And this is medicine?Said Richard Feynman to the psychiatrist who was examining him and who had stated he studied medicine to become a psychiatrist. Part 3: "Feynman, The Bomb, and the Military", "Uncle Sam Doesn't Need You"
Scepticemia is a portmanteau-ed neologism. It is a combination Scepticism and Septicemia. And it is supposed to mean a condition where Scepticism has spread throughout the body (mind). And I mized up the US and UK forms of English while devising the word... because I think of myself agent of linguistic chaos.
I have always tried to inculcate in myself a healthy ability to doubt. Ever since I read Surely You are Joking Mr. Feynman, I have not only been a Feynman fan, but also an ardent follower of his skeptical attitude. I remember his philosophy, which he reached after having been led astray on the neutron-proton coupling constant by reports of "beta-decay experts":
"...since then I never pay attention to anything by "experts". I calculate everything myself."
Part 5: "The World of One Physicist", "The 7 Percent Solution" - Surely You Are Joking Mr. Feynman
That and the fictional Dr. Gregory House's outrageous assumption that: "Everyone lies"!
I started this blog as a recently graduated physician, who believed that the first step to knowledge begins with the cultivation of skepticism. With the passing years, the things I have seen and experienced has only gone on to reinforce this belief. In this blog, I talk about my brush with affairs that leave me skeptical. Or asking for more. Or matters which peeve me no ends because they are not in line with reason and logic. Matters where eminence trumps evidence. Where the accepted wisdom of the ages has stilled the growth of newer thoughts.
Sometimes, in this journey in search of my skeptic nirvana, I end up getting caught up in the thorny shrubberies of ambiguity or self-doubt. It is then that I use this blog for thinking out loudly and publicly. Inviting frank criticism, open discussion and a light to show me how to find the way out, I use this as a work in progress to clear out the chaff that settles in my mind.
I believe I am still in search of that perfect balance where I can use an open, accepting mind, sharpened with an ability to stay healthily skeptic, not only to doubt a false move, but also to try and identify (and appreciate) a revolutionary idea when it comes my way. However, again, in the words of Richard Feynman:
"There is no harm in doubt and skepticism, for it is through these that new discoveries are made."
Richard Feynman, Letter to Armando Garcia J, December 11, 1985
So, what I essentially plan to do through this blog is to find myself through a journey in scientific medical inquiry. And as all journeys, this also starts with a lot of trepidations...
I started this blog as an intern in Medical College, Kolkata, fresh out of medical school. Since then, I have gone on to complete my MD in Preventative Medicine from University College of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, worked at the Public Health Foundation of India in Gurugram, ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases in Kolkata, and Indian Council of Medical Research HQ in New Delhi.
During the pandemic, I grew weary of seeing all the death and decimation and was fortunate enough to start a PhD in International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. That is where I am now, as I write this updated "About Me" page.
The original avatar of this blog was on wordpress.com, a home that I had remained faithful to for almost 15 years. But with the onslaught of new changes, I was kept busy mostly managing the backend of the website - which has always been something I utterly and completely despised. It came to a pass when I realized I was not writing anymore because of the cognitive load and time sink that managing wordpress.com had become for me. So, I decided to leave the platform, and move to medium. A painful and onerous process, to say the least.
Amidst all of that, I have not been very regular in posting to this blog in the last few years - something which I hope to rectify going forward. The voice of this blog has changed a lot over the years, reflecting the evolution I have been going through personally and professionally. I thought of junking everything and starting afresh, but I recognize that the process of moving to medium gives me the opportunity to update and curate the posts (of which there are many... actually, 600, to be exact. The nice round figure is just accidental, I promise). It is my hope that the updated posts will show glimpses of my younger self, something to look back toand remind myself of where I am coming from.
Hopefully, I will be posting more frequently going forward and continue this narrative journey.
Here's to another five years of radio silence on a new platform. Or not...