Objectivity v. Mystery
My Dear People,
"Objectivity is a bias, like anything else." -- Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen
Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen was an intern at Sloan Kettering, some years ago, when a man came into the hospital with only days to live. His body was "riddled" with cancer, and there were "snowballs" of cancer in his lungs.
Two weeks later the lesions had disappeared. And he went home.
Dr. Remen remembers the medical staff's reaction, "Now, were we in awe? Certainly not. We were frustrated. Obviously, someone had misdiagnosed him."
An intensive study of the case ensued, with expert opinion solicited from around the country. The conclusion of that inquiry was that the chemotherapy that had been discontinued eleven months earlier had suddenly had a delayed effect.
"The embarrassing part of the story," recalls Dr. Remen, "is that I believed this for the next 15 years."
"What do you think now?," asked her interviewer.
"I think that that was one of the purest encounters with mystery that I have ever had in my life. It makes me wonder about who we are, what's possible for us, how this world really operates. I have no answers, but I have a lot of questions. And those questions have helped me to live better than any answers I might find." (Full Transcript)
Amen, sister.
Your brother in Christ,
Wallace+
