Everybody's headed to different destinations. Although our overall aim is the same (success), we'll all take different paths to our destinations. So, do not despair or be envious over someone else's path that seems smooth or fast, you're not headed to the same address .
Another mistake people make is conflating their personal experience with evidence. To make a statistical claim, your statistical power must be high and the best way is a large sample size. This dismantles personal experiences or subjective claims over documented evidence.
That UTI conversation is a clear cut example of correlation is not causation. An unhygienic toilet is probably a confounding factor. This is why we rely on decades of research to actually narrow down the actual cause of diseases through many scientific methods and evidence.
While in China, an American man is very sexually promiscuous and does not use a condom the entire time he is there...
A week after arriving back home in the States, he wakes one morning to find his penis covered with bright green and purple spots.
Horrified, he immediately goes to see a doctor. The doctor, never having seen anything like this before, orders some tests and tells the man to return in two days for the results.
The man returns a couple of days later and the doctor says, “I’ve got bad news for you, you’ve contracted Mongolian VD. It’s very rare and almost unheard of here in the US , we know very little about it.”
The man looks a little perplexed and says, “Well, give me a shot or something and fix me up, Doc.”
The doctor answers, “I’m sorry, there's no known cure. We’re going to have to amputate your penis.”
The man screams in horror, “Absolutely not! I want a second opinion!!!”
The doctor replies, “Well, it’s your choice. Go ahead, if you want but surgery is your only option.”
The next day, the man seeks out a Chinese doctor, figuring that he’ll know more about the disease.
The Chinese doctor examines his penis and proclaims, “Ah, yes, Mongolian VD. Very rare disease.”
The guy says to the doctor, “Yeah, yeah, I already know that, but what can we do? My American doctor wants to cut off my penis!”
The Chinese doctor shakes his head and laughs.
“Stupid American doctors, always want to amputate. Make more money that way. No need to amputate!”
“Oh, thank God!” the man exclaims.
“Yes,” says the Chinese doctor. “Wait two weeks. Fall off by itself!”