Aristotle, Descartes and Isaac Newton (amongst many others) all had one thing in common; the near obsessive desire to form a method of enquiry that could be used to understand our place in the world. A method of thinking, experimentation and contemplation that almost always led to failure. However on the rarest of occasions it led to a breakthrough in understanding. Think gravity. Think Pythagoras. Think penicillin. Think germ theory.
Many centuries later this continues to be the most reliable method of understanding the complex nature of the world and cosmos we exist in. A hierarchy of wisdom started to form. The repeated attempts and failures of an experiment or idea represented data. This is full of errors, inaccuracies and assumptions that would have to be filtered out in order to become information. This information could be positive or negative and used to either disprove or validate an idea. Information can be used to evaluate the who, what, when and where about an idea.
For this information to have relevance, the how must be answered – at which point it becomes knowledge. Knowledge is how we apply the information to different contexts in order to create a set of goals or ideals. The final question we must ask is the why, to elevate this knowledge to the level of wisdom. The why is the combination of knowledge applied at the right time, with the right people, in the right context. Experience is required to truly answer the why; hence wisdom is so often passed down from old to young.
Edward E. Olsen is quoted saying “we are drowning in information while starving for wisdom” and to my surprise he said this in 1991. The Pulitzer award winning author clearly knew what was coming before the dawn of the internet.
So why is this important in healthcare? The scientific method and the wisdom hierarchy work in tandem; such that we always reserve the right to get smarter. The scientific method is in fact a truly humble endeavour – for there is no absolute truth. Should the evidence change through enquiry, so should our perspectives and actions. This should not be seen in a negative light. On the contrary the alternative is dogma, opinion and rhetoric. On top of this it is crucial that we do not conflate data or information to be wisdom. Unfortunately the internet is poor at differentiating the levels of the wisdom hierarchy; an almost entirely human ability. Perhaps this will change as the world of AI (artificial intelligence) becomes increasingly sophisticated. For now however there are certain domains where the human mind remains superior.
In physiotherapy and healthcare we must adopt the Japanese word Shoshin, the beginner’s mind. Constantly seek to learn. Seek to understand. Embrace curiosity. And remember…Dr Google can be wrong as often as it is right.
Nb. Written as Health columnist for the Hibiscus Matters.
