https://paulnystrom.com/tags/reality/Recent content in Reality on Paul NystromHugoen-usTue, 04 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://paulnystrom.com/posts/breakthroughs/Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://paulnystrom.com/posts/breakthroughs/<p>There&rsquo;s a billboard near my house advertising a science college. It has a catchy phrase about making breakthroughs. The picture is of a young, bright-eyed college student wearing safety glasses and a white lab coat, holding a beaker—reminiscent of bench science like one would see in a high school chemistry lab. It gives the impression that any college student can make world-changing breakthroughs. And although that is technically true, it&rsquo;s not even remotely realistic.</p>https://paulnystrom.com/posts/exaggeration/Sat, 23 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://paulnystrom.com/posts/exaggeration/<p>If you bring your teenager or young adult child to the ER and that person helps “sell” your symptoms to me, I feel sorry for both of you.</p> <p>Today, I saw a 42-year-old with chest pain and shortness of breath. Her daughter described how Mom “couldn’t breathe” when she woke up, and Mom reported her breathing got worse all day. You probably picture someone struggling to breathe based on that description—i.e., could not breathe in the morning, and now at 3 p.m., it’s worse.</p>