We have said good bye to the Solar New Year but we will usher in the Lunar New year on the 22nd of this month. In the Diagnosis of the Times column of the Catholic Times the writer has some thoughts for the readers.
The new year has dawned, and the time train has left the station on the first day of the solar New Year.
He recalls how many people were sick due to the Itaewon disaster last year, and everyone was thinking about what keywords to choose for the new year after the sad year-end and the New Year holidays.
His back hurt a little bit, and saw it as a gift of New Year and his aging, and probably the onset of some kind of disease. He searched for a suitable hospital and pondered the ancient Hippocratic oath, praying that the doctor's ability would heal him. Then, he realized that this oath is a universal declaration that applies not only to physical pain, but also to psychological and social pain.
Has human suffering decreased and happiness increased in modern society compared to the historical past? Last year, the top 10 news items included a change of government, conflicts in the National Assembly, spacecraft launches, North Korean provocations, outbreaks of global war, domestic disasters, protests for the rights of the disabled, World Cup, high prices and high interest rates, and labor reform or deterioration. Most of them are related to unhappiness. These issues are not someone else's problems, but are directly related to our lives, our suffering, or our happiness. So, we must fight social pain, the source of that pain, just like a doctor trying to protect physical pain, fundamentally, life. Now, let us excerpt the lines from the Classic Hippocratic Oath{https://mccolloughscholars.as.ua.edu/hippocratic-oath-classic/}
“I swear by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius the surgeon, likewise Hygeia and Panacea, and call all the gods and goddesses to witness, that I will observe and keep this underwritten oath, to the utmost of my power and judgment.
I will reverence my master who taught me the art. Equally with my
parents, will I allow him things necessary for his support, and will
consider his sons as brothers. I will teach them my art without reward
or agreement; and I will impart all my acquirement, instructions, and
whatever I know, to my master’s children, as to my own; and likewise to
all my pupils, who shall bind and tie themselves by a professional oath,
but to none else.
With regard to healing the sick, I will devise and order for them the
best diet, according to my judgment and means; and I will take care that
they suffer no hurt or damage. (Everything has to be done for the patient. Two pitfalls to avoid: over treatment and therapeutic nihilism. I
will remember that there is an art in medicine as well as in science,
and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may be greater than a
surgeon's knife or medicine).
Nor shall any man’s entreaty prevail upon me to administer poison to anyone; neither will I counsel any man to do so. Moreover, I will give no sort of medicine to any pregnant woman, with a view to destroy the child. Further, I will comport myself and use my knowledge in a godly manner.I will not cut for the stone, but will commit that affair entirely to the surgeons.
(It
is an important story that the response to social pain should be
applied accurately, neither excessive nor insufficient, and should be
based on humanity, not bureaucracy or mechanical application of
functions).
Whatsoever house I may enter, my visit shall be for the convenience and
advantage of the patient; and I will willingly refrain from doing any
injury or wrong from falsehood, and (in an especial manner) from acts of
an amorous nature, whatever may be the rank of those who it may be my
duty to cure, whether mistress or servant, bond or free.
Whatever, in the course of my practice, I may see or hear (even when not
invited), whatever I may happen to obtain knowledge of, if it be not
proper to repeat it, I will keep sacred and secret within my own breast.
If I faithfully observe this oath, may I thrive and prosper in my
fortune and profession, and live in the estimation of posterity; or on
breach thereof, may the reverse be my fate!”
Even today, we hear a little knowledge in the medical world is a dangerous thing. Social efforts are not for individual achievement, so we must expect collective intelligence and cooperation where our limits are revealed. It is desirable to start with solidarity from the beginning.
Exposing personal information that the victim does not want without consent, invasion of privacy, is now called secondary harm. Considering that such problems were present even in ancient times, how many times in history have these evil habits and the lessons been repeated?
Happy Lunar New Year!
