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I always love bringing up [Ignaz Semmelweiss](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis), the Hungarian physician
by bbeckerman 7y ago
I always love bringing up [Ignaz Semmelweiss](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis), the Hungarian physician who advocated for hand washing before germ theory was established, after observing that pregnant mothers were more likely to become infected when they were handled by doctors than by midwives. His fastidiousness made him unpopular though and he was ridiculed as a stickler by his fellow staff. When he refused to drop this theory, his colleagues convinced his wife to commit him to a mental hospital, where he died due to infection from an unsanitary operation.
- firethief 7y agoHis story gives me hope... Sometimes, it is everyone else who's crazy.
- hatsuseno 7y agoIf by crazy you mean steadfastly clinging to the status quo due to human behavior at scale still being programmed by our herd mentality, then yes, everyone else is crazy. The only hope I derive from it is that there's a chance we'll overcome that nature at some point. But I'm not that optimistic about our chances.
- acqq 7y ago> he died due to infection from an unsanitary operation. Actually, he was beaten (per Wikipedia article): "He was severely beaten by several guards, secured in a straitjacket, and confined to a darkened cell." "He died after two weeks, on August 13, 1865, aged 47, from a gangrenous wound, due to an infection on his right hand which might have been caused by the struggle. The autopsy gave the cause of death as pyemia—blood poisoning.[64]"