I also find that same pressure convincing me not to post, especially if I'm a novice in an area or need help. I understand this is egotistical in many ways, and managing it by "staying anonymous via a new stage name" is a really interesting idea.

It makes me think of something Brandon Sanderson wrote that has been bouncing around in my head a lot lately:

"Physical labor is great for the mind, as it leaves all kinds of time to consider the world. Other work, like accounting or scribing, demands little of the body—but siphons energy from the mind.

If you wish to become a storyteller, here is a hint: sell your labor, but not your mind. Give me ten hours a day scrubbing a deck, and oh the stories I could imagine. Give me ten hours adding sums, and all you’ll have me imagining at the end is a warm bed and a thought-free evening.”

This phenomenon does not occur if I'm reading a physical piece of media, like a book.

I still remember visiting them, driving through mile after mile of pre-construction housing lots with nothing but dry, flat, arid land as far as the eye can see. It doesn't seem like a sustainable place on Earth for the standard American suburban sprawl.

Morally, could I tell you why, like the author of this post tries to do? Absolutely not. I eat birds and mammals. I had a decade-long stint of vegetarianism and often thought about my moral responsibility as a conscious creature towards the other creatures on this Earth. But tossing the insects wasn't even a choice, and in retrospect, I don't think I could convince myself to eat them (even if the macros are good.)

I wonder how much of this aversion is learned/cultural, and if future generations will laugh at how squeamish we are today.