In the spirit of getting back to the stated purpose of this blog, I will share with you a TED talk I finally had a chance to view last night. Last year at the Texas Book Festival I had the serendipitous opportunity of seeing Abraham Verghese, a medical doctor whose novel Cutting for Stone was featured in one of the forums. I had never heard of him or his novel, and in fact was only in that lecture because of the lure of free books. None of them was authored by him, and a year later I have yet to read them.
But because free books brought me into an auditorium in the basement of the Texas State Capitol in the fall of 2010, I had an experience that was astonishing. Dr. Verghese began to speak. And as he did, the audience fell silent. All squeaking of seats, rustling of bags, clearings of throats ceased as we sat transfixed. The man transcended charisma. He transcended brilliance. He spoke, and we listened, feeling as though something were shifting inside of us.
This summer Dr. Verghese did a TED talk in Scotland about what he believes should be the future of medicine. It’s about going back to the past. It’s about recognizing that we, the patients, are not automata to be examined by machine. It’s about recognizing that the doctor-patient relationship is a personal one. The power of technology does not replace the power of human touch.
I invite you now to listen to what he had to say.
Categories: Brain Workouts
Tags: Abraham Verghese, TED, TED talks
Flabby Brain 