Personality, men's religiosity, medicine, & saws
RWL #414
Greetings from The University of New Hampshire! I had a great week last week. As I mentioned in last week’s RWL, in my class I hosted Jackie Eastwood, USNH board member and medical device entrepreneur, and then on Friday I had the opportunity to host lunch with distinguished alumnus and recently retired NASA executive Glenn Delgado who was being inducted into the UNH Diversity Hall of Fame, and finally on Saturday UNH had its fall open house and I had the chance to meet students and parents who were interested in majoring in Health Management and Policy. It was a busy week, but really great to share all the great work we are doing here. Plus, as a bonus, on Saturday I went out for a run that took me down by the Oyster River and got this snap (above).
Last weekend I continued to work on the idea of fit. I get that not everyone would want to live in small-town New Hampshire and think it’s the best of all possible worlds. But it works for me. Wherever you’ve chosen to call home, I hope you see it the same as I do. As usual, willing good for all of you!
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Read
What: The Conversation, Can you change your personality? Psychology research says yes, by tweaking what you think and do
Why: This is a great read I am going to assign my students next year when we talk about personality. What is personality? How can we change the patterns of behavior that make up our personality?
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What: NYT, In a First Among Christians, Young Men Are More Religious Than Young Women
Why: Interesting article on religious participation vs. spiritual seeking. The fact that the ratios of men to women are inverting with religious participation is fascinating. My interview with Michele Dillon about sociology and religion addressed some of these issues, including questions about who is allowed to preach or even participate. The article touches on what I suspect is a potential cause - the decline of men’s relative earning power in today’s economy and the simultaneous increase in women’s relative earning power and expanded range of life choices.
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Watch
What: Connor Neill, Be Ready for the Future (5 min)
Why: Based on Steven Covey’s “sharpen the saw”, investing in your future self.
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Listen
What: Econtalk, What Modern Medicine Gets Wrong (with Marty Makary) (74 min)
Why: As I study the history of medicine, I’ve become fascinated with how the field can become absolutely convinced of the science behind complete bunk. We had about 2,000 years of medicine based on the Greek philosopher Hippocrates theory of the humors, which to his credit was based on empirical observation, but despite that was mostly wrong. It’s where we got brilliant treatments like bleeding someone if they had a fever, or applying blister agents to a person’s chest and back if they had a cough. Sometimes doing something causes more harm than good. That’s not to say I am a skeptic of modern medicine - I have dedicated my whole professional life to the delivery of healthcare. Modern medicine is amazing and miraculous. I would have been dead or maimed several times over if it weren’t for antibiotics and other modern treatments. But modern medicine, even after having finally set aside bleeding, blistering, vomiting, and purging, still gets on board with bad ideas that cause more harm than good. There’s even a name for it: iatrogenesis, when the medical system causes harm.
Makary argues that the medical establishment too often makes unsupported recommendations for treatment while condemning treatments and approaches that can make us healthier.
Medicine is miraculous but dangerous, and we should always move forward with humility.