People are all mixed up

Here is a thoughtful and eloquent essay about the humane practice of medicine from a physician. Dr. Newman, like me, thinks that the biological reductionism of medical practice is not good for patients. He espouses humility in medicine, and understanding the profession as both art and science.

It appears that he also occasionally drugs his patients and sexually assaults them, or so it is alleged, which would seem harmful to the cause. I find this quite mysterious -- certainly I can't see how it is gratifying or why anybody would do that. If you think about Bill Cosby's public persona and his (rather prissy) hectoring about rectitude and respectability, it seems these are kindred spirits.

The Jekyll and Hyde story is archetypal, I suppose. All people are a mixture of good and bad, but some people conceal more than others, and have more extreme polarity. I guess you never really know.