4 ms·
Parent specifically called out antibiotics, which are for bacterial infections, not diseases. Coupled with the increased number of things to step on or get cut
by scott_w 10mo ago
Parent specifically called out antibiotics, which are for bacterial infections, not diseases. Coupled with the increased number of things to step on or get cut by means you really need them.
- manmal 10mo agoYou definitely don't automatically need antibiotics for something you step on, or get cut. Any topical antiseptic will do, and probably perform better.
- scott_w 10mo agoWhat you say is only half true. I’m also thinking of injuries caused by animals and other people. Antiseptic isn’t going to fix the nasty kind of infections deep bite or knife wounds cause. A hunter gatherer society is definitely at greater risk of suffering these kinds of injuries than we are. And also, even antiseptic treatment was in shorter supply than it is today, so it’s still a moot point.
- manmal 10mo agoThere's sufficient evidence that hunter gatherer societies have indeed used various plant- and animal based antiseptics (honey, oils, tannins, resins, fungi,...) to treat wounds.
- scott_w 10mo agoI said shorter supply than today, not totally unavailable. Pre-agrarian societies, by definition, were not growing and harvesting antiseptics in bulk. They’d not do much against an infection from a stab wound (yes, non-agrarian societies encountered, fought and killed each other).