December 26, 2018 Wednesday
Bedtime Story
Biological Organization
In his essay published in Current Biology
Carl Woese in one of the paragraphs goes like this:
“The ‘important questions’ that 21st
century biology faces all stem from a single question, the nature and
generation of biological organization.
(Biological organization is crucial to
understanding life.
It refers to the hierarchy of complex
biological structures and systems that define life using reductionist
(explaining complexity with simplicities unlike religions and spiritualism that
try to explain complexities with even more convoluted sophistry) approach.
Medical doctors are well aware (or at least
should be) of it as their training starts from an assumption that they have a
fair and general understanding of basic concepts of mathematics, physics,
chemistry and biology through their syllabi of higher secondary schooling and
which is later tested through the form of competitive exams.
Many may argue about the deficiencies and
drawbacks (pattern studies, intensive coaching and rote learning) of
examination systems but I personally feel it is the best method to select the
most deserving and intelligent brains available in the population pool.
In some rare instances this method has
failed some geniuses like we saw in the case of young Évariste Galois who
failed to make it to École Polytechnique after two unsuccessful attempts at the
entrance exams and perhaps in the case of Mon Ami who too failed to make it to
one of the elite colleges of the Indian Institute of Technology.
But in general the system rarely fails to
pick out the bright ones and allows anyone and everyone to have a shot at it.
Following this their medical training
starts with biochemistry, histology, anatomy, and physiology that are totally
and comprehensively non-clinical subjects but built upon the foundations of
basic sciences of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology.
The second tier of the medical training is
the so called para-clinical subjects namely, pharmacology and pathology that
begin to discuss the cellular and biochemical basis of diseases and pathologies
and both of which are strongly built upon the foundations of the sciences named
above.
It is only then the full-fledged training
begins targeting the students to be made into clinicians and master them with
the art of making diagnosis with skillful observation, history taking followed
by physical examination.
This is, I believe, is accompanied with the
tragic consequence that as the young budding doctor goes higher up the
hierarchy of medical sciences turning into a superfine specialist he gradually
begins to lose the sight of the fundamentals on which his whole edifice is
anchored upon.
Such super specialists who are extremely
good at their work, not surprisingly, may end up holding mumbo jumbo beliefs as
there is so much noise around us (along with the rigid cultural indoctrination
reinforcing itself all the times) that the true precious foundational knowledge
get lost.
As a matter of fact, the foundational
knowledge is seen only as something to exploit rather than as the truth itself.
Let us return to Woese now.)
Stay tuned to the voice of an
average story storytelling chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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