I’ve been thinking a lot about this issue, obviously with high quality and cheap generative AI essay writing is meaningless for assessment, which is a shame because crafting an essay is an excellent exercise for thinking through a concept.

In my undergrad I wrote a lot of essays but also had a lot of small group tutorials where our contribution contributed to our grade. In medical school assessment outside of examination was almost entirely based on interaction with professors and supervisors. I’m also aware of verbal examination where a professor effectively interrogates a student to assess their knowledge which I think in undergrad settings is mostly historical but could make a comeback, oral examination is used extensively in postgraduate medical training.

For a degree to mean anything assessment needs to be not easily cheated. There are assessment methods that are available although they are less efficient.

If I were running an undergrad humanities degree I’d have essays be 10-20% of the total grade, have a brief 15-20min oral examination and tutorial participation make up the bulk of the grade. I don’t know how else a degree can mean anything.

I dislike this idea that government run is bad.

I recently changed my name and had to call several government agencies and found them competent and helpful every time.

I’m a GP, here’s my opinion

Can’t have eaten/drank anything for the last half hour

• in principle could alter your BP but I wouldn’t worry too much unless it’s quite a large meal

Feet flat on the floor

• yes, this is important

Lying down but sitting up

• for some purposes docs want lying/sitting/standing but for home measurements do them sitting

Back against the chair

• yes

Don’t cross your legs/ankles

• yes, feet flat on the floor

Only use your left arm

• myth, if there is a significant difference between your left and right arms there is something funky going on with your subclavian arteries

Hand facing upward/downward

• not super important

Keep your arm down/raised

• keep your arm relaxed, ideally resting on a table or desk at close to 90deg or hanging straight down

Most important is be relaxed, sit still, don’t move your arm, if you get a high reading calm yourself and take it once more then leave it.

When I’m taking a BP in clinic the most important thing I do most of the time is distract the patient from the machine with some patter as for most people the biggest confounding factor is stressing about what the reading will be, I don’t correct posture etc unless they are substantially moving their arm around.

I have taken my own BP manually, it ain’t easy

You’re probably talking about the Chinese social credit score, not a replacement for currency but is up and working.

I think this is true and until we have easily accessible and free mental health services it is the next best option and far more likely to do good than harm.

I don’t think the downvotes are because you’re misgendering them. It’s just baffling why you’ve gendered them at all. It’s unfunny and out of place.

The budget deficit has been reducing over time under the current government, the man promoting nuclear is Dutton the opposition leader, his plans for nuclear power are being criticized as expensive, he is being portrayed as stupid in promoting nuclear which would reverse the trend of reducing deficits.

It’s a bit convoluted and not particularly funny but it does make sense.

Modern guns a extremely precisely engineered devices that are incredibly easy to use, for better or worse. I know modern sporting bows are also but it’s no contest in my opinion.

I’ve shot both, bows as a complete amateur and relatively competent with a rifle. There is no question that a modern gun is way easier to pick up as an amateur and hit what you want to hit and I cannot possibly believe there are anything other than extremely niche uses where a bow is superior.

I’m very much a privacy amateur but am interested in comments on my set up, I’m sure it’s not ideal.

I use firstname@lastname.tld for personal email. Anything @lastname.tld forwards to my main email so for the rare occasion I need to access Facebook my account is facebook@lastname.tld and so on for any other untrustworthy sites.

I can easily block emails from a leak or just if unsubscribing is made difficult.

It’s really common to get weird dreams when quitting smoking. Especially if you’re using nicotine replacement and extra especially if you’re using a patch and not taking it off before bed.

Changes in the amount of nicotine in your blood disrupts REM, it’s more fragmented and this seems to have the effect of more intense dreams.

Ug r the khez th ia2zugk8

I understand why you are putting them together but I think only the CPI measures inflation, there are other indexes also but inflation has to do with the value of money decreasing over time.

The supply of money is inextricably linked to inflation but an increasing money supply is not inflation, under certain circumstances you could have no, or negative inflation, with increasing money supply. If you had high demand for currency due to large volumes of exports for example.

In short the terms you want are inflation and money supply.

Disclaimer: I dropped out of an undergraduate economics degree about 2/3 through around 15 years ago. I believe this is correct but please anyone correct me if not.

Haven’t dug into the data but from reading this article it seems like having untreated diseases/poor health in general increases the risk of dementia rather than these classes of drugs directly reduce risk.

I’d also suggest that being vaccinated and being prescribed these medications is correlated with being in regular contact with the healthcare system which may be the more relevant factor.

We need to start letting people and organisations know that this isn’t acceptable. I’ve been guilty of just using an anonymous account or letting it slide but having a mailing list is not much effort for example, honestly having a basic website is pretty cheap and easy.

Looked this up as I optimistically thought it might be an unfortunate still that looked nothing like a nazi salute on video, but nope.

Elon’s Nazi salute

The Socratic method is used extensively in medical training to the point that I think most doctors wouldn’t think of it as the Socratic method but rather just as the way you speak to students and trainees.

I can’t imagine how it could work in a lecture hall, it’s best used one on one or at most small groups.

Someone told this to workers at a cafe I go to occasionally. They don’t usually have a particularly long wait which makes it seem insincere and a little ridiculous.

While I think that legalisation, or at least decriminalisation, for personal use is probably the right policy decision I agree with Elton to a degree.

Currently there is a fairly well established cultural belief at least in English speaking countries that marijuana is not addictive, not dangerous to health, and not problematic at all.

The belief that marijuana is largely harmless persists despite the fact that we all know people who smoke excessively to the point of making their lives worse and if they come to this realisation they find it incredibly difficult to stop.

Criminalisation of marijuana, especially combined with over policing of specific communities as occurred in the USA, is a disaster. But not recognising the very real harms that marijuana does to some peoples lives is also a disaster.

I think the debate on this issue is blown out of proportion.

First, giving a small amount of money to someone in need is a very direct and human act of compassion which makes it worthwhile, if you gift someone money it is their prerogative what they do with it and the idea that it is harmful is blown out of proportion.

Second, giving money to a local charity is also worthwhile, if you don’t feel comfortable for whatever reason.

The idea that one approach is good and the other is actively bad is at best a distraction and at worst an excuse to do nothing at all

The fact is that even in Australia, which by world standards has a not bad safety net, it is not possible for most people to get crisis housing and waiting lists for public housing are rarely less than 6 months, welfare payments can be cut off for trivial reasons and public mental health services are overwhelmed. These are the problems that successive governments have refused to tackle.

If you can make someone’s day with a small gift then please do.