THE STYLETS
What is the origin of the high-heeled shoes (and ridiculously in some) that women wear?
A. Although they have become a symbol of high fashion for some time now, high-heeled shoes originally had a more practical use. They were commonly worn in all riding cultures around the 10th century, and were particularly popular in Persia, where cavalry found that the 1-inch heel added extra stability in the stirrups when rising to shoot their bows. Persia later sent a delegation of soldiers to Europe in the 17th century, which in turn inspired European aristocrats to add high heels to their personal wardrobes.
From there, heeled boots became the fashion among members of the upper class throughout Europe, and in 1670, Louis XIV of France passed a law that only members of the nobility could wear heels. In the 18th century, the style became increasingly gendered as heels grew in popularity among women. By the start of the French Revolution in 1789, men of the French nobility had largely eschewed the trend in favor of wider, sturdier shoes.
THE WATER THAT KILLS
Many times I have asked myself, why is it that stagnant water hurts us so much, and we get sick and can even die if we drink it, and not animals?
A. Animals also get sick, just like humans, and many times the disease kills them. Immunity develops when we are exposed to pathogens and our immune system, after experiencing the pathogen, develops a way to fight it. Immunity is also passed from mother to calf through lactation (antibodies are in the milk), so if the mother has experienced some pathogens in her life and her immune system is active, then she will pass on those antigens. to her son.
This is temporary immunity and if the child is now exposed to that same pathogen, they can still get sick, but it will be less severe than if they had no protection and developed their own protection in the process. If not exposed to the pathogen while protected by the mother’s antibodies, the baby will soon lose the ability to fight the pathogen and will have to redevelop it through her own exposure later.
Therefore, wild animals are naturally more exposed to “dirt” and “other” things out there, so their young are given temporary immunity to those things. The offspring (pups), however, are mostly exposed to those same pathogens very early on, but it doesn’t kill them because they have some protection from their mother. It may not be full of immunity, but it has enough protection that they only get slightly sick. Once they have been exposed, even after the mother’s antigens wear off, they will produce their own.
Humans have grown accustomed to cleaning our environments to perfection. We as parents still temporarily give our immunity to our children if they are breastfed, but we never allow our children to be exposed to the “filth” of the world until long after their temporary protection has worn off. Therefore, when older children or adults come into contact with a pathogen from which they have absolutely no protection, the problem can be serious.
