“Indeed, it seems strange that the language of healing remains so interwoven with the language of warfare,”(Dhruv Khullar)
The fact that the language of healing and language of warfare are so interwoven is honesty contradictory. Thought I think the language of healing would include medical terms, I also think that it includes words that are more gentle and would be associated with healing. Language of warfare is the complete opposite. It would include harsher words that are associated with war and battle. Sitting down and thinking about it, it makes sense why these words and phrases could cause more harm than good.
“One study, from 2010, found that physicians use metaphors in almost two-thirds of their conversations with patients who have serious illnesses. Physicians who used more metaphors were seen as better communicators.”(Dhruv Khullar)
If two-thirds of their conversations with patients are metaphors, I wonder how many of them are war language metaphors? Though this article is about how these types of metaphors can be damaging to a patient’s health, but at the same time the article says that patients have reported having a better understanding when their doctor used metaphors. Is it mostly the warfare language being used, or is it a mixture of that and other types of metaphors. It is almost like you have to find that happy medium between what kind of metaphors are being used.
“By describing a treatment as a battle and a patient as a combatant, we set an inherently adversarial tone, and dichotomize outcomes into victory and defeat,”(Dhruv Khullar)
It is kind of hard to think of an illness as a battle when you put it in the patient’s perspective. Though at first this type of attitude seems like it would empower the person, later down the line this kind of thinking could become destructive and depressioning. Imagine that you have had a deadly illness for a long time, while some people may think that they have fought hard to be where they are now, the patient may see themselves as not fighting hard enough because they are still sick. This kind of thinking could get even worse if the patient gets worse in health.
“It’s when we start testing our metaphors for their social and cognitive usability that design can become really powerful,”(Michael Erard).
Erard is right when he says that metaphors can be powerful. I think it would be both interesting and best for the patient’s well being to have metaphors using warfare language to describe illness be tested for their social and cognitive usability.
“It’s also a great example of how whenever we deal with anything abstract — ideas, emotions, feelings, concepts, thoughts — we inevitably resort to metaphor,”(James Geary)
Even though warfare language may not be the best way to represent illness, that does not mean all metaphors are harmful. Metaphors are how humans represent abstract concepts like feelings and emotions. This means that certain kinds of metaphors could be used to help patients deal with depression and grief.
I’ve noticed how you grasp the concepts of how medical metaphors can help people in many different situations. I agree with that as well, it can help ease the person in situations and try to help them.
I really like how you really broke down the purpose of the quotes, and if someone didn’t understand what they were trying to say, they should now. You have a really good perspective and grasp on what Khullar’s text. Overall I really agree with your points and am impressed with your analysis.
You’ve started to build some powerful connections between Erard, Geary, and Khullar. Well done. In addition, you do an excellent job broadening Khullar’s conversation to include other categories of health. You’ve got a lot to work with, here!