3 ms·
I'm going to say basic germ theory. Suddenly, you can safely go about in the world as opposed to constantly getting sick via the simple act of washing up. Didn
by drzaiusapelord 11y ago
I'm going to say basic germ theory. Suddenly, you can safely go about in the world as opposed to constantly getting sick via the simple act of washing up. Didn't washing up before delivering babies greatly lower infant mortality? Boiling water/treating sewage make everyone healthier? Not to mention, the benefits of washing out wounds to avoid infection.
As a free bonus, this stuff automatically gives you an idea of microbes which should lead to lenses, microscope, telescopes, and, ideally, another scientific enlightenment.
- schoen 11y agoI read somewhere that immune responses (and pathogen virulence and reproduction rates) can be erratic enough that you can easy do small experiments that seem to disprove particular routes of contagion of particular diseases. Experiments with proper sample sizes and controls will probably work, but I wonder if some societies would reject the germ theory as disproven by experience or even experiment. It's also hard to get proper experimental controls, especially without modern technology and sanitation. And the process of empirically proving the relationship between specific pathogens and diseases is complicated! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch's_postulates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch's_postulates So I guess my concern is that people could have a lot of seemingly compelling experiences that might make them reject the germ theory (or think it was only applicable to a minority of infectious diseases), even after having been told about it in detail.