Blog 3

In The Trouble With Medicine’s Metaphors, Dhruv Khullar writes about how outside sources can affect the way we think. He says that nearly two-thirds of physicians use metaphors with their patents, and explains how patients feel more comfortable and understood when their physician does this. He also gives examples of studies where one group of people would hear or feel something, while the other group of people would hear or feel something that is the opposite of what the first group felt, and both groups would have completely different takes on how to solve a problem or how they felt after questioning. He then compares that same logic to treating patients, and how patients may feel when having their illness compared to a war using metaphors. He ultimately says that the use of metaphors is highly dependent on the patient, but mostly can offer “an avenue to express their emotions and exert agency over their conditions.”

The Trouble With Medicine’s Metaphors offers a compelling insight on how metaphors are used between physicians and patients. In it, Khullar tells us that metaphors can be incredibly influential in the outcome of a patient’s visit with their physician. He cites several studies where people who hear or feel different things have significantly different feelings about how to solve a problem, or even rate someone’s personality differently based on how they were treated before the questioning. This has a direct implication to a relationship between patients and physicians. Khullar points to studies that suggest that patients who viewed their illness as a fight can feel the need to suppress their feelings from their families and physicians. This can have a very negative impact on a patient, because the patient’s health should be any physicians number one priority. Changing the way we talk about illnesses may play an important role in patient outcomes in the near future.

“The windows and doors of the metaphor room are supposed to provide another way of looking at reality.” (Erard) This quote gives insight on how people are supposed to use metaphors, to see things more clearly that they may not understand at first.

“Metaphors are a fundamental mechanism through which our minds conceptualize the world around us, especially in the face of complexity.” (Khullar) This quote tells us about how people can use metaphors to understand complex things, such as cancer or diseases.

“Whenever we solve a problem, or make a discovery, we compare what we know to what we don’t know.” (Geary) Here, Geary explains why metaphors are used, to help describe the unknown.