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”
The advice to concentrate on one thing instead of trying to excel at many is valid, as it’s also challenging to master a single skill. If you neglect the other essential background abilities necessary to enhance that one skill, you will be unable to overcome your limitations. For a top-level skill to thrive, the supporting average abilities for that skill must also develop concurrently. Concentration should not be an excuse to avoid or ignore what’s important. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”