Imagine this. You're sifting through Grandma's basement and you notice a newspaper, circa 1917. "Neat!" you think, and you sit down to give it a read. It opens to the classifieds and the ad before you reads:

SUPER MAN FOR HIRE
$16 PER CRISIS
I fix broken furniture, ankles, and hearts. I can arrange a top knot, a prom date, or a floral bouquet. I can cure all ills.
CALL DAY OR NIGHT
1-888-555-5555

You chuckle and set down the newspaper-- and just then, a plank on the roof of the basement falls down. "Shoot!" you think, "I'll have to get that fixed." But who to call...

Despite having that ad in your hand, you probably won't be calling the 1947 unemployed Superman. Why? He's out of date. Even if he could do all the things he said he could do, that was 50 + years ago. The world, technology, resources, and prices have changed. And then there's the reality that he himself is 50 years older, and probably a little less capable of these physical tasks than he was before.

All this makes sense.

And yet, two days later, the gal in the cubicle next to you (What was her name again, Mary? Maria?) goes home early with a temperature of 102 and you say, "Remember now, starve a fever."

You wouldn't depend on 50 year old information to fix a roof. You wouldn't depend on a person who maybe had that capability 50 years ago. And you certainly don't resort to folklore to get things done. ("Don't worry, Grams. The leprechauns will be here to fix that plank-- afterall, they don't want anyone finding their treasure.")

But come to medicine and a world of possibility opens up.

There are things you should keep in mind when accepting or dispensing medical advice.

# Origins. "Tea cures all!" says Grams. Well, that's handy. Some teas surely do have medicinal purposes, but could the reason tea is known as a "cure-all" is because... water was boiled to make it? Yep, it's amazing what feeding people sanitary water will do for the average illness.

# The Playground Law of Telephone. Every school child knows from gossip and the game "Telephone" that stories and words are reinterpreted and exchanged from person to person. You tell the first person, "Starve a Fever", and they tell someone else, who tells someone else, and the next thing you know, someone is asking you for details on the Corn farm you're starting. Information disintegrates with passing. Believe it.

# Sally don't work like Sue. There's a little expression for you that probably needs it's origins checked. In this case, I'm working off the idea that it means everybody is different. What works on one person may not work on another-- unless it's an ACTUAL medicinal cure.

# Act like maybe someone is paying attention to you. Somewhere along the line, it became okay to shout out your thoughts without any burden of consequence. I guess it's because it's assumed that no one really listens to the advice others give. Well, here's one for responsibility-- pretend that they do. Pretend that Maria/Mary (Cubicle girl) goes home and "starves" that fever-- only succeeding in bringing her body to a state of malnurition. That's your fault. At least, in a way it is.

You don't get your roofers from newspapers a century old, and you shouldn't get your medical advice from a doctor who stuck leeches to people back in 1857... or in the case of "Starve a fever" a dictionary-maker out of 1574.

Superman is a great idea, but maybe you should be able to depend a little bit on yourself, as well.