Oh, No, not Organic Chemistry!

It seems I've hit the wall. For some people, the line between the classical, rational world and irrational, mathematical abstraction is drawn at quantum physics. For me, it occurs at the more proximate scale of chemistry. Equilibria may look like equations, but those arrows are lies! There is no story told in the sequences, no rule driving them but solipsism. Why? Just because -- now go and rote memorize the Krebs Cycle.

Reader, do you have any doubt, having witnessed my genius firsthand, that if I had not been prohibited by this barrier, and was admitted to medical school, I would have cured cancer, diabetes, heart disease and drug addiction by now? I'm afraid that the art of medicine, like the art of shaving, is in decline. Not because people don't need to know things like the Krebs Cycle -- Nobel prize, richly deserved -- but because the lack of practical emphasis leaves its rule to economics and statistics.

I know people have written books on this, but I've not read any of them. I'm speaking from experience. Like the time I strained a chest muscle, and got railroaded into the ER for a day's worth of unnecessary, amateur cardiology. $1000, what a coincidence -- exactly what the bank said I should keep in my savings account! "Professionalism" doesn't have the positive connotation it had when I was in college. It only means that the service you are about to receive has been corrupted by finance.

Anyway...

Lol. Yes, I am frustrated. The only clue I could find, as to why Jojoba oil might be exfoliating, is that its "oils" are actually liquid wax, or (I can't even remember the word) "esters." But wikipedia lists a standard-looking table of fatty acids... so I guess the distinction is meant to be read, not as opposed to "oil," but as opposed to "triglycerides."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jojoba_oil

And there is a story, after all. Jojoba is the cosmetic industry's replacement for sperm whale oil, from which our familiar, cetyl alcohol cleanser gets its name. Look how they used the seasonal temperature for extraction!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_oil

But it seems like we're just coming back around to oil cleansing, with a new twist. Presenting the skin with a chemical more like sebum probably signals it more effectively to stop producing its own. The sebum, too, is a major constituent of the "mortar" between corneocytes. So, okay, I guess there is more room for artistic intuition here. Sigh.