Pages

Monday, April 12, 2010

Sacred Matters: Medicine


Has modern medicine hit a new arrogance? Or has it always been like this?  We can look back at medicinal practices from a few hundred years ago or even those of only a few decades years ago and call them “medieval”. Leeching? Electroshock therapy? But then, some old practices get recycled and spruced up.  Leaching made a reappearance in the late 20th century; and electroshock? Yeah, it’s back too.

I admit, I am a devotee of modern medicine as much as the next person.  I carry Advil in my purse and backpack. If I break a bone, you bet I want to go to the hospital.  I don’t see a need to villainize it either. 

But at the same time, I can’t help but feel like there’s a little monster lurking at the boundaries of our love for modern medicine.  It has something to do with our eventual attempt to create our own immortality.  And if we can do that, we can declare ourselves to be gods.



*as part of an assignment/educational experiment, I am blogging my way through the required reading for one of my courses this quarter. If you wish to read all the posts that I write for this class click on the label TC 500, below. I will also be tweeting some thoughts as well. Check them out at @nickybarger, they're labeled with #tc500


**I failed to mention this previously, the book I am currently blogging in response to is Sacred Matters by Gary Laderman

No comments: