Manuel says, "'...the doctors are fools.'" (p. 278) (See How To Handle Superiors.)
They are not, of course, but we are in a better position if we understand their advice rather than just accepting it. A friend has told me that I ought to be more knowledgeable about the medicines prescribed by doctors.
Here is another good example of "How To Handle Superiors." In a TV drama about one of the Kings Edward or George in the twentieth century, the King had just acceded to the Throne but was in poor health. He said, "My people must have a coronation!" The Royal Physician replied, "Then they will have a royal funeral the following day!" So the Coronation was delayed. The doctor had to overrule the King and would have had to resign his prestigious position as Royal Physician if his advice had been ignored. In every society, communication has to be both ways.
(Lastly, at University, I knew a racist medical student. I hope that he either changed his views or failed his final exams.)
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I think it was Edward VII who had to postpone his coronation. Shortly after his mother Victoria died, he was diagnosed with appendicitis, a VERY serious condition in those days. Surgery for removing inflamed appendixes was new and very high risk, but the new King agreed to take the procedure, and it was successful. That probably extended Edward VII's life for eight or nine years. The king was grateful and made the surgeon a baronet.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Thank you for the historical details. You can see how vague I am on the subject.
Paul.
The further civilization advances, the greater the degree of specialization and division of labor. There's a limit to the things you can know well enough to have a useful capacity to comment on. I follow physics as far as I can, but I don't have the math to genuinely understand it, so I more or less have to take it on faith. Ditto a lot of other things.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Paul: I'm a bit surprised, I thought you are British and you do live in the UK, after all. So I would have expected you to know a fair bit about Edward VII.
Mr. Stirling: Absolutely! I've read Frank Tipler's THE PHYSICS OF CHRISTIANITY and I'm making my way thru Sean Carroll's SOMETHING DEEPLY HIDDEN, both about physics and quantum mechanics. But I don't claim to TRULY understand what write about, despite their best efforts. I'm sure Poul Anderson would have understood them far more deeply!
Ad astra! Sean
My problem is that I have always concentrated on what I am interested in and ignored everything else. I was criticized for this right through my education.
Kaor, Paul!
Understood! And Edward VII really was a very likable man, btw. Well worth knowing more about.
Ad astra! Sean
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