6 Matching Annotations
  1. Nov 2023
  2. Oct 2022
    1. Blumenberg quotes GeorgChristoph Lichtenberg’s reaction to William Herschel’s 1781 discovery ofUranus: “Inventing an unfailing means against toothache, curing itinstantly, would be well worth as much and more than discovering anotherplanet.”
  3. May 2022
    1. the underprivileged are priced out of the dental-treatment system yet perversely held responsible for their dental condition.

      How does this happen?

      Is it the idea of "personal responsibility" and "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" philosophy combined with lack of any actual support and/or education?

      There has to be a better phrase or word to define the perverse sort of philosophy espoused by many in the Republican party about this sort of "personal responsibility".

      It feels somewhat akin to the idea of privatize profits and socialize the losses. The social loss is definitely one that is pushed off onto the individual, but who's profiting? Is it really so expensive to fix this problem? Isn't the loss to society and public health akin to the Million Dollar Murray problem?

      Wouldn't each individual's responsibility be better tied to the collective good as well as their own outcomes? How can the two be bound together to improve outcomes for everyone all around?

  4. Jul 2021
    1. A stunning little essay on a small section of the massive problems we face in America viewed through the lens of our teeth.

    2. It was lack of insurance, lack of knowledge, lack of good nutrition – poverties into which much of the country was born.

      Poverty and thus lack of knowledge, lack of good nutrition, and lack of dental insurance are the cause of bad teeth in America. Apparently it's not drugs or sugar, though they surely don't help.

  5. Oct 2017