None too solid: medical ignorance
Item Type
Author
Language
English
Abstract
Our ignorance encompasses, at least, all the things we know we do notknow (known unknowns); all the things we do not know we do not know (unknown unknowns); all the things we think we know but do not (error); all the things we do not know we know (tacit knowing); all taboos (forbidden knowledge); and all denial (things to painful to know, so we suppress them). Medical ignorance seems especially threatening to many of us. If, however, we are to cope with our vast ignorance of the human body, its powers and processes, we must learn to acknowledge our nescience and optimize it. To do so, we need to rethink the nature and interrelations between knowledge and ignorance. We need to expand our capacities for self-learning and refine abilities to map our complex experience.
Publication Title
Publication Year
1993
Publication Date
1993
License
ISSN
0164-0259
Physical Description
vol. 15, n. 2, pp. 166-185
Short Title
None too solid