Austrian psychiatrist Julius Wagner-Jauregg had a remarkable talent for recognizing patterns. When a common tendency appears, it’s called a pattern. Finding common ground also involves identifying problems or finding solutions. Before the discovery of penicillin, Julius was searching for a way to treat neurosyphilis but accidentally discovered that the condition was cured when the patient developed a severe fever from another disease. Julius intentionally infected a patient with malaria to induce a fever, and when the fever rose, he used quinine to treat malaria and saved the syphilis patient. Without treatment, syphilis had a 30% survival rate, but with malaria-induced fever, the survival rate increased to 60%. The survival rate was doubled. For this work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1927. Although high fever causes pain in humans, it also signals that the immune system is active. Recognize patterns to solve problems. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
Jesus taught, “If you got slapped your right cheek, turn the other cheek.” One of the actions that the Jewish Qumran community denied and forbade was “pointing with the left hand.” Violations of this rule brought sanctions from the community. To hit the right cheek means the opponent strikes with an unclean left or right backhand. This cheek slap is deliberately insulting and humiliating rather than merely a pain-inflicting action. Therefore, this teaching of Jesus, “turn the other cheek,” suggests not allowing oneself to be struck by the back of the hand and can signify not being helpless but being active in nonviolent resistance without seeking revenge or retaliation. Perhaps this teaching carries a frightening meaning. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”