Atul Gawande — Curiosity and What Equality Really Means
This article is a part of my Best Reads of the Month section on my website www.mikegorlon.com. Each month I pick one or two articles or blog posts that I find on the internet which I thought were really insightful, interesting or moving. Then I share them with you. You can view the previous month’s articles by going to: https://www.mikegorlon.com/best-reads-of-the-month
June 2018: Curiosity and What Equality Really Means
Atul Gawande is a surgeon, public health researcher, and best-selling author. He has made numerous contributions to the field based on his extensive research and generosity to share his wisdom. He wrote about the importance of creating checklists in order to minimize errors in medicine and other aspects of life. Behind this link is a commencement speech that Atul delivered to the UCLA Medical school on Friday June 1st. Atul discusses the importance of curiosity and how it is vital to being empathetic and treating others as equals.
Here are two insightful quotes that I highlighted from his speech:
“Regarding people as having lives of equal worth means recognizing each as having a common core of humanity. Without being open to their humanity, it is impossible to provide good care to people — to insure, for instance, that you’ve given them enough anesthetic before doing a procedure. To see their humanity, you must put yourself in their shoes. That requires a willingness to ask people what it’s like in those shoes. It requires curiosity about others and the world beyond your boarding zone.”
“Once we lose the desire to understand — to be surprised, to listen and bear witness — we lose humanity. Among the most important capacities that you take with you today is your curiosity. You must guard it, for curiosity is the beginning of empathy. When others say that some is evil or crazy, or even a hero or an angel, they are usually trying to shut off curiosity. Don’t let them. We are all capable of heroic and of evil things. No one and nothing that you encounter in your life and career will be simply heroic or evil. Virtue is a capacity. It can always be lost or gained. That potential is why all of our lives are of equal worth.”
