Tag: culture
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Book review: Civilization and the Culture of Science
Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, United Kingdom The word civilization has both Latin and French origins: civitas (city) and civis (citizen) in Latin, and civilise (civilized) in French. In 1923, physician, philosopher, and theologian Albert Schweitzer wrote in The Philosophy of Civilization that “Civilization was essentially the sum total of all progress made by man in every…
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What’s inside us?: Socio-cultural themes in anatomical naming
Frazer A. TessemaChicago, Illinois, United States Anatomical terms often read as Latin or Greek gibberish whose main purpose is to be obscure trivia in the first-year medical school ritual called anatomy class. But a surprising trend emerges through the English translations of these archaic names: many parts of the human body are named not for…
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Closed mouth, open heart
Ellen Hitt Tucson, Arizona, United States One of the many beautiful symbols of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, marking the entrance to their health department. Photo by author, Ellen Hitt As a child, my life was uprooted every three years. I said goodbye to my friends, my school, and life as I knew it as…
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Culture frames the experience and response to psychotic delusions
Colleen Donnelly Denver, Colorado, United States Photo by Camila Quintero Franco on Unsplash Since the 1950s many people suffering from psychotic delusions have claimed that these were caused by contemporary technology such as electromagnetic and micro- waves or computer chips clandestinely planted during medical procedures or alien abductions. Such tightly held beliefs and anxieties…