Kill, kill, kill.

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Do we always have to be killing / destroying things?

Does it make our world safer?

I suspect not.

While antiseptic soap, hand cleanser, dishwashing liquid, and other things that kill germs dead (the fine print often say kills 99%) in our everyday life seem like a good idea, "Germs bad. Dead germs good." I suspect we may be doing more harm in the long run than good.

The problem is the same as with antibiotics - those that aren't killed by it are to some degree resistant to it and survive to come back again another day.

Where do we find the most resistant bacteria? Hospitals.

Comments

Barbara said…
I don't use antiseptic hand soap and I avoid taking antibiotics unless they are really necessary and they seldom are. There is a lot of value to simply letting nature take its course.
November 23, 2006 6:48 PM
tin-tin said…
dead germs good? if it's dead, won't the virus spread? hehehe
November 23, 2006 11:49 PM
ghee said…
i hope we can really avoid germs and bacteria..sigh..
no more colds,no more sickness...
November 24, 2006 4:22 AM
vina said…
hi tito richard, just want to say thank you always for all the kind and wise words.

i know i haven't been telling details, but maybe in due time i will. or i might.

till then... :)
November 24, 2006 4:29 AM
Richard said…
barbara: there are times when antiseptics and antibiotics are necessary, but ingeneral, we should simply learn to suffer.

tin-tin: that assumes a balance in the battle between germs and viruses. Both can coexist quite happily in us.

ghee: good hygiene is important. As is a healthy diet. Less stress. etc (stress in our lives is really hard to notice. We generally don't know we have been stresssed until we are out of it).

vina: nice to see you back! Hope you feel better.
November 24, 2006 6:20 AM
Mother of Invention said…
Hospitals are scary places for me and it is so ironic that you can pick up the worst germs from them. If you have to be in one, there is nothing you can do about it. I have a compromised immune system so I sometimes get a lot of weird stuff.

I worry that some day I'll need an anti-biotic and it won't work on me anymore. Guess they find it hard to keep up with the meds that combat the mutated bacteria.
November 24, 2006 7:45 AM
Richard said…
MOI: hospitals concentrate disease organisms and the constant disinfection breeds resistant disease organisms. If you are going to kill something, make sure you kill 100% of it.
November 28, 2006 6:19 PM
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