Morals of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

I am sometimes bothered by people’s tendency to reflect on the past and on people from history and assuming that those people should have had the moral outlook of today. Mostly, this process results in a very negative view of those that lived a long time ago and I don’t think that outlook is reasonable. Most people are a product of their time and environment. It is really hard to say that they should have known better. Mostly though, it makes me worried for myself and what the future might think of me. Is there some sort of societal norm that I am following now that the world will think is reprehensible 100-200 years in the future. Will they look back on today and find that everyone now was a bigoted monster? Below are the main examples I can think of for what people view the history negatively on and a couple ideas on what nowadays people may be viewed negatively on in the future.

Disclaimer: I am not against looking back at the past and saying they were wrong. I am against looking back at the past and insulting or denigrating them from stupid beliefs that were reasonable at the time.

Past was wrong: Slavery

Yes, slavery is bad. People have been writing about the evils of slavery for a long time. Even Thomas Jefferson said that slavery was a blight on the country despite himself owning slaves and only freeing a few of the ones he owned. As far as I can tell, the uneducated didn’t realize it was a bad thing. They either thought it was normal, the slaves we not the same as free-folk, or just didn’t concern themselves with it. Educated people thought that slaves were mentally inferior and that they would not be able to function properly in society if they were released (keeping them slaves was what was keeping them alive!!).

Past was wrong: Women’s Rights

There was no birth control. Sexually active women had kids every 1-2 years and they were needed to feed those kids. when 90%+ of women are stuck with the kids and have little ability to have major careers, then it is men who are in almost every leadership position. Those men were the heads of every company, military organization, political organization, etc. The men of 100s of years ago looked around and saw that men were the educated elites. Therefore, by saying that only men can vote/hold office/etc., society makes sure that only educated elites were the ones in power. If by some bizarre twist of biology, men had to stay home to care for the kids (women had babies, but men breastfed or something), then I would expect the educated elite women to have said that only women can vote/etc. Men keeping women out of power was because men looked around, saw men in power, and thought that it was some property of being a man that made them better able to vote/hold office/etc.

Past was wrong: LGBT+

People were much more religious in the past and the bible straight out says that homosexuality is wrong. As many homosexual/bisexual/transgendered/etc. people existed in the past as did today. However, they had to hide or pretend to be straight. Since those people were hiding, each hiding person thought they were the unique devil tempted individual and the ones that acted on it were impure souls that could resist temptation. It is hard to impress how much direct literal information people of the past believed from the bible (example: historians expected to find evidence of a worldwide flood). When everyone’s main source of information says something is wrong and evil, it is hard to not believe that that thing is wrong and evil. Judging historical people for believing their main info source is like judging a North Korean citizen for thinking the DPRK is a bastion of peace and freedom and that the rest of the world is evil.

Present might be wrong: Animal Rights

I sometimes wonder if the humanity will eventually go vegetarian. Animal feel pain and we inflict pain on them when we kill them for food. I am generally against hunting and fishing unless it is for food, but I can imagine a future where the feelings (especially pain) of other creatures has gotten the same level of respect as the feelings of humans. Can you imagine what those people would think of you non-vegetarians who eat meat regularly or even the vegetarians who through inaction allow millions of animals to suffer and die every day?

Present might be wrong: Sibling Marriage

This is the thought that prompted this post. I have a flag outside my house that has several platitudes on it, one of which is “Love is Love”. On the walk to school I was explaining it to my kids as LGBT rights and that it is okay for men and men to marry or women and women to marry. My 6 year old son then said, “So some day I can marry my sister?”, to which I said no because there are laws against it. As I said it, I was thinking about why those laws are on the books and that it might actually be possible for someone to fall in love with their sibling. I have a major cringe factor to the idea of my kids marrying each other, but I recognize that this is one area where the people of the future might look back and see that it is okay.

Questions for anyone reading this: What moral ideas might we be wrong about today that future generations will judge us on?

Diary 2.21.19

I was folding laundry when Malcolm asked if we could play the board game Arkham Horror.  I tried to convince him it was too complicated, meant for ages 13 and above, contained scary material, but none of that worked.  He and Cassie proceeded to look at the pieces for the next 30 minutes while I finished folding laundry.  When I said it was meant for ages 13 and above, Malcolm told me, “I am pretending I am 14”.

We tried to play twice since then and both games have started out okay, but have devolved quickly due to Malcolm being 4 and Cassie 6 and the game taking 2-4 hours to play.  I have generally taken the really bad monsters out of the game and allowed extra die rolls to make the game easier and as non-scary as possible.  Also took some photos of the kids playing and sent them to my brother and one of my friends, who were both super jealous.

Of course, last night Malcolm woke up and was scared, which hasn’t happened in many months.  I asked what we was scared of, and although he wouldn’t say, I believe it is eldritch horrors from beyond our realm of space.

Have only been able to run one or twice a week lately, but have still been setting personal bests for the different routes distances that I have.  Just got my 4 mile route under 30 minutes.  I have found the most important part in improving my time is getting ahead of my personal best splits early as opposed to focusing on improving my time in the middle third or final part of a run.  May write a post on that later.

Automating the right actions: hard stops and trivial inconveniences

Patient safety is a continuous focus in the healthcare field.  Despite the constant pressure to do more with less, the industry need to ensure that care is delivered safely.  The ideal way to do this is through the use of hard stops.  A less effective but usually easier to implement method is through trivial inconveniences.

A hard stop is a system that will forcibly prevent a person from performing an incorrect action. An example of this is the interlocking system for oral and IV medications.  IV lines use a specific type of lock to connect additional tubing and medications.  The lock will also prevent non-IV stuff from bring attached.  Medications that are meant to be given IV will only connect, but oral liquid medications drawn up in an oral syringe would be impossible to connect to an IV port.  This prevents the potentially fatal scenario of someone getting an oral medication injected into their veins.  Other examples of hard stops include nurses not being able to print discharge paperwork until required documentation is competed and medications not being available until reviewed by pharmacy.

Another way to prevent errors is by using trivial inconveniences.  The basic idea here is to make the correct action as easy to do or as obvious as possible and the incorrect action as hard to do or as non-obvious as possible.  When people then take the naturally easy action, they also do the right thing.  An example of adding a trivial inconvenience in healthcare are that when physicians want to order non-formulary medications, they need to fill out a one page form requesting it and saying why.  It probably takes 2 minutes to do.  However, in the choice between the inconvenient form and the formulary medication, most of the time the physicians will choose the formulary med.  An example of taking away a trivial inconvenience is the use of a checklist.  Before surgeries, the nurses and surgeons run down a list of everything they need to confirm about the case prior to starting.  This makes the pre-op process simpler and ensures nothing is missed.

I particularly like adding and removing of trivial inconveniences because they are more applicable to persona life.  Below are a handful of ways that I have added or removed trivial inconveniences removed in my life:

• I added the home page of this blog to the bookmarks of Google Chrome.  This makes it easier for me to come here and write.
• My wife and I created a cleaning checklist and date competed grid.  Now we both know when everything was last cleaned and we can keep up with out planned schedule.
• My wife and I use the Grocery IQ app to create our shopping list.  We also add things whenever we see they are needed.  No more failing to communicate or forgetting about stuff that we were out of.
• We synchronized the calendars on our phones.  Once one of use adds an event, the other has it as well.
• I use Mint to help track finances in addition to my own Excel file.  Made it much easier to analyze spending.
• Put exercise clothes in my dresser instead of my closet so it was more convenient to change into them.

Joke Repository

I have a pretty quick wit and most days I come home from work with a story about a funny comment I made.  Sometimes no one else laughs but I still think it was hilarious.  Sometimes is is hilarious to everyone around me.  I have been advised that I should write these down, so below is my Joke Repository.

General:
(Coworkers talking about their results from Ancestry.com)
Me: My brother drinks so much, that when he got his results from Ancestry.com, it said he was a White Russian.

Dad Jokes:
Why do female pigs not have many friends?  They have sow-er personalities.
Why do male bovines not have many friends?  They are all bullies.
Why does everyone like being friends with shepherds?  They are good at shearing.
Did you hear about the mad scientist that was making human-sheep hybrids?  He was unconcerned with the ramifications.
How do lizards make money?  They work re-tail.
What is the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?  When an alligator leaves, you say “See you later”, but when a crocodile leaves you say “In a while”.

Tom Swiftys:
“How did all these gladiators get lime disease,” said Tom romantically.
“Satan really underperformed as my Secretary of State,” said Tom disappointedly.
“Inmates are not allowed to shave,” conferred Tom.
“My Ipad program about seasoning pickles isn’t compatable with the new IOS,” said Tom dilapidatedly.

Pharmacy Jokes:
What is the worst smelling medication? Aciphex (Ass effects)
What are hip hop artists favorite medication? Rapaflo (Rap a flow)
What do lecturers take when they have a headache before a class?  Ibuprofen (I be proffin’)
Did you hear about the class action lawsuit against the government?  Apparently the shutdown has aggravated many people sinus congestion and they were told it would help to sue the feds (Sudafed).
What do you call it when dogs sing poetically?  A bark ode (barcode).

Conversation/Witty replies:
Coworker: I cannot believe how show my computer is working today.  This is ridiculous.
Me (speaking in slow motion): Perhaps it is you that is moving really quickly.

Coworker (following a conversation about cars): I always like the Thunderbirds, but I never ended up buying one.
Me: I never had one either, but I did catch a Zapdos once.
Coworker: What?

Coworker 1: That is a nice scarf
Coworker 2: It is super cold in here.  I have a second if you want one.
Coworker 1: No thanks, but I didn’t realize you liked scarves so much.
Me: Maybe she is just a fan of the 4th Doctor.

Coworker 1 (complaining about a medication order being submitted): How was that sent.  I never signed the order.  This system is terrible.  I didn’t sign anything.  (Continues complaining about the order being sent without him signing it).
Me: So you are saying you didn’t see the signs.  Maybe it would have helped if you knew sign language.  I guess that system was poorly de-signed.
Coworker 2: Is anyone else hearing this?

Coworker 1: (Asks about a box that might be coming in from FedEx for the 4th time in last 30 minutes).
Coworker 2: Wow, Coworker 1 is really concerned about that Box.
Me: Don’t worry about it.  He just really likes boxes.  He likes the so much that his favorite holiday is boxing day.  His favorites sport is boxing.  His favorite rebellion is the Boxer Rebellion.  His preferred underwear is boxers.

Coworker 1: Sometimes I wonder about you.
Me: Aww, thanks, you think I am wonderful.  How sweet.

Coworker 1: You did a great job today Coworker 2.
Coworker 2: Thanks.
Me: Coworker 2 always does a great job.
Coworker 1: But I never get to work with her.
Me: That is because we don’t want her to pick up any bad habits.

Coworker (while talking about a trip to Spain): It is so hard to drive over there.
Me: I know, I can drive all the way to the beach, but after that I am stumped.

Viewing historic actions using today’s morals

There is a great YouTube channel called History Buffs.  In it, the historian reviews historical movies and comments on their accuracy.  One of his pet peeves, which I had never thought of when watching movies, is when historical people are given the moral alignment/standards of modern times.  For example, in The Patriot, Mel Gibson’s plantation workers are not slaves, but paid laborers.  Based on the setting of the film, that is ridiculous, but we are expected to see Gibson’s hero as a hero because he has today’s values regarding slavery.  By contrast, villains in movies from that time period are always pro-slavery, because we know today that slavery is bad…even though then it would have been a cultural norm.

I was thinking of this following the recent news headlines about Virginia Governor Northam and Attorney General Herring wearing blackface in 1984 and 1980, respectively.  That is 35 and 39 years ago at the time of this writing.  What was the culture like at that time?  What were the social mores regarding wearing blackface?  I bet it was not something where anyone would reasonably think, “You know, I wonder if a photo of this would destroy my public office career several decades from now.”

On a personal note, in 2007 a friend of mine (Friend 1) dressed as Mr. T. for Halloween, including going in blackface.  Of the 50+ people at the public location where the Holloween party was held, there was one mutual friend (Friend 2) who was vocally upset about Friend 1 being in blackface (maybe others were upset, but no one else spoke up).  Friend 1 didn’t understand and just thought he was being committed to his costume.  Friend 2 was offended and borderline wanted to fight.  I thought Friend 1 was being an idiot and Friend 2 was overreacting.  I now know that Friend 1 can never hold public office.

This also makes me wonder what actions are people doing today would make fodder for the derailing of public officials 35 years from now.  Perhaps…

• A photo of someone dressing as a homeless person for Halloween.
• A tweet about which bathroom a transgendered person should use.
• A blog post about viewing historic actions using today’s morals

It’s also a diary…

I wanted to have a place to write in some memories and figured why not here.  Might also get me here to write on some regular basis.  Some bullet points of things i would like to remember when looking back on this.

• Weighed in at 205 at a check-up appointment.  I am tall, so my BMI was only 26, but it is the heaviest I have ever been and I don’t like being in the overweight (25-29.9) category of BMI.  I have been running much more in the last 6 months and have gotten down to 195.  I am sure I will continue to lose more if I keep at it.
  • The kids and some neighbors went on a bike ride and I ran with them as a chaperone.  It was fun.  Went about 2.25 miles.
• Finances are great.  In the green each month.  Likely to pay off the house in the next year or so.  Unless we end up moving for wife’s job.
• Both kids are happy and healthy.  Both are quick to say “I love you daddy” and so forth.  Malcolm was super cute and told me, “I just feel like I never want to stop playing with you.”
• Both kids are great sharers and voluntarily give their parts of their deserts to Mrs. MPD and I.  They get sad when we try to turn them down.
• I have been sharing finance resources with people at work and I am continually impressed by how little of finance is taught.  Showing people amortization tables and their opposite (wealth accumulation tables?) blows their minds.
• Been super short staffed at work.  Turnover + two pharmacists on maternity leave + person out for surgery = lots of uncovered shifts.  Have been lucky that people from other facilities have helped out.

You don’t have to refinance to get a shorter loan term

Many people at work know that I am very financially savvy and frugal, so we often swap financial success stories. One of my coworkers today told me very proudly that he refinanced his mortgage from 15 years to 10 years, dropping the interest rate from three-point-something to 2.8%. I was happy for him and I am happy for anyone that wants to pay debts, but I was kind of confused by his reasoning.

According to the coworker, this change would allow him to have the mortgage paid off by the time that he retires. I am not sure that the impact of the interest rate change is, but I am very certain that it is massively outweighed by the change in monthly principle payment resulting from the decreased term of the loan.

The lesson for anyone reading is that you can turn any term loan into a much shorter term loan by paying back additional principle on top of the required amount each month. There is no additional contract needed. All you have to do is send the lender more money and say that it is for the principle. Please do not feel like you are locked into any term on a given loan…the term of any loan is determined by how fast you can pay it back. You wouldn’t pay off a credit card by only making the minimum payments, so why pay off your house by only making minimum payments?

On a personal note, my current 30 year mortgage has already been turned into a 26 year one due to additional payments being made. And that assumes we never make another additional principle payment on top of the minimum monthly payment. I expect that it will be a 15 year or less mortgage by the time we are through.

Changing Directions

The original title text for this blog was “Pharmacy, Finance, and Life”. Unfortunately, I do not have much to say about pharmacy, despite being a pharmacist. I have a lot to say about finance, but very little of it is my own unique ideas. Instead they are all things that I have read elsewhere and agree with. And life is such a broad topic that it could literally mean anything.

So the title text has been changed to “Math and Analytics in Everyday Life” because that is what I think I have some unique opinions on. Being naturally good at math and an analytical thinker by nature, I tend to reach conclusions that other people may not or laugh at things that other people take at face value. I will try to share those on this blog. Hopefully someone that comes across these will find them entertaining. If not, hopefully at a minimum they will improve my writing skills.

Getting back into writing

After getting some negative feedback about my last post from the one person who was reading it, I took a very long break from writing.  I have decided to write some generally happier stuff, and only delve into something controversial if I feel especially impassioned.  Also, I spend way to long to write way to little that way to few people read.  So, if a post takes me longer than 15 minutes to write.  I am going to wrap it up and it submit, even if it is not finished.  Eventually I will get better at writing faster or learn to write appropriately sized posts.

For now, enjoy this heartwarming story about my daughter:

I told my daughter that I needed to get something out of the microwave and started moving towards the kitchen.  My 2 y.o. yelled “No, it is too hot”, ran in front of me and tried to keep me from getting to the kitchen.  It was adorable.

 

Women and work…and sexism?

Note: This post has been edited based on suggestions in order to provide a more level tone and to minimize references to actual events.

I believe that women are at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to careers.  I do not mean this in any sense that a woman cannot do the same job as a man or that women are less capable than men.  I mean this in the sense that there are biological and physician non-negotiable facts that prevent the playing field from being level.

The most obvious example is time away from work for mothers compared to time away from work for fathers.  Woman are almost expected to take 12 weeks of leave when they have a child.  If not, society says that that they must not love their kid.  And even if the woman wants to come back early, the physical toll of having a child prevents it from being a short process.  Men can go so far as to literally not take any time off if they choose to.  If a hypothetical man and woman start out dead even in their careers, but the woman has two children, then the hypothetical man is 6 months ahead in pay and experience.  This does not even take into consideration any underlying biases that hiring personnel may have due to knowledge that young women may miss time if they have kids.

Next you have society’s expectations on women compared to society’s expectations on men.  According to society, women are supposed to be spend more time nurturing their kids and they are supposed to keep the house in order.  When men work long hours away from their family, society gives them a half-hearted shrug.  When women work long hours away from their family, society gives them shameful glares and frowny faces.  If the hypothetical man and woman from the previous paragraph are on an even career path after their respective families come into existence, the man has an advantage over the woman in that he is better able to dedicate more of his time, thoughts, and energy into his career.

Upbringings and social norms greatly impact pay.  Society (or potentially biology) tends to make women less conflict oriented than men.  This has an impact in pay rates.  Men spend more time negotiating and women are more likely to accept lower offers.  I am unsure if this is sexism on the part of the employer or not.  If women would in fact accept, on average, 5% less than a man for an position, then the business making the offer has an incentive to offer lower salaries to woman.  It could even be argued that this is not sexist since the determining factor is not the gender, but the implied willingness of accepting a low-ball offer.

Women get the short end of the stick when it comes to combining family and work.  Men do not have to breast feed.  Men have no recovery time from labor.  Men are not expected to do the majority of child rearing.  That all sucks for women.  I cannot do anything about it.  Your employer cannot do anything about it.  The only person who can do something about it is you…and all you can do is choose how you deal with it.  My recommendation to women is to screw society’s expectations and find a job with the work/life balance that you want.  If that means taking the job with the 50+ hour requirement while having a family, then find a man willing to take on most of the child raising.

– MPD