麻豆传媒

Threatened masculinity

Psychology research procedures can be innovative and intricate, especially in the US. A study called 鈥溾�� by Brittany Vincent and her colleagues at St. Joseph鈥檚 University in New York showcases these qualities.

This research is planned to happen in four stages. First, the study says, 鈥渆ach participant will be given a baseline assessment of their masculinity鈥�. Then each participant will be told about a difficult moral dilemma and asked how they would solve it. They will be informed that another participant will read their response and will give them 鈥渁n audio recording about what they think of their response鈥�.

It is at this point that things get interesting: each participant will then 鈥渆ither have their masculinity threatened or be assigned to a control group鈥�.

In the final stage, the interestingness continues to grow: 鈥減articipants will be asked to play a game involving an online voodoo doll where they will be asked to pretend the voodoo doll is the person from the recording, and to shoot the voodoo doll鈥�.

A bunch of points

Mathematician Ravi Vakil at Stanford University in California wrote a phrase you might apply to lecturers who ramble at whim 鈥� who flit yon, thither and hither as they tell some simple fact.

Vakil gave a talk earlier this month called 鈥溾�� at the Joint Mathematics Meetings 2024 in San Francisco.

He asks a purely mathematical question that (Feedback suggests) harks of a familiar human behaviour. It seems to describe the way some lecturers yearn to meander en route to their destination. Vakil asks: 鈥淭hrough two randomly chosen points in the plane, indeed in n-space, there is a line [but] is there a curve of some 鈥榯ype鈥� through a bunch of generally chosen points?鈥�

For lecturer and listener alike, the basic question sometimes is: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the point?鈥�

Sedate entertainment

John Davies, a retired anaesthetist, responded to Feedback鈥檚 query (9 December 2023) about the saying that 鈥渢he art of medicine consists mostly of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease鈥�. The expression is, correctly or not, often attributed to Voltaire.

John says: 鈥淰oltaire was not a doctor, but a hypochondriac. So of course he knew what he was talking about. But he was 鈥榩racticing鈥� in the 18th century, when medical treatment was either herbal or bleeding, and surgery was either military or dental, because it was so painful. Today we have drugs which are undoubtedly effective, and because of anaesthesia, painless surgery during the procedure.

鈥淏ut amusing the patient? During surgery under general anaesthesia, no patient amusement is required, and keeping the surgeon amused and in good humour is the best service the anaesthetist can provide for the theatre staff. Stories, chat and anecdote all help.

鈥淪urgery under local anaesthesia demands the same amusement for the patient. And what you learn! Under mild sedation, as under mild intoxication, all sorts of stories come out about their lives, none of which may be repeated, of course.鈥�

鈥楳asterly inactivity鈥�

Gavin Spickett, a retired consultant in medicine, immunology and allergy, also gave his perspective on the saying:

鈥淥ne patient, an elderly gentleman who lived alone and had no family, was admitted regularly when I was a junior doctor. His illnesses were nebulous and most likely to be generated by a desire to be in hospital to be warm and well fed. He was undoubtedly lonely. On admission, he always insisted on Guinness and 鈥榬ed medicine鈥�. He would never improve until supplied with his preferred treatment鈥�

Once this was prescribed and accompanied by the nurses making a fuss of him, there was always a steady improvement鈥� leading to a willingness to be discharged. The red medicine was an iron edetate syrup (bright red!), to which he ascribed magical properties, even though he wasn鈥檛 deficient in iron. Subsequently I found that this syrup was equally effective in other patients during my career.

鈥淸Long ago] a highly respected clinician, for whom I was working, explained that if you were not sure what was wrong or what treatment to give, then you should give MICLO therapy. MICLO stood for 鈥榤asterly inactivity and cat-like observation鈥�. Doing nothing beyond following the patient carefully and supplying empathic holistic care is still sometimes both appropriate and necessary, but is at risk of being buried by the avalanche of new genetic tests, imaging techniques and bespoke pharmaceuticals.鈥�

Tiny truths

Alison Flood, 麻豆传媒鈥榮 comment and culture editor, offhandedly came up with a good new definition for medicine: 鈥渜uite gross 鈥� but also interesting鈥�.

Those five words remind Feedback of biologist Dany Adams鈥檚 Can you come up with a pithy new definition (of seven or fewer words) for some scientific concept? If so, please send it to: 鈥淭INY TRUTHS鈥� c/o Feedback.

Marc Abrahams created the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and聽co-founded聽the magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Earlier, he worked on unusual ways to use computers. His website is聽

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