The history and physical exam are firmly established methods in the practice of medicine, with an ancient pedigree. Their origins can be traced 2500 years ago to Hippocrates, who naturalized the concept of disease and introduced the methodology of the history and physical exam. Diseases no longer needed divine explanations, but could be studied like… Continue reading The History and Physical
Tag: Language
Language and Its Discontents
Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote, “the limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Fortunately, human communication carries multiple layers of signals - verbal and non-verbal, conscious and subconscious - with language or consciousness representing summarizations of all those signals. Similarly, the patient-physician interaction also is laden with signals. Even without considering the vagaries of… Continue reading Language and Its Discontents
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